A Guide to Battles Decisive Conflicts in History

A Guide to Battles tells the stories of 300 of the world's most dramatic, memorable, and important clashes, from battles in ancient Egypt to the Second Gulf War. Organized chronologically and by region it provides tactical, technological, and historical context. It is highly accessible to the general reader and invaluable for the specialist.

This fascinating book tells the stories of the most dramatic, memorable, and important conflicts in world history, from Agincourt, Lepanto, and Trafalgar, to Gettysburg, Stalingrad, and the Somme. It begins with the battle of Megiddo fought by the ancient Egyptians and takes the reader through to the Second Gulf War of 2003. On the way it encompasses almost 300 battles from around the world - from the Middle East, Asia, and Africa, to Europe and the Americas. All the battles are grouped within chapters which tell the wider story of a particular era or region, for instance the ancient world or the Americas. Each chapter includes an informative introduction that sets out the historical, tactical, and technological context, and looks at current debates. Individual battles are placed clearly within the wars and campaigns of which they formed a part, making it possible for the reader to follow the details of the battle, and at the same time to understand its military and historical implications. Battlefield summarizes the very best of contemporary scholarship on battles and war in an accessible, engaging narrative. Detailed maps portray the course of famous battles and campaigns, and a range of illustrations - many from contemporary sources - bring the narrative to life. An extensive index gives the reader quick access to historical figures, locations, battle formations, and much more. This is an indispensable guide for history students, military enthusiasts, and professionals working in the field, and an ideal book for anyone with an interest in what Winston Churchill called 'punctuation marks in history'.

1 - Ancient World
2 - Late Antiquity and the Middle Ages
3 - The Renaissance to the French Revolution
4 - Nineteenth-century Europe
5 - World War I
6 - World War II
7 - The Americas
8 - Asia and the Middle East
9 - Africa

Richard Holmes - the editor of The Oxford Companion to Military History - is a prolific author and a well-known television presenter. He is Professor of Military and Security Studies at Cranfield University and The Defence Academy of the United Kingdom. He has written over twenty books, including Acts of War, and his trilogy on the British soldier: Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of the Musket; Tommy: The British Soldier on the Western Front; and Sahib: The British Soldier in India. His latest publications include Marlborough: England's Fragile Genius (2008), The World at War (2007), and Dusty Warriors: Modern Soldiers at War (2006). He has presented seven BBC2 TV series, from 'War Walks' (1996) to 'In the Footsteps of Churchill' (2005). All these series have also been the topics of books. Martin Marix Evans studied law at Cambridge University and went on to a career in publishing. He set up his own firm of book packagers in 1989. He has authored and co-authored numerous books on military history, among them Naseby 1645: The Fatal Defeat of the Royalist Army (2007), Forgotten Battlefronts of World War I (2004), 1918: The Year of Victories (2002), American Voices of World War I (2001), The Fall of France, 1940 (2000), and Encyclopedia of the Boer War (2000).