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The Decisive Battles of the Western World and Their Influence upon History #1
A Military History of the Western World: From the Earliest Times to the Battle of Lepanto (Da Capo Paperback) Vol. 1
Major General J. F. C. Fuller, a pioneer of mechanized warfare in Great Britain, was one of this century's most renowned military strategists and historians. In this magisterial work he spans military history from the Greeks to the end of World War II, describing tactics, battle lines, the day-to-day struggles while always relating affairs on the field to the larger questions of social, political, and economic change in Western civilization. A masterpiece of scholarship and biting prose, these volumes are available for the first time in a handsome trade paperback edition. This first volume includes the rise of imperialism, the major battles, and the political and social changes from Greece, Rome, the Carolingian Empire, Byzantium, the siege and fall of Constantinople in 1453, to the rise of the Spanish and Ottoman Empires and the Battle of Lepanto in 1571.
616 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1954
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About the author
J.F.C. Fuller
127 books69 followersMajor-General John Frederick Charles Fuller, CB, CBE, DSO was a British Army officer (1899–1933), military historian and strategist, notable as an early theorist of modern armoured warfare, including categorising principles of warfare.
Fuller was also an early disciple of English poet and magician Aleister Crowley and was very familiar with his, and other forms of, magick and mysticism.
Fuller was also an early disciple of English poet and magician Aleister Crowley and was very familiar with his, and other forms of, magick and mysticism.
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Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews
July 30, 2021
Detailed account for anyone interested. I would also recommend checking out The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World by Edward Shepherd Creasy as something to compare to. The two cover pretty much the same time period with Creasy covering events up to Waterloo in his single volume. Fuller has an impressive command of both the strategy and tactics implemented in each of the battles. History by definition will always by a selection process and contain differing opinions speaking to the outcome of each event. The former point can be illustrated by what was left out of the list(the battle of Cannae was mentioned only in passing) while he devotes an entire chapter to the battle of Pydna.
The outcomes of each battle do not rely on a monocausal explanation but do leave the reader wanting some more elaboration. For example, the reader is left with the impression that many of the battles were resultant of one side being more incompetent and disorganized. This is particularly evident in the back half of this volume when discussing the battles surrounding the slow decline of the Byzantine empire, the demise of the Macedonian kingdom, and the failure of the Moors at the battle of Granada.
Fuller does do an evenhanded job in pointing out the faults and blunders of all the parties involved and in doing so passes off as someone who is at least making an attempt at objectivity. This strength is showcased in earlier part of the book when he mentions in passing, more than once, that the single source of these battles leaves many unanswered questions. Marathon, Salamis, Metaurus are all discussed in a way that prompts rumination on our evaluation of primary sources.
The outcomes of each battle do not rely on a monocausal explanation but do leave the reader wanting some more elaboration. For example, the reader is left with the impression that many of the battles were resultant of one side being more incompetent and disorganized. This is particularly evident in the back half of this volume when discussing the battles surrounding the slow decline of the Byzantine empire, the demise of the Macedonian kingdom, and the failure of the Moors at the battle of Granada.
Fuller does do an evenhanded job in pointing out the faults and blunders of all the parties involved and in doing so passes off as someone who is at least making an attempt at objectivity. This strength is showcased in earlier part of the book when he mentions in passing, more than once, that the single source of these battles leaves many unanswered questions. Marathon, Salamis, Metaurus are all discussed in a way that prompts rumination on our evaluation of primary sources.
March 28, 2011
Excellant. The 3 volumes in this series are necessary reading for those with an interest in military history
January 2, 2023
This book is enjoyable and perhaps useful for persons interested in military history, but has several major flaws. Most notably, the subject is so broad that no battle, no matter how famous or important, can be given much attention. Indeed, Thermopylae is mentioned only in passing, and Cannae handled in less than one full page. Also, the author was a general, not a classicist or medievalist, so he relied primarily on secondary sources, and most likely wasn't even able to read primary sources written in Greek, Latin, Aramaic, Arabic, or any other language used in the time and place of the events covered. This book may be a useful introduction to the broad subject of military history, but that is all. Anyone who wants to really understand what happened will need to move on to more detailed and specific sources. This, of course, is not necessarily a bad thing, as the serious reader will enjoy the intellectual journay.
October 19, 2017
The writing is so, so dry. A lot of detail but did not find this engaging at all.
June 14, 2025
Very easy to read, very simple yet important concepts.
It teaches many things about diplomacy and politics that are interconnected with war.
An amazing read, and highly recommended.
It teaches many things about diplomacy and politics that are interconnected with war.
An amazing read, and highly recommended.
December 8, 2022
While many will be familiar with the names of ancient battles – Thermopylae, Hastings, Crécy and the siege of Constantinople – fewer will be familiar with the characters and the circumstances.
The first volume of Fuller’s trilogy on The Decisive Battles of the Western World, covers twenty battles over the period from 1500 BCE to the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, supplemented by chronicles of the intervening periods.
Fuller reminds us that ‘in the life history of very virile nation two events control its destiny, inner and outer conflicts, which are called revolutions and wars.’ (p122)
The words of Roman historian Titus Livius, (Livy) in The History of Rome ring true today: “No great state can long be in peace. If it lacks any enemy abroad it finds one at home, just as powerful bodies seem protected against infection from without, but are of themselves weighed down by their very strength.” (p112)
Fuller introduces us to lesser-known battles such as the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE, which ‘was one of the most decisive battles ever fought: it prevented Europe changing its cultural axis’
His descriptions of the battles highlight the importance of mobility. Philip II of Macedon (Reign 359-336 BC) knew this: ‘his greatness as a military organizer was his appreciation that mobility is the governing tactical element in army organization’ (p97) in 250 BCE Philip’s son, Alexander the Great, translated this appreciation of the importance of mobility to create a ‘revolution in the art of war’ by his use of cavalry which ‘was little appreciated by the Romans.’ (p123) When the Roman’s mastered mobility their superior mobility was what often ‘won the day’.
Fuller notes that ‘war is always a game of chance and the plaything of the unexpected’ (p123) and highlights the role of random events, those ‘incalculable incidents …which in war have so frequently decided the fate of nations.’ (p132-3). In 1066, as the Norman’s were massing across the English Channel, King Harold prematurely ordered a general mobilization of his land and naval forces. But in doing so, he ran out of money and provisions for his army and was forced to disband them. Had he delayed mobilization for just a month, he would have stronger forces with which to confront the French and the outcome of the Battle of Hastings may well have been different.
Fuller also highlights the role of individuals, both famous and forgotten in shaping history.
Hannibal ‘was particularly marked by … inventive craftiness… he was fond of taking singular and unexpected routes, ambushes and strategems of all sorts were familiar to him; and he studied the character of his antagonists with unprecedented care’.
At the battle of Larissa in 197 BCE, a bold flanking move against the rear of the Macedonians by the Roman tribune Flamininus, undertaken on his own initiative, decided the battle. (p148)
In 49 BCE Caesar ‘decided on what appeared to be the impossible, not because the operation he had determined upon was strategically sound, but because it is the seemingly impossible which of all things surprises most.’ (p185)
Fuller argues that in 1429 Joan of Arc ‘created the French people’; freeing them ‘from their obsession of inevitable defeat’ (p497)
What is striking is the age of so many of these names from history: Alexander at the Battle of Arbela in 331BC, Hannibal when he was made commander-in-chief in Spain in 221BC; Don John of Austria at Battle of Lepanto in 1571, and Napoleon at Lodi in 1796 – all of these leaders were just 26 years old at the time.
Lessons of history about the collapse of empires seem particularly apposite today. A focus on liberty in the Roman Empire spelt ‘power, profit, and an unlimited scramble for wealth’ for plutocrats and resulted in such ‘radical economic changes’ that it seemed to many ‘as if a total eclipse, if not collapse, of civilisation was at hand’. The Byzantine Empire, in which the Emperor Constantine VIII presided over ‘a court of sycophants and servile hangers-on...’. Both of these examples have echoes in the behaviour of the previous administration in the United States.
For anyone with an interest in military history, and particularly those curious about how military history shaped subsequent events and the lessons it may hold for today, Fuller’s Decisive Battles of the Western World, will be a rewarding read.
Today, as Ukrainians are engaged in a courageous fight to defend their country, Fuller’s history reminds us, in the words of Belisarius, that ‘For not by numbers of men, nor by measure of body, but by valour of soul is war wont to be decided.”
The first volume of Fuller’s trilogy on The Decisive Battles of the Western World, covers twenty battles over the period from 1500 BCE to the Battle of Lepanto in 1571, supplemented by chronicles of the intervening periods.
Fuller reminds us that ‘in the life history of very virile nation two events control its destiny, inner and outer conflicts, which are called revolutions and wars.’ (p122)
The words of Roman historian Titus Livius, (Livy) in The History of Rome ring true today: “No great state can long be in peace. If it lacks any enemy abroad it finds one at home, just as powerful bodies seem protected against infection from without, but are of themselves weighed down by their very strength.” (p112)
Fuller introduces us to lesser-known battles such as the Battle of Actium in 31 BCE, which ‘was one of the most decisive battles ever fought: it prevented Europe changing its cultural axis’
His descriptions of the battles highlight the importance of mobility. Philip II of Macedon (Reign 359-336 BC) knew this: ‘his greatness as a military organizer was his appreciation that mobility is the governing tactical element in army organization’ (p97) in 250 BCE Philip’s son, Alexander the Great, translated this appreciation of the importance of mobility to create a ‘revolution in the art of war’ by his use of cavalry which ‘was little appreciated by the Romans.’ (p123) When the Roman’s mastered mobility their superior mobility was what often ‘won the day’.
Fuller notes that ‘war is always a game of chance and the plaything of the unexpected’ (p123) and highlights the role of random events, those ‘incalculable incidents …which in war have so frequently decided the fate of nations.’ (p132-3). In 1066, as the Norman’s were massing across the English Channel, King Harold prematurely ordered a general mobilization of his land and naval forces. But in doing so, he ran out of money and provisions for his army and was forced to disband them. Had he delayed mobilization for just a month, he would have stronger forces with which to confront the French and the outcome of the Battle of Hastings may well have been different.
Fuller also highlights the role of individuals, both famous and forgotten in shaping history.
Hannibal ‘was particularly marked by … inventive craftiness… he was fond of taking singular and unexpected routes, ambushes and strategems of all sorts were familiar to him; and he studied the character of his antagonists with unprecedented care’.
At the battle of Larissa in 197 BCE, a bold flanking move against the rear of the Macedonians by the Roman tribune Flamininus, undertaken on his own initiative, decided the battle. (p148)
In 49 BCE Caesar ‘decided on what appeared to be the impossible, not because the operation he had determined upon was strategically sound, but because it is the seemingly impossible which of all things surprises most.’ (p185)
Fuller argues that in 1429 Joan of Arc ‘created the French people’; freeing them ‘from their obsession of inevitable defeat’ (p497)
What is striking is the age of so many of these names from history: Alexander at the Battle of Arbela in 331BC, Hannibal when he was made commander-in-chief in Spain in 221BC; Don John of Austria at Battle of Lepanto in 1571, and Napoleon at Lodi in 1796 – all of these leaders were just 26 years old at the time.
Lessons of history about the collapse of empires seem particularly apposite today. A focus on liberty in the Roman Empire spelt ‘power, profit, and an unlimited scramble for wealth’ for plutocrats and resulted in such ‘radical economic changes’ that it seemed to many ‘as if a total eclipse, if not collapse, of civilisation was at hand’. The Byzantine Empire, in which the Emperor Constantine VIII presided over ‘a court of sycophants and servile hangers-on...’. Both of these examples have echoes in the behaviour of the previous administration in the United States.
For anyone with an interest in military history, and particularly those curious about how military history shaped subsequent events and the lessons it may hold for today, Fuller’s Decisive Battles of the Western World, will be a rewarding read.
Today, as Ukrainians are engaged in a courageous fight to defend their country, Fuller’s history reminds us, in the words of Belisarius, that ‘For not by numbers of men, nor by measure of body, but by valour of soul is war wont to be decided.”
Displaying 1 - 6 of 6 reviews