100 Decisive Battles: From Ancient Times to the Present

Rating:
Summary: Interesting, but some limitations
Review: Although ostensibly about battles, this book is better read as a snapshot-style history of major wars. The extensive sections on the background and results of the battles provide pretty good accounts of a lot of military campaigns. But Davis's summaries of the actual battles are generally too brief to be informative and the illustrations are poor. In addition, buyers should be aware that the book is primarily a history of Western battles, with a smaller number of battles from other areas added in. Finally, although Davis's writing style is fluid and generally engaging, the book contains a surprising number of grammatical errors that perfectionists may find distracting.

Rating:
Summary: Best Military History Book Ive Read
Review: I frequently read military history books of all kinds and this is the best one ive found yet. It describes 100 battles that shaped the world and the choices are sound ones. While everyones favorites may not be in there such as the Battle of Cannae, you can understand why they could not be included. I agree with other reviewers in that the illustrations and maps arent so great but I disagree in that I think he does an excellent job of explaining the battle as it happens, given the limited information avaiable on the older battles. Each battle is set up nicely, explained thouroughly, and the effects of it are explained fully. There are also small side sections on some of the battles that further explain interesting topics such as the military career of Belisarius or the life of Joan of Arc. I don't think theres too much of a bias towards western culture because there are Chinese and Japanese battles included because of their importance. The book spans an incredible amount of history and I do think it slowly gets boring simply because ancient and medieval warfare is so much more interesting than modern. With the advancement of technology tactics are relied on less but that cant be helped. Overall this book gets 5 stars and I recommend it to anyone who enjoys history and/or warfare.

Rating:
Summary: An important reference to the world's major battles
Review: Students of military history will find 100 Decisive Battles an important reference to the world's major battles - it covers conflicts from ancient to modern times, providing details on the historical setting, the conflict itself, and its lasting effects. The result will provide a clear reference to any seeking foundation information on military struggles around the world.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent book
Review: This book is great for students who have an interest in military history. The descriptions of the battles are only covered over a few pages but Davis is able to give you a good back story, a solid duration and the impact the battles had on the on corse of history. This book won't give you all the facts but it's an excellent book to build a foundation for research. I'm not know for reading but I ate this book up. After finishing I couldn't wait to pick it up again and read about the next battle. Seasoned history buffs may find the descriptions redundant but new comers should learn to love this book.

Rating:
Summary: Great concise book.
Review: This book provides a concise look at Davis's choice of 100 Decisive Battles. To many people 100 battles may seem little, but Davis's choices are by far the most important battles that shaped history. Many historians may argue with his choices but overall the most decisive ones are described in the book with justifiable reasons. One slight flaw to the book is that Davis does not balance geographically the battles. As a result, we have less-important European battles included and more-important Other battles excluded. The format is easy to follow. Davis takes each battle and writes out the chronology of the battle in the following sections: Forces Engaged, Importance, Historical Setting, The Battle and Results. Each battle doesn't take more than 5 pages. Due to its conciseness, some steps of the battle are left out, but Davis conveys his idea of why the battle is important. One small suggestion to the author would be to include more maps and troop movements for many times the location of troops has tremendous impact on the outcome of the battle. Another small suggestion would be to talk more about the strategies employed. Overall, this book is a great introduction to extensive studying of military history.

Rating:
Summary: Good context, but little description of battles
Review: This is book does a good job introducing significant battles in their contexts as well as depicting the effects they had on worked history. This is a great book to read to just get an overview of history and some knowledge of military history. In describing 100 battles, the author was restricted on the space for each individual account. He often makes references to places and towns whose location a casual reader would be hard pressed to find. The lack of quantity and quality of maps is also disappointing. The descriptions of the battles themselves were a little disappoint as well. Over all this is a pretty good account, I would give it 3.5 if I could. The book's strength lies in the context and consequences of the battle, and not the accounts of the battles themselves. It does get a little boring at times, but I still recommend it.