Twenty Decisive Battles of the World

Sir Edward Creasy s classic study Fifteen Decisive Battles examined turning points in military history from Marathon to Waterloo. Colonel Joseph Mitchell has revised and updated the work to include the battles of Vicksburg, Sadowa, the Marne, Midway and Stalingrad. Carefully drawn maps in two colors illustrate the tactical stakes of each battle.

This is an update of Sir Edward Creasy's classic, "Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World". In the original work, Sir Edward surveyed the historical battles that changed the course of human civilation, from the defeat of the Persians by the Greeks at Marathon to the defeat of Napolean at Waterloo. This newer addition was edited by J.P. Fuller, who not only added 5 new historically significant battles, but who also modernized Sir Edward's flowery Victorian language, making it easy to read. At the same time, Fuller keeps the essence of Sir Edward's narrative, allowing the reader a glimpse into the prejudices and passions of the Victorian mind. This newer edition covers the decisive battles of modern history, ending with the defeat of the Germans at stalingrad. This book is one that every student of military history will want to read. Each battle is described in spendid detail. Additionally, the events leading up to the battles, and an explanation of thei! r importance is presented in an enjoyable way. Clear and detailed maps are also provided to help you see how each of the battles progressed during the fighting. After reading it, one can't help but speculate how radically different the world would be today if only one of those twenty battles had gone the other way. --By E. Dale Franks

Sir Edward Creasy published a book called 'Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: from Marathon to Waterloo' in 1851. His original work was expanded in 1964 by Lt. Col. Mitchell in order to create 'Twenty Decisive Battles of the World'. In some cases, Mitchell corrected factual errors in Creasy's original work that came to light since it was first written. The main criteria for picking these twenty battles was that the battle had to have a lasting impact on the war it was a part of and also have a lasting impact on history. For example, the Confederate victory at the battle of Chancellorsvile in the American Civil War was not chosen despite the fact that it was brilliantly fought by Robert E. Lee. The Confederacy went on to lose the war and the victory at Chancellorsville may have prolonged the war by a few months at most. On the other hand, Mitchell picked the Vicksburg campaign as a battle that was decisive in the history of the world because it spelled out the doom of the Confederacy in the West and led to the Grant's appointment as leader of all of the Union armies. A weakened United States (without the Confederate states) would not be as big a player in world politics as it is now so that victory had a lasting impact. The battles are: -Marathon; -Syracuse; -Arbela; -The Metaurus; -Teutobarger Wald; -Chalons; -Tours; -Hastings; -Orleans; -The Spanish Armada; -Blenheim; -Poltava; -Saratoga; -Valmy; -Waterloo; -Vicksburg; -Sadowa; -First Marne; -Midway; -Stalingrad. Each chapter describes the situation before and after the battle and tells why this battle was so important, a hinge of history, so to speak. In some cases, there is a lot of detail about the battle itself, in some cases there is only some hazy detail to draw from so there is not much to tell. Clearly, this is a Eurocentric, or at least Western-based series of battles. Nothing from Asia or Africa unless a European/American force is fighting against them. This makes the basis for calling it 'Twenty Decisive Battles of the World' pretty iffy, but these are certainly twenty well chosen battles that created the West. --By DWD TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Twenty Decisive Battles of the World started out as Sir Edward Creasy's Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World back in the 19th Century. Lt. Col. Joseph B. Mitchell, who has two other military volumes to his credit, updated Sir Edward's work to include five more recent battles. Creasy had covered from Marathon in 490 B.C., to Waterloo in 1815 A.D. Mitchell adds Vicksburg from the American Civil War; Sadowa; First Marne in WWI; Midway and Stalingrad, both from WWII. The strength of this book, and what makes it more than interesting, is that the emphasis is not so much on the movement of battalions, flanking attacks, or advances in echelon. Rather, the focus is on the movement of history, and how it was enabled to advance in one direction or another as a result of the outcome of each of the twenty battles discussed. Had Charles Martel not prevailed at Tours in 732 A.D., for example, all of Western Europe may well have been converted to Islam before there ever was a Crusade. Lt. Col. Mitchell's perspective has become somewhat stilted since the work was first published in 1964. His preoccupation with the Cold War is reflected in his closing comments, and may well have influenced his choice to include the Battle of Stalingrad (although that was probably the decisive battle of WWII). It is also difficult to judge whether the five battles included by Lt. Col. Mitchell -- with a hindsight of just 100 to 150 years or so -- will be as momentous to world history as, for instance, the Battle of Arbela, fought well over 2,000 years ago. The book is also a worthwhile glimpse into the lives of some of history's greatest military leaders, including Alexander, Hannibal, Washington, Napoleon, and many more. Each chapter is a relatively quick read, making this book ideal for bedtime. For anybody who enjoys history, military or otherwise, this is a worthwhile read. It will familiarize you with a short list of important battles (great stuff to know at your next cocktail party), but, more importantly, will enlighten you as to why, exactly, they are considered great at all. Enjoy. --By R. P. Cotta Jr.