Battlegrounds : Geography and the Art of Warfare [Hardcover]

Michael Stephenson (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 9, 2003

An analysis of the way in which terrain affects how battles are fought and ultimately how it impacts history provides essays on historical conflicts complemented by vintage and modern maps.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Thirteen sections, each featuring a type of terrain or geographical feature, assess geography's role in determining military strategy and tactics. Extensively illustrated with maps and photos, each chapter contains two to four short summaries of battles or campaigns penned by distinguished military historians: Joseph Alexander, Gary Gallagher, Eric Bergerud and Bryan Perrett are all represented. The articles discuss the military difficulties presented by local geographies: movement is slow and visibility poor in forests, such as the Southeast Asia's Ia Drang Valley or the Teutoberger Wald of Germany circa 9 A.D. The classification of features and problems lends itself to difficulties, however: Yorktown and Bataan illustrate being trapped on a peninsula, but so does Gallipoli, which is for some reason in the "Coasts" section along with Marathon and Tarawa. Add to this the fact that contemporary and historical maps are merrily mixed, which can be misleading in terms of accuracy. On the whole, the book is a trifle superficial for the serious military student, but that level of background knowledge is needed to get full value from some of the articles and most of the maps.
Copyright 2003 Reed Business Information, Inc.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: National Geographic (September 9, 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0792233743
• ISBN-13: 978-0792233749
• Product Dimensions: 9.9 x 7.8 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 2.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.1 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,345,410 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 12 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Superficial is as Superficial Does, February 15, 2005

By 

Highlander (Albuquerque, NM USA) - See all my reviews

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This review is from: Battlegrounds : Geography and the Art of Warfare (Hardcover)

I was eagerly looking forward to the premise of this book -- "the influence of terrain upon combat." Upon reading, I discovered that the actual premise is the "arrangement of a shallow analysis of battles by their dominant terrain feature". The book's structure is equivalent to arranging battles in alphabetical order and describing the approach as a "typographical evaluation of letters upon combat." The terrain analysis part was sorely missing.

I had hoped that the writers would intertwine their recouting of the battle with the operational flow and tactical impact of the terrain. In all honesty, the subject of terrain was not ignored -- it was addressed in a most superfical, overall manner -- usually in the introduction to the battle -- and then often ignored thereafter.

And the maps. Godawful! Somehow the publisher decided that quaint historical period maps with little discernable detail would add a nice touch to the text. Artistically, they mave have. What they did not do is convey information about terrain nor, largely, the battle.

I would recommend this book only as a rudimentary introdution to military operations in varying terrain. I could not, in conscience, advance it as a text that analyized the interaction of terrain and combat.

It was a great disappointment. Look elsewhere.

15 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Diappointing Effort by NG, November 23, 2003

By A Customer

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Battlegrounds : Geography and the Art of Warfare (Hardcover)

This book is advertised in and partially sponsored by National Geographic. However, the treatment of the subject is so superficial as to leave any individual modestly knowledgeable of historically significant battles disappointed. Simple drawings and small scale historical 'views' are used with a short summary of each of many battles. The very least they could have done is provide a current (or for the very hold sites, 'best estimated) topo of the site.

I would not recommend this book.

8 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Excellent Book - 5 stars, December 13, 2004

By 

J. Ruehrmund "jruehrmund" (Richmond, Virginia United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Battlegrounds : Geography and the Art of Warfare (Hardcover)

I did a brief review of this book for the Richmond Times-Dispatch a year ago. As a retired military officer with 31 years of service, I liked it immensely and disagree completely with the other reviewers on Amazon who disliked it. I believe they do it a grave injustice. It makes an excellent addition to my military history collection. I liked the selection of battles and the way they were organized by geographic feature.