Complete war walks: from Hastings to Normandy

by Richard Holmes

This one-volume edition comprises both Richard Holmes' "War Walks" and "War Walks 2". Dates such as 1066 and names such as Dunkirk often strike a chord of nostalgia, but the details of the historic events associated with them are forgotten. In "The Complete War Walks" Richard Holmes takes us on a journey through time to visit 12 battlefields throughout Britain, Northern France and Belgium that mark crucial moments in Britain's bloody and turbulent history. From Hastings to Dunkirk, Agincourt to The Somme, Richard vividly recreates the atmosphere of these key battles in our history. With his expert knowledge of weapons and warfare and using specially commissioned maps, Richard Holmes provides a clear picture of the events which led up to each battle, the conflicts themselves, and the people who fought them. Using practical "views of the field", he travels the battlefields as they exist today, pointing out their places of interest, paying tribute to the men who fought there, and bringing history to life.

Genres: Nonfiction, History

448 pages, Paperback

First published May 22, 2003

About the author

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Edward Richard Holmes was Professor of Military and Security Studies at Cranfield University and the Royal Military College of Science. He was educated at Cambridge, Northern Illinois, and Reading Universities, and carried out his doctoral research on the French army of the Second Empire. For many years he taught military history at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst.

A celebrated military historian, Holmes is the author of the best-selling and widely acclaimed Tommy and Redcoat: The British Soldier in the Age of Horse and Musket. His dozen other books include Dusty Warriors, Sahib, The Western Front, The Little Field Marshal: Sir John French, The Road to Sedan, Firing Line, The Second World War in Photographs and Fatal Avenue: A Traveller’s History of Northern France and Flanders (also published by Pimlico).

He was general editor of The Oxford Companion to Military History and has presented eight BBC TV series, including ‘War Walks’, ‘The Western Front’ and ‘Battlefields’, and is famous for his hugely successful series ‘Wellington: The Iron Duke’ and ‘Rebels and Redcoats’.

Reviews

[Michael Watson · Rating 5 out of 5]

As always, superbly written. It’s concise and full of great context. This man really was my launch into military history.

[James Lunny · Rating 5 out of 5]

The master military historian at work.

[Chris Wray · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a very enjoyable and informative read, written in Richard Holmes' distinctive style - concise, clear and vivid prose. Holmes provides some background context to each battle before outlining the progress of the battle itself, and ending with a sketch of the contemporary landscape and how the contemporary traveller can best get a sense of the ground that was fought over. Ranging from Agincourt to Operation Goodwood, this is a whistle-stop tour of some of the landmarks of British military history, and acts as a good introduction to several periods that the reader may want to research in more detail.