A Dictionary of Battles – 1816-1976

Sinopse

Collaboration with Michael Calvert

This is the first volume in a series which will eventually cover all the significant battles which have been fought on land, sea and in the air since ancient times. By any standards, this is a mammoth project, commissioned to fill a major gap in military annals, and is the result of many years of dedicated research by one of Britain’s most distinguished historians in this field. It will be of immense value as a reference work both to the specialist and to the increasing number of general readers who are interested in military history.
In this volume, Brigadier Young takes us through battles, campaigns and sieges from 1816 to the present day. This was a period of tremendous change and development in the science of military strategy, taking in such watersheds as the Indian Mutiny, the American Civil War, two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam and the Middle East conflict. Out of these and many lesser campaigns come the ghosts of Robert E. Lee, Shih Ta-k’ai, Kitchener, von Hindenberg, Rommel and MacArthur. Their successes (and failures) on the battlefield are placed in the context of their historical importance and political significance and linked to such factors as the tactics employed and the relative strengths of the opposing forces. For ease of reference the entries are arranged alphabetically according to geographical divisions and, where applicable, each individual battle is cross-referenced with the larger campaign of which it formed a part.
Since this was an era which marked the demise of such hallowed institutions as cavalry and naval supremacy and in addition instituted tank warfare and aerial bombardment, the innovative contributions which specific battles made to the advancement of military lore and technique are fully documented.