Greatest Battles in History

The names of history's most famous battles still ring in our ears today, their influence immediately understood by all. Marathon lent its name to the world's most famous race, but it also preserved Western civilization during the First Persian War. Saratoga turned the tide of the American Revolution and was won by one of the colonists' most renowned war heroes before he became his nation's most vile traitor. Hastings ensured the Normans' success in England and changed the course of British history. Waterloo, which marked the reshaping of the European continent and Napoleon's doom, has now become part of the English lexicon. In Charles River Editors' Greatest Battles in History series, readers can get caught up to speed on history's greatest battles in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. At the end of August 2012, BBC ran a report about the commemoration of a young man who had been killed over 70 years earlier. "A Battle of Britain pilot who was killed when his Spitfire crashed following a dogfight in the skies above Kent has been honored. Flying Officer Oswald St John 'Ossie' Pigg lost his life in the crash at Elvey Farm on 1 September 1940. The 22-year-old had been involved in an aerial fight with a Messerschmitt. A plaque was unveiled near the site by his niece Stephanie Haigh and the Battle of Britain Memorial Flight carried out a flypast on Thursday." Just 12 days before Pigg's death, British Prime Minister Winston Churchill had already immortalized the men of the Royal Air Force with one of the West's most famous war-time quotes. But the sentiment and gratitude Churchill expressed back in 1940 is very much alive today. The sacrifice made by "The Few", the British and Allied fighter pilots who won the Battle of Britain in 1940, remains close to the hearts of the British public, and the piece by the BBC is typical of the national sentiment manifested in air shows, museums, TV programs and books. Even as the last of "The Few" pass on, it seems unlikely that the legend they helped to create will be forgotten anytime soon. There are a number of reasons for that, chief among them the belief that it was this handful of men, many of them barely out of school, who prevented Nazi Germany from conquering Britain on their own. With the comfort of hindsight, historians now suggest that the picture was actually more complex than that, but the Battle of Britain, fought throughout the summer and early autumn of 1940, was unquestionably epic in scope. The largest air campaign in history at the time, the vaunted Nazi Luftwaffe sought to smash the RAF as a prelude to German invasion, leaving the British public and its pilots engaged in what they believed was a desperate fight for national survival. That's what it looked like to the rest of the world too, as free men everywhere held their breaths. Could these pilots, many not yet old enough to shave, avoid the fate of Poland and France? The fate of the free world, at least as Europe knew it, hung in the balance over the skies of Britain during those tense months. Thankfully, the RAF stood toe to toe with the Luftwaffe and ensured Hitler's planned invasion was permanently put on hold. The Allied victory in the Battle of Britain inflicted a psychological and physical defeat on the Luftwaffe and Nazi regime at large, and as the last standing bastion of democracy in Europe, Britain would provide the toehold for the June 1944 invasion of Europe that liberated the continent. For those reasons alone, the Battle of Britain was one of the decisive turning points of history's deadliest conflict.

"Believe me, nothing except a battle lost can be half so melancholy as a battle won." – Duke of Wellington, at Waterloo The names of history's most famous battles still ring in our ears today, their influence immediately understood by all. Marathon lent its name to the world's most famous race, but it also preserved Western civilization during the First Persian War. Saratoga, won by one of the colonists' most renowned war heroes before he became his nation's most vile traitor. Hastings ensured the Normans' success in England and changed the course of British history. Waterloo, which marked the reshaping of the European continent and Napoleon's doom, has now become part of the English lexicon. In Charles River Editors' Greatest Battles in History series, readers can get caught up to speed on history's greatest battles in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. It is late in the evening of 18th June, 1815. The scene is a coaching inn on the road between Charleroi and Brussels, a few miles south of the village of Mont St. Jean, in what is now Belgium. The inn is located on a crossroad, and for 100 yards either side of it men are strewn, dead or dying. These are elements of Napoleon's elite Imperial Guard, three battalions of which had retreated towards the inn at the end of the battle. With the rest of the Armee du Nord streaming past him, Napoleon had taken personal command. Yet before long even these grizzled veterans had joined the rout. Now he too has left the field, fated to head for Paris, captivity, exile and an early death. Across the rolling countryside a mile or two in either direction, a further 40,000 lie dead or injured. Night has fallen on one of the continent's most cataclysmic battles. At the inn, the two exhausted but victorious allied commanders meet for the first time that day. Marshal Blucher and the Duke of Wellinton shake hands and speak briefly, in broken French. Their close co-operation has ensured the final defeat of Napoleonic France and will put an end to 23 years of almost constant warfare across the continent. Appropriately, the inn is called "La Belle Alliance". Waterloo is the most famous battle in modern history if not all of history, and appropriately so. Gathering an army of 100,000 men, Napoleon marched into what is now Belgium, intent on driving his force between the advancing British army under the Duke of Wellington and the Prussian forces under Marshal Blucher. It was the kind of daring strategy that only Napoleon could pull off, as he had at places like Jena and Austerlitz. At Waterloo, however, it would end disastrously, as Napoleon's armies were unable to dislodge Wellington and unable to keep the Prussians from linking up with the British. The battle would end with the French suffering nearly 60% casualties, the end of Napoleon's reign, and the restructuring of the European map. Simply put, the next 200 years of European history can be traced back to the result of the battle that day in 1815. The Greatest Battles in History: The Battle of Waterloo comprehensively covers the entire campaign, analyzes the decisions made by the battle's most important leaders, and explains the aftermath of the Allies' victory and the legacies that were made and tarnished by the battle. Along with a bibliography, maps of the battle, and pictures of important people and places, you will learn about the Battle of Waterloo like you never have before, in no time at all.

"The enemy has demanded a surrender at discretion, otherwise, the garrison are to be put to the sword, if the fort is taken-I have answered the demand with a cannon shot, & our flag still waves proudly from the walls. I shall never surrender or retreat. Then, I call on you in the name of Liberty, of patriotism & everything dear to the American character, to come to our aid, with all dispatch…I am determined to sustain myself as long as possible & die like a soldier who never forgets what is due to his own honor & that of his country-Victory or Death." – William B. Travis The names of history's most famous battles still ring in our ears today, their influence immediately understood by all. Marathon lent its name to the world's most famous race, but it also preserved Western civilization during the First Persian War. Saratoga, won by one of the colonists' most renowned war heroes before he became his nation's most vile traitor. Hastings ensured the Normans' success in England and changed the course of British history. Waterloo, which marked the reshaping of the European continent and Napoleon's doom, has now become part of the English lexicon. In Charles River Editors' Greatest Battles in History series, readers can get caught up to speed on history's greatest battles in the time it takes to finish a commute, while learning interesting facts long forgotten or never known. For the United States, the Battle of the Alamo is in many ways its version of the Greeks' Thermopylae. In February 1836, a few hundred defenders of a small fort that once served as a mission found themselves besieged by several thousand Mexican soldiers under Mexican General Antonio Lopez de Santa Anna. Rather than withdraw, the defenders requested reinforcements and instead made a determined stand at the Alamo, eventually falling nearly down to the last man on March 6, 1836. Like Thermoyplae, much of the narrative regarding the Battle of the Alamo is comprised of myths and legends that have been embraced, supported, and protected, turning the most famous defenders into American legends. Accounts are also wildly contradictory. The famous frontier hero Davy Crockett, who has been portrayed by none other than John Wayne, may have been among the last to die or may have been captured and executed shortly after the battle. William Barret Travis, who had abandoned his wife, son, and unborn daughter and departed for Texas, did not draw the fabled "line in the sand" with his sword and ask those who wished to stay with him in the Alamo to cross it. The number of defenders was almost certainly not the 189 long held sacred by the Daughters of the Republic of Texas. However, much the same way accounts of Thermopylae are hard to confirm, to a large extent the actual results of the Battle of the Alamo don't matter as much as what the Alamo has come to symbolize. The defeat at the Alamo did not have a decisive impact on Texas' War for Independence, but it became a poignant rallying cry in the immediate aftermath of the battle, and to this day Americans associate it with patriotism, bravery and determination. "Remember the Alamo" is still a widely used part of the English lexicon today, and the Alamo is a cherished piece of Americana. The Greatest Battles in History: The Battle of the Alamo comprehensively covers the lead up to the battle and what is known and unknown about the siege and battle itself. Along the way, it looks at some of the most controversial and unknown aspects of the battle, as well as the aftermath and legacy of the battle. Along with a bibliography, maps, and pictures of important people and places, you will learn about the Battle of the Alamo like you never have before, in no time at all.