The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Battles: Eyewitness Accounts of History's Greatest Battles, from Thermopyle to the Gulf War [Bargain Price] [Paperback]

Richard Russell Lawrence (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: December 23, 2002

This book is a rousing collection of eyewitness accounts detailing 150 of the most crucial battles in the past 2,500 years of world history. From the Spartan defeat of the Athenians at Delion, recounted in 424 b.c. by Thucydides, to a fighter pilot’s firsthand account of an air attack by a squadron of Tornados on Iraq in Operation Desert Storm, with dramatic immediacy this stirring Mammoth volume chronicles 25 centuries of military history in the words of the hoplites, knights, musketeers, foot soldiers, cavalrymen, and bombardiers who fought them. Drawn from the reports both of commanding officers and of rank-and-file soldiers in the presentation of critical battles in such military conflicts as the Crusades, the Hundred Years War, the American War for Independence and Civil War, and World Wars I and II, the book’s selections provide both an overview of what happened and a vivid picture of what it was like in the trenches or on the field when it happened. Where it happened ranges from Antioch to Agincourt to Austerlitz to Antietam, from Bunker Hill to San Juan Hill, from the Crimea to the Somme, from Crecy to Coruna to Khe Sanh in Vietnam. Throughout, editor Richard Lawrence places the eyewitness accounts in a narrative context and includes more than 50 maps that situate the battles and the fields where this volume’s officers and infantrymen momentously made history.

--This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Product Details

• Paperback: 512 pages
• ISBN-10: 0786711191
• ASIN: B000HWYUIO
• Product Dimensions: 7.8 x 5.1 x 1.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 14.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 1.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #331,568 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Very disappointing, January 5, 2004

By 

Stefan C. Mazur (Santa Barbara, CA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Mammoth Book of Eyewitness Battles: Eyewitness Accounts of History's Greatest Battles, from Thermopyle to the Gulf War (Paperback)

A thoroughly misleading book and title.
This should have been titled "the american civil war" which is covered in exhausting pages!
There is virtually no coverage of the major battles that shaped civilization. For example, Alexander of Macedonia, who was the most accomplished of all generals in all time history (by far!), is not covered or even mentioned. How can anyone write a book on battles without Alexander or covering the battle of Gaugamela? Or his battle of Issus where he was again outnumbered and yet beat Darius's Persian army decisively! WWII is likewise disappointing in its coverage. There is no mention of the great tank battles fought by commanders like Guderian and Rommel. Nor is there Patton or McArthur coverage.
However, the "battle" of Falkland is covered!! What a waste of paper.