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100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present
From the ancient Egyptian battle at Megiddo in 1469 BC to the recent military actions in Iraq, great battles have had an enormous impact on the shaping of history. Now, in this fully illustrated book, one hundred of the world's most important military confrontations are described in detail. 100 Decisive Battles gives us the facts about the battle and also explains where it fits in to the scope of world history.
In each entry we are given the name and date of the battle, the commanders, the size of the opposing forces, and casualties. An account of the battle plan and the military action are strategically discussed, and each description closes with a valuable consideration of how history was affected by the outcome of the conflict. Among the battles presented are the Battle of Thymbra (546 BC), the Battle of Chalons (451 AD), the Battle of Cajamarca (1532), the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954), and the Tet Offensive (1968). Accompanying maps and sidebars help further orient us with each military action.
Global in scope, with excellent coverage of American, Central American, European, Asian, and Middle Eastern battles, and with its stirring accounts of familiar battles and many lesser known military conflicts, 100 Decisive Battles is essential reading for military buffs and anyone interested in how the modern world came to be.
In each entry we are given the name and date of the battle, the commanders, the size of the opposing forces, and casualties. An account of the battle plan and the military action are strategically discussed, and each description closes with a valuable consideration of how history was affected by the outcome of the conflict. Among the battles presented are the Battle of Thymbra (546 BC), the Battle of Chalons (451 AD), the Battle of Cajamarca (1532), the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954), and the Tet Offensive (1968). Accompanying maps and sidebars help further orient us with each military action.
Global in scope, with excellent coverage of American, Central American, European, Asian, and Middle Eastern battles, and with its stirring accounts of familiar battles and many lesser known military conflicts, 100 Decisive Battles is essential reading for military buffs and anyone interested in how the modern world came to be.
480 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1999
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Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews
September 11, 2021
Manabile o biginio che dir di voglia di avviamento alla Storia, dagli albori ai nostri giorni seguendo le tracce delle (presunte) battaglie decisive. L'utilita' del volume e' limitata dalla incredibile poverta' del supporto iconografico e delle mappe d'insieme, questo, unito alla necessaria stringatezza dei testi, ne fanno un libro prettamente da consultazione sporadica. Piccola nota a margine: l'autore (anglosassone cosi' come il pubblico originario) ritiene che l'assedio di Stalingrado non sia stata una tappa cosi' fondamentale, come del resto la disfatta USA in Vietnam sia stata invece frutto di casualita' e il primo Desert Storm una guerra contro un potente ed organizzato esercito....
July 26, 2012
I picked this up from my local library as some light-n-fluffy history reading and I didn't particularly like it. The presentation felt uneven, the inclusion of maps felt random, the author occasionally mixed up his directions (east vs west), and background information on battles from the same war often felt repetitive. For a book published in 1999, it also seems to lean heavily on old sources; on the battles I was already more familiar with, I often felt information presented was a bit outdated and inaccurate. Those faults aside, the writing style was at least decent.
If you're just beginning to read about military history this might be a useful introduction, but I daresay you're better off just reading Wikipedia.
If you're just beginning to read about military history this might be a useful introduction, but I daresay you're better off just reading Wikipedia.
October 2, 2007
Good synopsis of the battles that are described. Though I wouldn't rate some of them in the top 100. I would not have rated the 1st Gulf War in the top 100. I would have put Kursk before GW 1, but that's the beauty in doing a top 100, always room for opinions. Otherwise nice, short, and concise. Kind of like your Cliff Notes for battles.
October 11, 2021
I purchased a copy of this book for my father about ten years ago. He was an instant fan, and he would often tell me about what a pleasure it was to read each chapter. He liked to savor them for fear of running out. I concur. Paul K. Davis is an excellent writer, weaving together history, war, politics, and culture. The real emphasis is on the last, as these decisive battles are generally discussed more in terms of the cultural and social significance than in terms of combat. Davis does go into a fair amount of tactics, strategy, arms, battle formations, and the like, but it's more to set the stage than the main event. The battles range across thousands of years and nearly every corner of the Earth.
There is one chapter for each of the hundred battles. Each chapter is only a few pages and is is a self-contained story, so you can conveniently flip to whatever battle interests you. I'm just writing this review today, but I've probably read this book five times over, just never cover-to-cover. This makes it accessible to a casual reader that is only interested in one or two battles At the same time, it's more than a survey text with each chapter having enough detail (and such excellent prose!) to satisfy a serious interest in the history of war. Davis uses a three part structure for each chapter: "Historical Setting" to put it in context, "The Battle" for what happened, and "Results" for the historical, political, and social consequences (essentially, why it's important). There are a fair number of illustrations, maps, battle formations, paintings, and brief side stories all to flesh out the text. The side stories typically take up half a page and range from further explanation of matters from the text (What was Greek Fire? Who were the Mamluks?) to additional background information (Emperor Justinian repeated forcing Belisarius into retirement for fear of his popularity, only to call on him again and again) or why one battle was included in the text in place of another (Moscow instead of Stalingrad).
You may think this book is geared toward aficionados of military history, but I honestly feel this book is best suited for a reader that is generally put off by the topic. That's not to say it's designed for conversion. But I feel military history is too often pigeonholed into a separate category, something interesting and valuable only to people that like fighting and war. This criticism often comes in the form of "a bunch of names and dates", and indeed many people do learn history as learning a list of things that happened and when they happened without actually understanding why they happened or why we still talk about them. Davis does an excellent job to humanize the parties involved, making the stories resonate from their time to our own.
There is one chapter for each of the hundred battles. Each chapter is only a few pages and is is a self-contained story, so you can conveniently flip to whatever battle interests you. I'm just writing this review today, but I've probably read this book five times over, just never cover-to-cover. This makes it accessible to a casual reader that is only interested in one or two battles At the same time, it's more than a survey text with each chapter having enough detail (and such excellent prose!) to satisfy a serious interest in the history of war. Davis uses a three part structure for each chapter: "Historical Setting" to put it in context, "The Battle" for what happened, and "Results" for the historical, political, and social consequences (essentially, why it's important). There are a fair number of illustrations, maps, battle formations, paintings, and brief side stories all to flesh out the text. The side stories typically take up half a page and range from further explanation of matters from the text (What was Greek Fire? Who were the Mamluks?) to additional background information (Emperor Justinian repeated forcing Belisarius into retirement for fear of his popularity, only to call on him again and again) or why one battle was included in the text in place of another (Moscow instead of Stalingrad).
You may think this book is geared toward aficionados of military history, but I honestly feel this book is best suited for a reader that is generally put off by the topic. That's not to say it's designed for conversion. But I feel military history is too often pigeonholed into a separate category, something interesting and valuable only to people that like fighting and war. This criticism often comes in the form of "a bunch of names and dates", and indeed many people do learn history as learning a list of things that happened and when they happened without actually understanding why they happened or why we still talk about them. Davis does an excellent job to humanize the parties involved, making the stories resonate from their time to our own.
January 17, 2025
Made the mistake of reading this straight through. It is meant more as a reference book. Pick and choose some of the ones you want to read about. Some of the battles were more engaging than others to read about. Some bias can be read into what he is saying with some of the battles. Interesting point is that the first recorded battle of world history at Megiddo is where the Bible says the final battle with Jesus and Satan will take place in the end times.
May 28, 2020
I learned a lot from this book. Its pacing was great, never dwelling on one battle for too long, and oftentimes, the results of one battle set the scene for the next. The "What ifs?" at the end of each 'chapter' led to some interesting internal discussions...
January 5, 2022
Good Book 👍👍👍
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January 9, 2022I used this book as a resource for a fifth grade history project.
December 30, 2022
Densely packed with all sorts of interesting historical insights. Each battle is covered in only a few pages, so it's the kind of book that lends itself to being perused in short sessions. The style is concise and factual, but without being too dry. Not every battle was interesting to me, but some had me enthralled.
I haven't read much military history, so I appreciated that each of the battles was prefaced by historical context, and followed by results and ramifications. Learning how political forces conspired and technology evolved to result in the countries and powers that exist today was interesting and worthwhile.
I haven't read much military history, so I appreciated that each of the battles was prefaced by historical context, and followed by results and ramifications. Learning how political forces conspired and technology evolved to result in the countries and powers that exist today was interesting and worthwhile.
November 20, 2009
Paul Davis undertakes an effort to identify the 100 most decisive battles in history. The three criteria that he uses to select key battles:
"1. The outcome of the battle brought about a major political or social change. . . .
2. Had the outcome of the battle been reversed, major political or social changes would
have ensued. . . .
3. The battle marks the introduction of a major change in warfare."
There follows the enumeration, with each battle covered in 4-5 pages, with (sometimes) maps, with a brief preface that outlines what happened and why the battles was important.
The book reads pretty well and provokes a lot of thinking about the subject. However, there is some idiosyncrasy in the selection of battles. Of course, honorable people will differ, but some of the choices are strange indeed.
Inchon is selected as a decisive battle; yet the Korean War was something of a draw. Hard for me to see how a long, bloody, and indecisive conflict could have a battle conceived as one of the world's most decisive combats. "Desert Storm"? A third rate power (Iraq) against the most powerful nation on earth? A one-sided conflict. Further, the invasion of Iraq in the 21st century suggests that there was nothing decisive about Desert Storm. Otherwise, why a revisitation of the conflict between the United States and Iraq? The fact that four of the hundred were from the Pacific Theater in World War II suggests a real imbalance. Further, the author uses a strange logic to argue that Pearl Harbor was decisive. A great loss led to the US entering the war. An awkward logic by which to label this decisive. Midway was much more important, since it wrecked much of the Japanese carrier capability. Another query: Why both Leipzig and Waterloo? How often does Napoleon need to be defeated for a decisive victory? And if those were decisive, why include Napoleon's great victories, since he was fated to lose (e.g., Jena)? Why Jena rather than his masterpiece at Austerlitz? The rationale for Jena is pretty weak.
As other reviewers note, there is a heavy emphasis on Western battles.
In the end, even though one can disagree with many of the selections, this is a good read and does lead to some thinking about what were the most decisive battles. The fact that such questions emerge suggests the utility of the volume.
"1. The outcome of the battle brought about a major political or social change. . . .
2. Had the outcome of the battle been reversed, major political or social changes would
have ensued. . . .
3. The battle marks the introduction of a major change in warfare."
There follows the enumeration, with each battle covered in 4-5 pages, with (sometimes) maps, with a brief preface that outlines what happened and why the battles was important.
The book reads pretty well and provokes a lot of thinking about the subject. However, there is some idiosyncrasy in the selection of battles. Of course, honorable people will differ, but some of the choices are strange indeed.
Inchon is selected as a decisive battle; yet the Korean War was something of a draw. Hard for me to see how a long, bloody, and indecisive conflict could have a battle conceived as one of the world's most decisive combats. "Desert Storm"? A third rate power (Iraq) against the most powerful nation on earth? A one-sided conflict. Further, the invasion of Iraq in the 21st century suggests that there was nothing decisive about Desert Storm. Otherwise, why a revisitation of the conflict between the United States and Iraq? The fact that four of the hundred were from the Pacific Theater in World War II suggests a real imbalance. Further, the author uses a strange logic to argue that Pearl Harbor was decisive. A great loss led to the US entering the war. An awkward logic by which to label this decisive. Midway was much more important, since it wrecked much of the Japanese carrier capability. Another query: Why both Leipzig and Waterloo? How often does Napoleon need to be defeated for a decisive victory? And if those were decisive, why include Napoleon's great victories, since he was fated to lose (e.g., Jena)? Why Jena rather than his masterpiece at Austerlitz? The rationale for Jena is pretty weak.
As other reviewers note, there is a heavy emphasis on Western battles.
In the end, even though one can disagree with many of the selections, this is a good read and does lead to some thinking about what were the most decisive battles. The fact that such questions emerge suggests the utility of the volume.
May 19, 2013
One of my all time favorite military history books, and one that I use regularly as an encyclopedic guide to history's most interesting and significant battles. Each of the 100 chapters is broken down into three short and concise sections: the events that led to the battle, the details of the battle, and how the battle's outcome affected the course of history. While each chapter is only 1-2 pages, Paul K. Davis manages to give the reader a remarkably thorough overview of the battle and its historical significance. A must have for all military history buffs, though armchair generals will no doubt argue that some worthy battles were left out (Stalingrad or Kursk comes to mind).
February 8, 2013
This book is fantastic for learning about 100 battles in all of history. The author does a great job of keeping every battle to about 3-4 pages, but you learn enough that each battle could be its own book. The maps and sidebars are also very good, and they put lots of things into great detail.
All of the battles are clearly decisive in ancient and modern history, and the Author also does a great ob of explaining why and what happened after. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes battles from any point in history.
All of the battles are clearly decisive in ancient and modern history, and the Author also does a great ob of explaining why and what happened after. I would definitely recommend this book to anyone that likes battles from any point in history.
August 8, 2019
Outstanding. Maintains an excellent balance between relevant technical and tactical detail on the one hand, and historical context and impact on the other, all the while with accessible writing and solid visual aids. I consider this a must-read introduction to military history in general, and can be enjoyed by the casual reader as well. Pair this with Sun Tzu to get the most out of both texts; they complement each other brilliantly.
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December 18, 2013Well here you go the quick cheat sheet for all the historical battles that changed the course of history. Very informative very easy to read very very educational. I reccccomend highly for all SPPPPPPAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRTTTTTTAAAAANNNNSSS!!
June 18, 2008
Some of the older battles were fascinating but the American battles were far less grand. Of course, this is all a matter of opinion, but it seemed like the book started off great and ended up boring at the end. Still, this is a great book and I recommend it highly.
May 28, 2012
I liked the idea of this book more than the execution. The maps gave me little understanding of the tactical situation and the commentary for each battle was too superficial. Perhaps he should have covered 50 battles well.
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May 17, 2009Boring format, boring writing...just plain boring.
July 19, 2009
Maps of battles were almost worthless, but overall it was a good introduction to many historical battles and how they affected history.
July 31, 2009
Thin ... fun kind of stuff. A better conversation starter than a book.
Displaying 1 - 20 of 20 reviews