Fatal Victories

by William Weir

A bull's eye performance.-Publishers Weekly Unique and thought-provoking.-The Historian A noted historian and master storyteller explores the costly, often calamitous -effects of victories gained by brilliant military commanders in fourteen historical -battles-from Hannibal at Cannae to Bunker Hill, Sarajevo, Pearl Harbor, and the Tet Offensive in Vietnam.

Genres: History, Nonfiction

272 pages, Paperback

First published June 1, 1993

Reviews

[Little Timmy · Rating 3 out of 5]

Nice overview histories of these eventful battles. Nicely written and an good read. Recommended

[Davy Bennett · Rating 4 out of 5]

I am pretty weak in Roman and ancient history and trying to brush up. Just a biz major who is self taught.
I was always confused by Germans being called Huns when the Mongolians under Atilla were Huns.

The chapter on Chalons 451 AD shed some light. Atilla's armies defeated and absorbed quite a few Germans in this era. All they could do was charge with lances so Atilla had to change his tactics to account for this, and not having archers on horseback in segments of his army.

Atilla was turned away and died of a massive nose-bleed after a drunken night shortly after this battle. Interestingly, he had a new German wife.

The Roman armies didn't chase him after Troyes-Chalons so he could've come back if he had lived longer. Reminds me of Meade after Gettysburg, but armchair generals don't face the realities that the actors do.
Rome fell a little after this to the germanic barbarian attacks, being the last straw after vitality was lost. Vandal entered the lexicon.

[Joker · Rating 2 out of 5]

Zapewne pierwsze skojarzenie po przeczytaniu to Pyrrus, który jest, a jak na pierwszym miejscu. W tym miejscu autor wyjaśnia w jaki sposób analizował daną kampanię/bitwę/wojnę. Do jednego mogę się przyczepić. W niektórych rozdziałach wnioski są krótkie i niekiedy naciągane, a Wojnę Secesyjną to można by sobie darować.

[Alan Carlson · Rating 4 out of 5]

A wide-ranging, chronological look at how and why armies and countries win the battle and therefore - in some instances -- lose the war. Very readable. It does lack maps, which in some cases could have been useful.

[Bill Harper · Rating 4 out of 5]

This was a unique book, because William Weir used stories of where an army won a victory but lost the war in the end. The stories are very good for easy understanding. It is a book that I would recommend for the casual military history reader. Enjoy

[Witek · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very poorly written book, which appeals neither to historians, nor to amateurs. Inexplicable theses, a combination of boringly detailed descriptions of battles with no visual aid whatsoever (has Weir even heard of a map?)- all these things make this very difficult and very annoying to read.

[Curtiss · Rating 3 out of 5]

The subtitle says it all.