Battlefield: Decisive Conflicts in History

Salamis, Agincourt, Lepanto, Trafalgar, Gettysburg, Iswandlana, the Somme, Stalingrad--Battlefield: Decisive Conflicts in History tells the stories of the most dramatic, memorable, and important conflicts in world history. It begins with the battle of Megiddo in ancient Egypt in 1476 BC and takes the reader through to the Second Gulf War, covering almost 300 battles from around the world-- including the Middle East, Asia, Africa, as well as from Europe and the Americas. This important book is edited by Richard Holmes, who has written over 20 books, including The Oxford Companion to Military History.

The battles are grouped within chapters that tell the wider story of a particular era or region, for instance the ancient world, nineteenth-century Europe, World War I, or the Americas. Each chapter includes an introduction by Richard Holmes that sets out the historical, tactical, and technological context, and looks at current debates. In addition, 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.

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. Battlefield summarizes the best of contemporary scholarship on battles and war in an accessible, engaging narrative, and it will be of interest to anyone interested in military history.

Richard Holmes - the editor of The Companion to Military History - is a very 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 twenty books, including Acts of War, and Dusty Warriors: Modern Soldiers at War.
Martin Marix Evans is the author of numerous books on military history, among them Forgotten Battles of World War I, 1918: The Year of Victories, American Voices of World War I, The Fall of France, 1940, Encyclopedia of the Boer War, and The Military Heritage of Britain and Ireland.