Encyclopedia of Invasions and Conquests: From Ancient Times to the Present [Paperback]

Paul K. Davis (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: August 17, 1998 | ISBN-10: 0393317897 | ISBN-13: 978-0393317893

An authoritative and thoroughly readable volume that will prove invaluable for everyone from military historians to history buffs to those wanting to know the impact of war on the borders and cultures of countries around the world.

The Encyclopedia of Invasions and Conquests, a comprehensive guide to 192 invasions, conquests, battles, occupations, and military leaders from ancient times to the present, takes readers on a journey that includes the Roman conquest of Britain, the Portuguese colonization of Brazil, and the Iraqi invasion of Kuwait. This engaging, lucid, carefully researched volume provides a thorough review of each battle while examining the repercussions on infrastructure, tradition, language, and more. Some entries cover civilizations and cultures (Han Dynasty, the Huns, the Uzbeks), while others are devoted to selected historical figures (Julius Caesar, Napoleon Buonaparte, Douglas MacArthur). Each chapter provides a map to help readers locate key areas and geographical features. Other features include cross-references, a cumulative bibliography, and a comprehensive subject index. Photographs, maps

Editorial Reviews

From School Library Journal

Grade 8 Up. A single-volume encyclopedia that attempts to squeeze a lot of history into a few pages. The book is organized into seven broad eras ranging from the ancient world to the 20th century; within each time period, invasions and conquests are presented in alphabetical order. An introduction lists and numbers the events included and locates them on a vague outline map that does not delineate political boundaries. Articles are two-to-five pages in length. There are 35 black-and-white reproductions of illustrations, portraits, and photographs. Although the scope of the work is extensive, it is limited by the author's definitions of "conquest" and "invasion." Conquest is defined as "the occupation and long-term domination of one country by another." Invasion is described as "one country invading another," thus eliminating all civil wars and most revolutions. Many entries are vague; there are not enough specific dates and facts, and the battles or incidents are not placed within their larger historical context. The organization might lead to confusion in finding specific events. This volume might be useful for quick ready reference and the extensive bibliography will facilitate further research. However, most students will be better served by one of the many books written specifically about the historical events described only briefly here.?Marsha S. Holden, Lincolnwood Public Library, IL
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

From Library Journal

Defining invasion as an act of aggression by one country against another, Davis (history, Univ. of Texas, San Antonio) has produced a thorough, well-written analytical work that provides information on the invasions and conquests of global historical significance. Each entry includes two or three references for further reading and cross references to other entries. But what could have been a fine reference work is marred by an awkward arrangement, with entries listed alphabetically within broad time spans and no maps to show routes of invasion and conquest. This severely limits the usefulness of the encyclopedia. Academic libraries already possessing standard encyclopedias and Cambridge histories can safely pass on this one. Other libraries should approach with caution and purchase only if needed.?Stephen H. Peters, Northern Michigan Univ. Lib., Marquette
Copyright 1997 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Paperback: 464 pages
• Publisher: W. W. Norton & Company (August 17, 1998)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0393317897
• ISBN-13: 978-0393317893
• Product Dimensions: 9.8 x 7.1 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (6 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,515,733 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars Not a value, January 21, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Encyclopedia of Invasions and Conquests: From Ancient Times to the Present (Paperback)

The author's interpretations of many described historical events are exceptionally biased and most of the given references are outdated. The book suffers from a rather strange for an encyclopaedia presentation style (language), very low quality of illustrations and an unfortunate choice of alphabetical listing of topics.

5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Waste of money, January 13, 2000

By A Customer

This review is from: Encyclopedia of Invasions and Conquests: From Ancient Times to the Present (Paperback)

This is NOT a book for a serious reader. The choice of language, style in particular, is surprising for an encyclopedia, and more suitable for an early teen book. Redundancies are abundant, especially in the first two chapters. Here subsequent articles repeatedly cover the same subject, e.g. Alexander the Great and his deeds or the expansion of Rome, etc.. In part, this is due to the unfortunate alphabetical organization of the data that leads to going back and forth in time and revisiting the same ethnic groups more than once within the same time period. Some entries just do not fall under the author's definition of "invasion" and "conquest", but are short biographies of prominent historical figures.

The treatment of the World War II period is highly biased and outdated and reads like a carry-over from the Cold War period. In particular, the Nazi invasion of the Ukraine and Belorussia is described as having been warmly received by the locals. This is an utter distortion of historical events. Indeed, the western Ukraine has been rebellious throughout the Communist era and general Vlasoff has organized an army that fought along with the occupants against the Red Army (but this is not mentioned in the text). However, it has never been representative of the whole Ukranian and Belorussian population that incurred tremendous losses during the occupation. The fact is that the partisan war against Nazi in Belorussia has taken the guerilla-type warfare to a new level and simply remains unprecedented. The Nazi failure to capture Moscow is interpreted as the result of their inability to cope with the harsh winter that year, rather than due to the bitter opposition they faced (interestingly, it didn't t prevent Napoleon from doing it despite similarly cold winter a century-and-half earlier). I had mixed feelings having finished these two entries, because I was not sure with whom the author's sympathy was.

I honestly regret that I spent money on this book. It neither a true encyclopedia, nor a decent reference text in history. To readers out there I recommend to take a look at David Eggenberger's "Encyclopedia of Battles...", it is a far, far better reading.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Excellent and well researched, July 28, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Encyclopedia of Invasions and Conquests: From Ancient Times to the Present (Paperback)

This book was wonderful. It summarized vast amounts of information into concise articles, all of which were quite informative and definately interesting. I would recommend this book to anyone interested in increasing their knowledge of invasions, war and how we keep repeating history !