Customer Reviews

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

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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.

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.