An informative look at the military conflicts that most altered the course of history and civilization, from ancient times to the modern world.Rather than celebrating warfare, 50 Battles That Changed the World looks at the clashes the author believes have had the most profound impact on world history. Ranked in order of their relevance to the modern world, these struggles range from the ancient past to the present day and span the globe many times over.

From the battles of Ancient Greece and Rome to WWII and Vietnam, this volume uncovers the surprising truth behind the history of war.Many are familiar the first Civil War battle between the ironclad warships the Monitor and the Merrimac, but few have heard about the airship that Dr. Solomon Andrews offered to Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Secrets of Warfare exposes the hidden history of human combat, exposing many of myths that have kept the public...

Get the real facts you weren't taught in school and learn how these myths have survived for so long.Discover the stories behind history's greatest lies and how—and why—the world's biggest whoppers have survived textbooks and lesson plans for years. For instance, did you know the conquistador Hernán Cortés wasn't as bloodthirsty as they say? Neither were the Goths, who were actually the most progressive of the Germanic tribes. Or, that a petty criminal with a resembl...

Succinct accounts of 21 guerrilla conflicts in the twentieth centuryWars covered include the Boer War, the Philippine War, World War I, the Russian Revolution, World War II, Vietnam, the Algerian War, the Afghan-Soviet War, and moreThe exploits of men like Lawrence of Arabia, Orde Wingate, Mao Zedong, and Che GueveraIn war, whenever one side outnumbers and outguns the other, the outnumbered and outgunned side often resorts to guerrilla warfare to address the asymmetr...

William Weir, author of 50 Battles That Changed the World, takes another look at the history of warfare by focusing on the hardware that served those famous battles. In this text, you’ll uncover:Crew-served weapons—from battering rams to Big Bertha.Weapons carriers, such as tanks and bombers.Unmanned weapons—punji stakes, Bouncing Betty landmines, trap guns, and more.50 Weapons That Changed Warfare analyzes the mos...

Rather than celebrating warfare, 50 Battles That Changed The World looks at the clashes the author believes have had the most profound impact on world history. Listed in order of their relevance to the modern world, they range from the ancient past to the present day and span the globe many times over. This book is not so much about military strategy as the implications of the battles that were vital in shaping civilization as we know it. Some of the battles in this book are familiar to us...

Pulitzer Prize–winning historian Barbara W. Tuchman, author of the World War I masterpiece The Guns of August, grapples with her boldest subject: the pervasive presence, through the ages, of failure, mismanagement, and delusion in government.Drawing on a comprehensive array of examples, from Montezuma’s senseless surrender of his empire in 1520 to Japan’s attack on Pearl Harbor, Barbara W. Tuchman defines folly as the pursuit by government of policies cont...

Spies, Sadists and Sorcerers unveils the history you were never taught at school. With a breath-taking sweep spanning Rome to the modern day, popular historian and author Dominic Selwood challenges the traditional version of some of the best-known events of the past. From ancient Christianity to the voyages of Columbus, and from the medieval Crusades to ISIS and the modern Middle East, this book debunks dozens of historical myths.You will learn that:– Magna Carta was an inf...

Fresh, exciting and vividly readable, this is popular history at its very best.Our understanding of world history is changing, as new discoveries are made on all the continents and old prejudices are being challenged. In this truly global journey, political journalist Andrew Marr revisits some of the traditional epic stories, from classical Greece and Rome to the rise of Napoleon, but surrounds them with less familiar material, from Peru to the Ukraine, China to th...

As fitting for the twenty-first century as von Clausewitz’s On War was in its own time, Invisible Armies is a complete global history of guerrilla uprisings through the ages.Beginning with the first insurgencies in the ancient world—when Alexander the Great discovered that fleet nomads were harder to defeat than massive conventional armies—Max Boot, best-selling author and military advisor in Iraq and Afghanistan, masterfully guides us from the Jewish rebellion ag...

Encyclopedia of Assassinations is the most comprehensive handbook on over 400 assassinations, attempts, and plots against political figures. The narrative entries detail history’s most turbulent moments, including the date, location, and full description of each incident, as well as biographical information about the victim and assassin and the circumstances surrounding each historical event. Here are: Jesse James: Outlaw killed by Bob Ford in 1882 Ian Gow: Conser...

Lots and lots of lists of quick and quirky historical facts, from the Stone Age to the Internet Age!Leave it to Uncle John to find a new way to make history fun and exciting! This quirky collection of lists is the latest volume in the Bathroom Reader's bestselling history series. Over 500 fact-packed pages will breathe life into history's most famous (and most unusual) stories. History buffs, trivia hounds, and readers looking for an educational snack will love lea...