The War Chronicles: From Chariots to Flintlocks

by Joseph Cummins

22 Centuries of Warfare, 22 Wars that Changed the World. All are captured in 400 pages filled with more than 150 archival illustrations gathered from around the world. The War Chronicles acts as a perfect primer for novices while offering seasoned history readers new perspectives on many famous and some not-so-well-known conflicts. Each chapter includes a quick-reference summary, a timeline, an overview of the war, essays on its principal leaders, a series of short, often offbeat features on aspects of the conflict, and a detailed account of a pivotal battle.  Author Joseph Cummins highlights pivotal victories that changed nations, from the Norman invasion of England in 1066 to the Spanish conquest of Mexico in 1521, and delineates defining moments in the development of political philosophies, from Athens’ defense of democracy against Persian despotism to the championing of equal rights for all in the American Revolution. It recounts the heroism of armies and individuals, from the Spartans’ fight to the death against the Persians at Thermopylae in 480 BC to the Korean admiral who inspired his country to repel a massive Japanese invasion in the 1590s. Yet it does not shy away from showing the acts of savagery that characterize much warfare, describing, for example, the trail of devastation left by the Mongols as they cut a swath through Asia and Eastern Europe in the thirteenth century, and the atrocities perpetrated on German civilians by all sides in the Thirty Years’ War of the seventeenth century. “Cummins’ main goal of illustrating the law of unintended consequences is nimbly achieved with gripping stories and lively writing.”  -- Library Journal

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Military Fiction

400 pages, Hardcover

First published September 1, 2008

About the author

Joseph Cummins is the author of numerous books, including Anything for a Vote: Dirty Tricks, Cheap Shots and October Surprises in U.S. Presidential Elections; A Bloody History of the World, which won the 2010 Our History Project Gold Medal Award; and the forthcoming Ten Tea Parties: Patriotic Protests That History Forgot. He lives in Maplewood, New Jersey, with his wife and daughter.

Reviews

[Simon Cleveland · Rating 4 out of 5]

You get what you pay for with this book. Let's face it, you can't cram 1700 years of military history into 400 pages (including pictures) without omitting a large chuck of valuable information (strategy, impact and consequences of the battles). What you get is some information about the battle, the campaign, the leaders and whatever else the author felt critical to acknowledge. And that in my opinion is plenty considering the time scale.

I commend the author for his attempt. Sure, everyone is deemed to commit the sin of forgoing accuracy for the sake of the big picture. For example, I am very interested in the military history of Eastern Europe during 1400-1700AD. Not a lot is mentioned in this book regarding specific conflicts between the Ottoman Empire and the enslaved populations of the Balkans. There is some detail about the janissaries, but is mentioned only in passing (there is such remarkable history about these warriors and yet the book omits the details).

I have to admit I'm a bit disappointed in the lack of certain details, yet grateful in the chance to have a book that outlines the big picture. I recommend it to all interested in learning the key battles of the past that changed history.

[Jessica · Rating 4 out of 5]

very nice. set out very clearly.

[Tahir · Rating 2 out of 5]

The books writing and format is best suited for a teenager who just wants a quick read. I’d also like to add that there are a few mistakes or controversial aspects brought up without a neutral understanding or unbiased view of those subjects. For example like forced conversions, it’s a very controversial topic, however, the author naively doesn’t mention any way of letting the reader know that. From my experience, this book has a lot of propaganda supporting the Christian or European history and wars, and in many parts of the book it seemed quite Islamophobic. “The Muslims Melt Away”(125), “-and Europe was saved from Islamic domination” (120) these are just a few... I do not recommend this book for a serious historical enthusiast.

[Jesse]

A decent summary of events but look elsewhere if you're wanting anything more than a recap.

[zedoul · Rating 1 out of 5]

First and foremost, you will get what you pay for: mostly you can't get a better understanding from limited amount of pages, which I did not realised since I bought this book from e-book store. If I can check the volume and any detail on pages in the middle of the book, I wouldn't buy it.

This book, which would be a so-so summary of historical and decisive battles all over the world, is lacks of details. The contents in the book is so worse that printing Wikipedia pages could be a better choice.

All in all, do not buy it.