Fr. 33.50

The Allure of Battle

English · Paperback / Softback

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History has tended to measure war's winners and losers in terms of its major engagements, battles in which the result was so clear-cut that they could be considered "decisive." Marathon, Cannae, Tours, Agincourt, Austerlitz, Sedan, Stalingrad--all resonate in the literature of war and in our imaginations as tide-turning. But were they? As Cathal J. Nolan demonstrates in this magisterial and sweeping work, victory in major wars usually has been determined in other ways. Even the most legendarily lopsided of battles did not necessarily decide their outcomes. Nolan also challenges the hoary concept of the military "genius," even of the Great Captains--from Alexander to Frederick and Napoleon--mapping instead the decent into total war.

The Allure of Battle systematically recreates and analyzes the major campaigns among the Great Powers, from the Middle Ages through the 20th century, from the fall of Byzantium to the defeat of the Axis powers, tracing the illusion of "short-war thinking," the hope that victory might be swift and conflict brief. Such as almost never been the case. Even one-sided battles have mainly contributed to victory or defeat by accelerating erosion of the other side's defenses, resources, and will.

Massive conflicts, the so-called "people's wars," beginning with Napoleon and continuing until the end of World War II, have been more fundamentally determined by prolonged stalemate and attrition, wars in which the determining factor was not tactical but industrial.

Nolan's masterful book places battles squarely and mercilessly within the context of the wider conflict in which they took place. In the process it help corrects a distorted view of their role in war, replacing popular images of "decisive battles" with somber appreciation of the sacrifice and endurance necessary to victory. Accessible, provocative, exhaustive, and illuminating, The Allure of Battle will spark fresh debate about the history and conduct of warfare.

List of contents

  • Introduction

  • Chapter I: Battle in History

  • Chapter II: Battle Retarded

  • Chapter III: Battle Remembered

  • Chapter IV: Battle Reformed

  • Chapter V: Battle with Reason

  • Chapter VI: Battle Restored

  • Chapter VII: Battle Decisive

  • Chapter VIII: Battle Defeated

  • Chapter IX: Battle Exalted

  • Chapter X: Battle of Annihilation

  • Chapter XI: Annihilation of Battle

  • Chapter XII: Annihilation of Strategy

  • Chapter XIII: Annihilation of Nations

  • Chapter XIV: Annihilation of Mercy

  • Chapter XV: Annihilation at Sea

  • Chapter XVI: Annihilation of Illusions

  • Conclusion

About the author

Cathal J. Nolan is Associate Professor of History and Executive Director of the International History Institute at Boston University. In addition to editing six books on international history, Nolan is the author of Principled Diplomacy: Security and Rights in U.S. Foreign Policy and Wars of the Age of Louis XIV. He is also the sole author of several multi-volume encyclopedias on military and international history.

Summary

Stretching from Antiquity to the Second World War, a major new work of history that examines how battles have been fought--and reveals how wars have actually been won.

Additional text

Nolan's meticulous contribution remains unmatched as it provides an in-depth survey picking up the right threads and nuances of history and relating it to contemporary events.

Report

Nolan exhibits an impressive depth of knowledge of his subject; his work is marked by stylish writing with extensive discourse on political and social as well as military issues Russell K. Brown, The Journal of America's Military Past

Product details

Authors Cathal J. Nolan, Nolan Cathal J.
Publisher Oxford University Press Trade
 
Languages English
Product format Paperback / Softback
Released 31.05.2019
 
EAN 9780190931513
ISBN 978-0-19-093151-3
Dimensions 140 mm x 210 mm x 38 mm
Subjects Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous

POLITICAL SCIENCE / Security (National & International), HISTORY / Military / General, military history, HISTORY / Military / Strategy, Defence strategy, planning & research, Military and defence strategy

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