Great Military Disasters

Provides detailed coverage and tactical maps of various historic battles from Cannae to Mogadishu.

Great Military Disasters tells the dramatic stories behind the world's most calamitous conflicts. From the French army's failure to understand the impact of new technology at Crécy to Hitler's blatant overconfidence at Stalingrad, military historian Julian Spilsbury provides thrilling accounts of each disaster, covering exactly what went wrong, how and why. Of course, a disastrous outcome for one side meant victory for another, so as well as exploring the reasons the conflict ended in disaster, Great Military Disasters also reveals the key to victory. Eyewitness quotations add another dimension to this intriguing study of human incompetence of the gravest kind.

The 100 Worst Military Disasters in History is a fascinating collection that educators, students, and historians will all find useful in helping them understand the causes and consequences of the most infamous military failures in history. The dynamics of military disaster are equally, if not more, important as understanding how to achieve success on the battlefield. This comprehensive book covers the complete gamut of human history as it tells the compelling stories of the worst military debacles of all time. It covers battles, campaigns, and wars, starting with the ancient Persians and Greeks and finishing with the U.S. conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq. Not limited to land warfare, however, the book also includes a number of the most disastrous naval engagements and campaigns in world history. The 100 Worst Military Disasters in History opens with a detailed introduction illuminating the role military strategy and politics played in some of the worst battlefield failures throughout history. The entries are augmented with several engaging sidebars related to various military disasters. This eclectic collection includes coverage of many lesser known military disasters such as the Taiping Rebellion, during which 20 times more Chinese died than the number of people killed in the American Civil War.

This book provides an accessible introduction of 24 of the greatest catastrophes in the history of warefare, including Cannae, Agincourt, the defeat of the Spanish Armada, the Charge of the Light Brigade, the destruction of the French army at Sedon, Midway, Stalingrad, Dien Bien Phu, and many, many more. It includes full-color tactical maps that allow the reader to grasp at a glance the decisive moves of the battle. It features over 180 color and black-and-white photographs and illustrations of soldiers, uniforms, and military technology, bringing the rich history of these disasters to life.