Customer Reviews

Battlefield Detectives

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Everyone who is interested in military history has read about Hastings, Agincourt and Little Bighorn and has some idea of what happened at each of those battles. But what if the history books are wrong, or at least a bit off? What if the key elements of these and other battles are actually different from what we've come to believe?

Wason explores the myths and realities about several major battles, looking at each with the aid of modern archaeology, psychology, meteorology and other disciplines. Among the topics explored:

What were the management styles of William the Conqueror and King Harold, and how does that help to explain who won at the Battle of Hastings?

Was Agincourt really decided by the vaunted long bow, or did the English victory have more to do with crowd dynamics and the viscosity of French mud?

Was the Spanish Armada lost because the fleet's navigators mis-judged its position by hundred of miles? What role did English guns and ship design play in the outcome?

Was Marshal Ney fit for command on the day of Waterloo, or did combat fatigue put an end to The Hundred Days?

Did Custer's batallion fight a disciplined "last stand" against an overwhelming force of Native Americans, or was it quickly routed by a healthier, better-equipped foe?

"Battlefield Detectives" offers an interesting exploration of these and other engagements, including Balaklava and Gallipoli. All in all, a well written and enjoyable critique of the myths surrounding these famous struggles.

If you enjoy reading about what modern science can tell us about old battles, consider reading Hugh Miller's "More Secrets of the Dead" (which provides an interesting perspective on the Battle of Isandlawana), the "Two Men in a Trench" series, and "The Battle that Stopped Rome" (about the Battle of the Teutoberg Forest).

This is one of those books you often see published anong with or after a TV Series.Unfortunately,because of time constraints,things have to be glossed over,and on top of that, to command an audience, things have to be kept very general and simple.Also, this book, in only 255 pages, covers 7 major battles,so nothing but a brief overview is possible.
What is attempted here,and I think fairly well considering the constraints,is to utilize present day invesgative procedures and return to the original battle sites and prove what really happened and why.
After having read this book,one will look at these battles in a very different way.It is nothing new to read different accounts of an event and come away with very different impressions;and for a variety of reasons.Everyone has had the experience of witnessing an event, then reading about it next day;and asking oneself,"Is that the same event I was at?".So,it,s little wonder,reading about battles, many years after they took place,gives wildly differing accounts.
Some time ago I read a book on the Spanish Armada.It was portrayed totally different from what I remember in school history.Rather than a brilliant British naval victory it was one humongeous fiasco on the part of the Spanish king with the weather being the main reason the armada was destroyed.The king set it all in motion,without either himself or the leader having any plan or object defined.It was not an amarda of fighting ships and trained sea fighters,but a mish-mash of ships rounded up around the Mediterrean ,many not even fighting ships and carry a mixed bag of army types.On top of that the King put a man in charge who was totally incapable,and knew it;and on top of it all didn't want to lead it.
Once this hodge-podge got in the English Channel the weather took over and storms wrecked most of the ships.A couple of years ago, I was in Galway,Ireland and saw where a bunch of Spanish Armada survivors managed to get ashore after their ship had been wrecked in a storm.They were rounded up and put to death.This was just a ship lost in a storm,being sailed by a crew way in over their heads, trying to get back to spain.
So,I wasn't too surprised when I read Mason's ideas on what really happened.
The book is a good read for someone who is looking for light overage.For someone who wants more information an any one of these 7 battles,I am sure there's thousands of books waiting for you.The author even gives you lots of titles to get you started.
Nonetheless,an interesting way to look at history.

The book was a reasonable primer on a number of key battles in western history (including Hastings, Waterloo, Bighorn and Gallipoli). Overall, however, the book was disappointing considering what it could have been. Each chapter on a single battle was similar in style in that there was the course of the battle, an explanation of the lead up, the leaders and also the area of the battle. The chapters then explored various issues within the battle. These discussion were not uniform in their standard with some being superficial. (I am still lost why they had a modern management consultant who had studied William and Harold give his opinion about their leadership style at Hastings, considering the glib prose that he used.)

Each chapter read like a series of points that were expanded out but with no conclusion at the end. Maybe the introduction was supposed to provide enough structure for the chapter but each chapter seemed to end abruptly without a conclusion about how the reader had been enlightened about what had really occurred in the battle.

Another criticism was that the book lacked maps, not a single one for any chapter. For those not familiar with the countries or the battles this was a real deficiency. The Battle of Bighorn was crying out for a map given how the chapter explored the complex movements of the 7th Cavalry.

I thought that the chapter on the Armada was the weakest chapter in that it seemed to lose way and appeared to have a lot of repetition. Most of the other chapters were very good although Balaklava likewise meandered and was very loose.

For those who have not read much about these battles but are looking for a single volume to update them on recent discoveries then this is the book. Appreciate that it has shortcomings but does refer to some further reading in the back. It also has a list of urls for further reading.