Battle: Understanding Conflict from Hastings to Helmand

by Graeme Callister, Rachael Whitbread

What are the critical factors that determine the outcome of battles? Which is more decisive in a clash of armies or the societies they represent? How important is the leadership of the commanders, the terrain over which the armies fight, the weapons they use and the supplies they depend on? And what about the rules of war and the strategic thinking and tactics of the time? These are among the questions Graeme Callister and Rachael Whitbread seek to answer as they demonstrate the breadth of factors that need to be taken into account to truly understand battle. Their book traces the evolution of warfare over time, exploring the changing influence of the social, political, technological and physical landscape on the field of battle itself. They examine how the motivation of the combatants and their methods of fighting have changed, and they illustrate their conclusions with vivid, carefully chosen examples from across a range of Western European military history, including the Norman Conquest, the Hundred Years War, the Wars of Religion, the Napoleonic Wars and the world wars, and beyond. By exploring the wide range of interconnected factors that influence the results of battles, the authors broaden the study of this aspect of military history from a narrow focus on isolated episodes of conflict. Their original and thought-provoking writing will be fascinating reading for all students of warfare.

Genres: History

391 pages, Kindle Edition

Published October 7, 2022

Reviews

[lukas · Rating 5 out of 5]

príjemná analýza, odporúčam

[Martin Koenigsberg · Rating 4 out of 5]

Battle, Understanding Conflict from Hastings to Helmand is an amiable stroll through Military History, stopping to look for lessons along the way. Graeme Callister and Rachael Whitbread , two history academics with foci on conflict subjects, discuss military history topics like Society,Grand Strategy & Politics, Leadership, Terrain, Tactics, Logistics, Weaponry, Armies , Morale , Noncombatants, and Combat itself, To give perspective, they use battles as examples like, Black Week in the Boer war, Marston Moor, Stirling Bridge, the Somme, Hastings, Austerlitz, Agincourt, Panjwai in Afghanistan 2006, Hattin, Stalingrad, Crecy, Cambrai, Rossbach, Tet, and Waterloo, among others. Some battles get a lot of coverage in order to make certain points, others get mentioned in passing. The idea is to give the lay reader a strong basis in the issues important to military history- and to bolster the avid military history buff's appreciation of the field. The book would have been improved with more maps of the battles, but you do get some nice colour and black and white pics to support the prose. It's certainly food for thought.

I do have to say that I got really disappointed with the last chapter. It's called sources of conflict- and I thought it be all about how conflict is generated across time- politically.- I was prepared to be intrigued. Instead it is about the sources of narratives of conflict, something I understand well. Oh well -nothing kills a weak product like good advertising- this is the weakest of the Chapters as the authors go over the basically obvious sort of memoirs, verbal and written histories and survey works that contribute to the flow of military history. Not as interesting as my idea for a finale- but useful enough for the novice Military History reader. Overall a quite readable package- especially for the less well versed.

The book is full of adult themes, most of them political and social- but no graphic injury descriptions, so this is a good read for the Junior Reader over about 12/13 years, eager to learn about this field. For the Gamer/Modeler/Military Enthusiast- a mixed bag. Not really the book for the Gamer and Modeler- great for background- but the authors are hot doling out the details those fans want for Build/Diorama/Scenario/Campaign ideas. The Military Enthusiast though, will find fertile ground, as this survey does go pretty far afield to bring very varied conflicts to the readers' attention. If one is looking for a period to focus on- this book does offer a wide sweep. And the basic ideas that run through the book will inform the reading of other works. This book lets you think about military history from many aspects, informative and compelling.

[Phil Curme · Rating 4 out of 5]

It is a reality that warfare and conflict are part of the human condition. In her thought-provoking book 'War: How Conflict Shaped Us' Margaret MacMillan made the point that if we want to understand our own history then we must think about war. Wars are, of course, a composite of individual battles and one cannot avoid getting in amongst the 'muck and bullets' if a proper understanding of the topic is to be garnered. In his groundbreaking study of Agincourt, Waterloo and the Somme published as 'The Face of Battle' the eminent military historian John Keegan examined the direct experience of combatants and was able to identify common themes across the ages. This latest book from Dr Graeme Callister and Dr Rachael Whitbread goes a step further in taking a holistic view of the topic - seeking to identify all of the factors that determine success on the battlefield.

The scope is therefore hugely ambitious covering societal factors, strategy, leadership, landscape, tactics, logistics, weaponry, training, morale, the role of non-combatants and the human experience. With an economy of words, each chapter covers a particular perspective and uses a carefully chosen case study to illustrate how the outcome of a particular battle was influenced by the aspect under consideration. As the narrative unfolds, the reader is drawn into an appreciation of how the various factors work together to produce particular outcomes. In the penultimate chapter 'Clash of Arms', the authors present a fascinating composite picture in an authoratative description of the Battle of Waterloo (1815). Also, aside from the empirical analysis of different aspects of warfare, the authors critically examine the utility of different information sources - official histories, reminiscences, third-party accounts and contemporary artwork.

All in all the book does succeed in bringing more structure and a greater breadth to the study of battle. What's more, despite the complexity of the subject, the book is an engaging and easy read. The examples are mainly drawn from European history and there is probably room for a deeper analysis of the role played by political, religious and racial bigotry in inculcating armies with a degree of fanaticism. However, notwithstanding these relatively minor points, the book achieves its aims admirably and would be an excellent starting point for anyone considering the study of military history or, indeed, for the layman who is intrigued about how battles are won. Recommended.