100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present [Library Binding]

Paul K. Davis (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1576070751 | ISBN-13: 978-1576070758 | Publication Date: December 1, 1999 | Edition: 1

What if the Saxons had triumphed over the Normans in the Battle of Hastings? If Washington had lost the Battle of Trenton? If Lee had won at Gettysburg? If the Germans had held the Allies at bay in Normandy? The world would be a much different place today.

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com Review

Sometimes a battle, such as the one that raged along France's Marne River in 1918, involves hundreds of thousands of soldiers and costs many lives. Sometimes, as in the case of Tippecanoe, a battle involves only a few hundred fighters. Great or small, as historian Paul Davis notes, history has turned on clashes such as these.

In this well-researched compendium, Davis examines battles that have had far-reaching historical consequences. The first entry covers the Battle of Megiddo, which delivered unto the Egyptian pharaoh Thutmose III an uneasy dominion over Palestine and broadened his empire into Asia; the final entry, set not far from the first, describes the Allied victory over Iraq in Desert Storm, which "denied control of a large portion of the Middle East oil reserves to dictator Saddam Hussein and showed the ability of a multinational coalition to succeed in the post-Cold War world, perhaps setting an example of future international military action." In between Davis considers similarly fateful but often forgotten contests, such as the Battle of Chalons, when another coalition--this one of Visigoths, Romans, and Gallic and Germanic tribes--turned back the huge Mongol army of Attila in A.D. 451, and the Battle of Shanhaikuan, when, in the spring of 1644, China's Ming dynasty fell to Manchu invaders. Davis sometimes prefers sweeping themes to mundane realities (the fact, for instance, that the Battle of Adrianople turned on the recent invention of the stirrup), and his compendium tends heavily toward Europe at the expense of other parts of the world. The illustrations are also of uneven quality and usefulness.

Still, readers with an interest in military history will find this to be a handy reference and overview, and they'll enjoy second-guessing the author, nominating battles that didn't make his hundred while learning from the obscure, but nonetheless critical, ones that he does address. --Gregory McNamee --This text refers to the Paperback edition.

From Booklist

Whenever anyone makes "the definitive list" on a subject, their choices are going to be second-guessed. Davis acknowledges the likelihood of continued debate regarding his selections in his preface. For example, why was Singapore included in the World War II section but not El-Alamien, why Leuctra and not Cannae, and so forth. For this list, his criteria included major social or political change resulting from the battle's outcome and major changes in warfare. He also states that he drew extensively upon the expertise of members of H-WAR, an Internet news group of military historians, in deciding which battles to include.

Entries begin in 1479 B.C. with Megiddo and end in 1991 with Desert Storm. There are familiar battles (Gettysburg, Marathon, Spanish Armada) and lesser known, such as Leuctra (371 B.C.), which ended Spartan dominance of the Greek peninsula. Non-European battles include Tsushima (1905), which established Japan as a naval force in their victory over Russia, and Huai Hai (Suchow) (1948^-1949), which ultimately led to the establishment of Taiwan.

Each entry is about three pages long and begins with facts regarding the sides involved and the number of forces engaged and a one-paragraph statement of the battle's importance. This is followed by historical background, description of the battle, and an analysis of the results. There are maps for some but not all of the battles. Supplemental information, such as a discussion of the Monroe Doctrine, is highlighted in sidebars. References are included at the end of each article as well as in the 100-page bibliography. Books are the primary sources listed, with a few magazine articles included.

This title provides broader coverage than John Macdonald's Great Battlefields of the World (Macmillan, 1985), which discusses only 30 battles; and it complements the more comprehensive Dictionary of Wars [RBB N 15 99]. It is a good specialized resource for world military history that could be used by high-school students as well as military-history buffs. Recommended for high-school, public-library, and undergraduate collections.
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Library Binding: 464 pages
• Publisher: ABC-CLIO; 1 edition (December 1, 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1576070751
• ISBN-13: 978-1576070758
• Product Dimensions: 10.3 x 7.4 x 1.6 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.4 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (15 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,963,041 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

16 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great concise book., August 12, 2001

By 

J. H. Yen "jhy" (Durham, NC) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present (Paperback)

This book provides a concise look at Davis's choice of 100 Decisive Battles. To many people 100 battles may seem little, but Davis's choices are by far the most important battles that shaped history. Many historians may argue with his choices but overall the most decisive ones are described in the book with justifiable reasons. One slight flaw to the book is that Davis does not balance geographically the battles. As a result, we have less-important European battles included and more-important Other battles excluded. The format is easy to follow. Davis takes each battle and writes out the chronology of the battle in the following sections: Forces Engaged, Importance, Historical Setting, The Battle and Results. Each battle doesn't take more than 5 pages. Due to its conciseness, some steps of the battle are left out, but Davis conveys his idea of why the battle is important. One small suggestion to the author would be to include more maps and troop movements for many times the location of troops has tremendous impact on the outcome of the battle. Another small suggestion would be to talk more about the strategies employed. Overall, this book is a great introduction to extensive studying of military history.

15 of 17 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Interesting, but some limitations, February 27, 2003

By 

Marc Osborne (Miami, FL, United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: 100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present (Library Binding)

Although ostensibly about battles, this book is better read as a snapshot-style history of major wars. The extensive sections on the background and results of the battles provide pretty good accounts of a lot of military campaigns. But Davis's summaries of the actual battles are generally too brief to be informative and the illustrations are poor. In addition, buyers should be aware that the book is primarily a history of Western battles, with a smaller number of battles from other areas added in. Finally, although Davis's writing style is fluid and generally engaging, the book contains a surprising number of grammatical errors that perfectionists may find distracting.

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent, Informative Resource, February 26, 2005

By 

Milo and Otis fan "Patrick" (Long Island, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: 100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present (Paperback)

"100 Decisive Battles" provides detailed information about 100 of the most important battles in the history of the world. With an average of 4 or 5 pages per battle, the book not only provides the reader with an excellent resource, but informative, in- depth passages as well. Every entry includes the name and date of the battle, as well as information about the opposing commanders, the size of the forces involved, and casualties. Also, the campaign and historical setting surrounding the battle are analyzed and explained. Many maps, pictures, and 'sidebars' with information about topics related to the battle are included.

Unlike many similar books, "100 Decisive Battles" is unbiased in its account of the battles, and also gives equal coverage to battles in all parts of the world, including regions often given insufficient coverage by other sources, such as the Middle East and Central America.

A table of contents, a preface explaining how the battles are selected, and an easy to use index are included.

Here is a list of all the battles listed in "100 Decisive Battles":

Megiddo, Thymbra, Marathon, Salamis, Leuctra, Syracuse, Chaeronea, Gaugamela, Ipsus, Metaurus River, kai-hsia, Zama, Pydna, Alesia, Pharsalus, Actium, Teutoburg Forest, Beth-horon, Milvian Bridge, Adrianople, Chalons, Tricameron, Badr, Constantinople, Tours, Pavia, Lechfeld, Hastings, Manzikert, Jerusalem, Hattin, Second Battle of Taraori, Bouvines, Ain Jalut, Hsiang-yang, Hakata Bay, Brusa, Crecy, Orleans, Constantinople, Grenada, Tenochtitlan, Panipat, Vienna, Cajamarca, Lepanto, Spanish Armada, Sekigahara, Breitenfeld, Shanhaikuan, Naseby, Battle of the Dunes, Blenheim, Poltava, Culloden, Plassey, Quebec, Trenton, Saratoga, Yorktown, Valmy, Rivoli, Aboukir Bay (Battle of the Nile), Trafalgar, Jena?Auerstadt, Tippecanoe, Borodino, Leipzig, Waterloo, Ayacucho San Jacinto, Mexico City, Antietam (Sharpsburg), Gettysburg, Atlanta, Sedan, Tel el Kebir, Manila Bay, Mukden, Tsushima, First Battle of the Marne, Verdun, Brusilov Offensive, Second Battle of the Marne, Warsaw, Poland, Dunkirk, Battle of Britain, Moscow, Pearl Harbor, Singapore, Midway, Normandy (D-Day), Okinawa, Isreal's War of Independence, Huai Hai (Suchow), Inchon, Dien Bien Phu, Tet Offensive, Desert Storm.

Overall, this book is essential to the library of anyone interested in history or warfare.