History S Greatest Battles

Great battles mark history's turning points where cultures and ideologies clash. Some battles are won by inspired leaders, some by superior weaponry, while others are won by a sheer dogged refusal to surrender in the face of overwhelming odds. This gripping account introduces 40 battles which changed the course of history, from the Battle of Marathon in 490 BC to the Vietnamese defeat of the French army at the battle of Dien Bien Phu in 1954. It includes the extraordinary generalships of Napoleon, Wellington and Marlborough, among others, as well as the victories of ordinary soldiers who, through their courage, determination and sacrifice, changed the course of history. Includes: • Siege of Jerusalem, 79 CE • The Battle of Hastings, 1066 • The Battle of Yorktown, 1781 • The Battle of Gettysburg, 1863 • D-Day, 1944 Brought to life by photographs, maps and artwork of the battles, this book gives an expansive account of the most pivotal battles in the history of war and how they were lost or won.

A centuries-spanning study of twenty-five pivotal wars that shaped world history, from the Greco-Persian War to the Soviet-Afghan War. Driving and dispersing peoples across the globe, giving birth to and destroying great empires, transforming cultures, and determining systems of government, warfare, as much as anything else, has fashioned our world. History’s Greatest Wars: The Epic Conflicts that Shaped Our Modern World highlights pivotal victories that changed nations, even entire continents, forever, and charts the astonishingly rapid evolution of warfare. It delineates defining moments in the development of political philosophies, as well as the scientific innovations that yielded the machine gun, the tank, and the atom bomb. From the Greco-Persian Wars that began in 500 BCE, to the Vietnam War and beyond, it vividly renders the key victories that turned the tide of war, and recounts the heroism of armies and individuals. Yet it does not shy away from showing the acts of savagery that characterize much warfare: the slaughters and massacres. History’s Greatest Wars covers twenty-five of the most important and “thunderous” wars, wars that shook the world and took part in forming the nations that, today, we call home. The best and worst of humanity is on display here, in a collection that will act as a perfect primer for novices while offering seasoned history readers new perspectives on many famous and some not-so-well-known conflicts. Sweeping in its scope, yet intimate in its insights into the motivations of politicians, strategists, commanders, and soldiers, this is a collection that will enhance your understanding of the modern world and your own place in it.

Content 1. Battle of Marathon- 490 BC 2. Battle of Gaugamela – 331 BC 3. Battle of Hastings – 1066 4. Battle of Vienna – 1529 5. Battle of Cajamarca – 1532 6. Battle of Yorktown – 1781 7. Battle of Leipzig – 1813 8. Battle of Waterloo – 1815 9. Battle of Gettysburg – 1863 10. Battle of Britain – 1940 11. Battle of Midway – 1942 12. Battle of Guadalcanal – 1942 13. Battle of Stalingrad – 1942-43 14. Battle of El Alamein – 1943 15. Invasion of Normandy – 1944 16. Battle of Kohima - 1944 17. Battle of Bulge – 1945 18. Battle of Okinawa – 1945 19. Battle of Iwo Jima – 1945 20. Battle of Hui-Hai – 1948

Great battles mark history's turning points, occurring as they do where cultures and ideologies clash. While some battles have been won by the superior force, others have been won by a sheer dogged refusal to surrender in the face of overwhelming odds. All the great battles in this book are pivotal in history: if any one of them had gone the other way, the world would have been a very different place. And none of them - with the exception, perhaps, of Iwo Jima and Berlin - was a foregone conclusion. From the battle of Marathon in 490bc, when the vastly outnumbered Athenian army turned back an invasion of the mighty Persian empire, up to the Vietnamese defeat of the French army at the battle of Dien Bien Phu, the battles in this book demonstrate that God is not always on the side of the big battalions. History's Greatest Battles covers the whole gamut of warfare, from huge sea battles involving hundreds of ships and thousands of men, to single regiments who dug in and fought on long past the time when surrender would have been honourable.

Civilizations have been fighting each other for thousands of years. Some might say civilizations have left few traces except descriptions of their greatest martial endeavours and some ancient conflicts remain unresolved today. 'The Greatest Battles in History' is an illustrated reference work to the key wars and battles fought from ancient times up to the Battle of Waterloo in 1815. Arranged in chronological order from the early Middle Eastern conflicts such as Megiddo and Kadesh through to the Napoleonic Wars, each entry includes full-colour illustrations - either maps or artworks - as well as information boxes containing key facts and figures and a description of the context, the course of battle and the conflict's aftermath --

A fascinating and informative analysis by a distinguished military historian of the 100 most influential battles in American history, presented in an accessible, ready-reference format. The Battle of Okinawa (April–June 1945) resulted in more U.S. Navy casualties than all of the navy's previous wars combined; these heavy casualties influenced the decision to employ the atomic bomb against Japan that August. This is just one of many instances in American military history when the outcome of a battle helped to establish the course of history—the focus of this latest encyclopedia from esteemed historian Spencer C. Tucker. The 100 battles spotlighted in this work—which include defeats as well as victories—are deemed to have had the greatest impact on American history. Spanning more than 500 years of military events, the book begins its coverage with the Battle of Mabila in 1540 during the Age of Discovery and ends with the Second Battle of Falluja during the Iraq War/Insurgency in 2004. Expertly written, informative, and thoughtful, this analysis will be insightful and interesting for all high school, undergraduate, and general readers.