Yours To Reason Why: Decision In Battle (Da Capo Paperback) [Paperback]

William Seymour (Author)

Book Description

Series: Da Capo Paperback | Publication Date: August 21, 1983

Military science is far from an exact science, as Grant, Rommel, Clausewitz, Tolstoy, and other chroniclers of war have long argued. The tide of battle often depends on human factors—bad information, miscalculations, happy guesses, thorough planning—and on quirks of weather, timing, or faulty equipment. By providing all relevant information that Napoleon, Lee, Washington, and Henry V had at the ready, Yours to Reason Why isolates the moments when it seemed that victory could go to either side, and analyzes the decisions at the scene of ten famous battles—from Hastings and Waterloo to Gettysburg and Anzio. You must decide if Napoleon advances into Belgium or stands on the defensive, when to hit the beach at Anzio with air support, whether you follow Stonewall Jackson's advice to attack aggressively at Chancellorsville. William Seymour provides hundreds of maps, detail on terrain and armaments, the psychology of the generals, and complete information on troop strength and their readiness to fight. To enter these pages is to marshal famous armies, to be for a moment captain of their fates, and to match wits with the generals whose decisions made history.

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About the Author

William Seymour was born in London, educated at Eton, and stationed with Scot Guards in Burma, Iraq, and Malaya. He is the author of several books on military subjects, including Battles in Britain

Product Details

• Paperback: 338 pages
• Publisher: Da Capo Press (August 21, 1983)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 030680199X
• ISBN-13: 978-0306801990
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #3,157,876 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great educational fun: A wargame in text form., July 23, 2000

By 

James J. Bloom (Silver Spring, MD USA) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Yours To Reason Why: Decision In Battle (Da Capo Paperback) (Paperback)

I am glad to see that Da Capo decided to re-print this book in a cheap paperback edition. The author is always interesting and vivid (his review of Battles in Britain, for example). In this case, he takes the reader step by step through the situation as it unfolded before one of commanders, presenting information that he would have had at the time. At several critical points there is a "pause" to ask the reader to select one of the options. Immediately after in small print, Seymour explains the decision actually made and briefly discusses the wisdom of the choice. Then the narrative continues to a second critical juncture, and so on. Small tactical maps interspersed in the narrative (there are 76 in all) are quite helpful. The 25 plates containing paintings or photos of commanders, some artwork on the battlefield scenes and a few interesting contemporary cartoons aren't remarkable, but nicely complement the text. There are good orders of battle for each campaign selected and a very well chosen bibliography, arranged to match the respective battles. The selections of battles for the most part are the usual (see Creasy's 1851 classic) "decisive" encounters seen in other battle books: Hastings,Crecy, Agincourt, Cromwell in the Third (English) Civil War, Saratoga, Waterloo, Chancellorsville, and Gettysburg. The twentieth century battles might seem to deviate from this pattern a bit. Gaza/Palestine 1917 (instead of Passchendaele, Gallipoli, Verdun, Somme) and Anzio (instead of Britain, Barbarossa, Stalingrad, etc. for WWII). However the WWI and WWII selections are justified by the treatment in the narrative.

This is the way, in my humble opinion, military history should be taught, and to a large extent Seymour follows the methodology that has been used by the world's leading military academies.

Great reading, and terrific brain food. Highly recommended.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

3.0 out of 5 stars Stimulating, November 2, 2005

By 

Dale H. Robinson (Dayton Ohio) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Yours To Reason Why: Decision In Battle (Da Capo Paperback) (Paperback)

First read this classic years ago but I find myself returning to it time and again when I read a book on one of the battles Seymour covers. I go back and forth, staying slightly ahead in Seymour so I can feel a little of what the original commander felt trying to determine what's on the other side of the hill with limited information. Some have wondered why he chose the battles he did or, rather, did not choose more famous encounters. The criterion for a work like this is a battle with several decision points on both sides. So not just any battle will do. I especially like the practice of many small maps instead of one overly-detailed map. It enables one to follow the flow of the battle much better. The major fault with this book is probably the "traditional" viewpoint for at least some of the subject matter. "Old school" errors and prejudices poke through annoyingly for the American Civil War battles and even Waterloo. Still, worth a read--more than once.