Battle aims not just to identify the battles which changed history, but to offer deep insights into what lay behind them in terms of leadership, weaponry, tactics, timing, morale and innovation. Some of these battles were spectacular and decisive victories, while others altered the course of a broader conflict. Some had a longer-term impact, through their technological innovation, or their economic or political ramifications. 
 
While weaponry, tactics, and equipment have developed beyond recognition, what hasn’t changed at all is the fundamental objective of warfare. The constant theme running throughout the book is the use of warfare as a means of shaping the world we live in. From Marathon 490 B.C, where the citizens of Athens found the strength and courage to drive off the might of Darius I’s great Persian army, to the invasion of Ukraine in 2021, Battle will guide the reader to a full understanding of the evolution of warfare, as well as unearthing more about the famous commanders and units they led, the weapons they used and the tactics that brought them victory.
 
Contents
 
INTRODUCTION
 
PART I: MORALE
Marathon 490 BC
Siege of Alesia 52 BC
Lechfeld 955 CE
Bannockburn 1314
The Spanish Armada 1588
The Alamo 1836
Rorke’s Drift 1879
Stalingrad 1942-43
 
PART II: LEADERSHIP
Gaugamela 331 BC
Chibi (‘Red Cliffs’) 208 CE
Malta 1565
Blenheim 1704
Trafalgar 1805
Chancellorsville 1863
Verdun 1916
Ében-Émael 1940
 
PART III: INNOVATION
Zama 202 BC
Ain Jalut 1260
Agincourt 1415
Lepanto 1571
Marston Moor 1644
Gettysburg 1863
Battle of Britain 1940
Tokyo 1945
 
PART IV: SUBTERFUGE
Lake Trasimene 217 BC          
Constantinople 718 CE
Tenochtitlan 1521
Yorktown 1781
Kaiserschlact (‘Kaiser’s Battle’) 1918
Operation Bagration 1944
Dien Bien Phu 1954
Yom Kippur 1973
 
PART V: TIMINGS AND NUMBERS
The Teutoburg Forest 9 CE
Lake Peipus 1242
Lützen 1632
Austerlitz 1805
Midway 1942
The Bulge 1944
Hue, Tet Offensive 1968
Ukraine 2022
 
CONCLUSION
 
BIBLIOGRAPHY
 
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS