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Great Battles of History
Series · 8 books · 1964-2003

Books in series

#2

First Battle of the Marne

1979

Missing dust cover
Armageddon, 1918 book cover
#5

Armageddon, 1918

The Final Palestinian Campaign of World War I

1964

At the outbreak of the First World War in 1914, the British government realized that it had to keep the Suez Canal open at all costs because it was the primary sea route connecting Britain to its far-flung eastern colonies. The Suez bordered Egypt, a nominal Turkish province, and, when Turkey became involved in the war on Germany's side in 1915, Turkey attacked the canal. As a result the British declared war on Turkey and began an offensive against the Ottoman forces and their German advisers. The British, aided by various Arab groups, swept north through Palestine, Jordan, and Syria to Turkey's ultimate defeat in October 1918. In Armageddon, 1918, eminent military historian Cyril Falls discusses the background of the World War I Middle East conflict and relates the final, critical campaign through Palestine, along with its notable personalities, including T. E. Lawrence, Emir Feisal, Kress von Kressenstein, and Edmund Allenby. Falls ends with a pertinent reflection on the subsequent history of the region, from the formation of Iraq in 1920 through the establishment of Israel, showing how the campaign in the Middle East brought into the international spotlight the tangled alliances and imperialistic and nationalistic desires that have left an indelible mark on the region to this day.
The Darkest Day book cover
#11

The Darkest Day

The Washington-Baltimore Campaign During the War of 1812

2003

Excellent Book
A Leap to Arms book cover
#15

A Leap to Arms

The Cuban Campaign of 1898.

1970

In a lively and sophisticated style, author Jack Dierks describes the course of the "splendid little war" in the Caribbean, concentrating on the U.S. capture of Cuba.
Caporetto 1917 book cover
#16

Caporetto 1917

1965

The eminent British historian Cyril Falls recounts the story of Caporetto and the men who fought there, including a previously unknown German captain whose bold and brilliant tactics launched him on a spectacular career: Erwin Rommel. The author also analyzes the tangible and intangible factors in the situation that prevented the Austro-Germans from gaining the victory that at one point seemed almost in hand. For, despite Rommel's brilliance and the Central Powers' desperate need for a victory, the Caporetto offensive failed, and failing, became an omen of total defeat the following year.
Victory at High Tide book cover
#17

Victory at High Tide

The Inchon-Seoul Campaign

1968

Book by Robert Debs Heinl
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#18

The Last Campaign

Grant Saves The Union

1972

Hardcover book, no dust jacket. Grant's appointment as military leader changes the course of the Civil War.
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#19

Climax at Buena Vista

The Decisive Battle of the Mexican-American War

1966

The ferocity and magnitude of the American Civil War eclipses that of all other nineteenth-century conflicts, but the hard fighting and tactics that played out between the North and South were first developed during the Mexican-American War of the late 1840s. It was during this struggle between two regional powers that the United States showed that it could muster soldiers representing far-flung states of the Union—Illinois, Indiana, Kentucky, Arkansas, and Mississippi—and officers fresh from West Point, testing the military preparedness of the young nation. In Climax at Buena Vista, David Lavender tells the complete story of the turning point in the Mexican-American War. In an effort to secure Texas firmly as a state, the United States declared war on Mexico and launched an invasion, including an effort to capture Mexico City from the north and from the coast. The American plans fell short, however, and attempts were made to achieve a decisive victory through shifting troops to various points of attack. This strategy depleted the forces led by General Zachary Taylor, and in February 1847, near the small outpost of Buena Vista, he and his roughly 4,500 regulars found themselves facing an army of more than 20,000 Mexican soldiers led by General Antonio López de Santa Anna. What should have been a rout ended up in a draw, with the American troops maneuvering quickly and regrouping in order to keep the surrounding Mexican troops from completely overrunning their position. Santa Anna was forced to withdraw and, with the Mexican forces demoralized, the Americans were able to reignite the offensive and ultimately force Mexico to sue for peace. David Lavender's acclaimed account of this battle allows the reader to understand the complex and confusing movements of the opposing forces, and it places the war in the greater American political context, where huge territories were acquired and future presidents groomed.

Authors

Cyril Falls
Author · 5 books

Cyril Bentham Falls CBE was a British military historian, journalist and academic of Anglo-Irish extraction. During World War I he joined the British Army, receiving a commission as a subaltern in the Royal Inniskilling Fusiliers. He also served as a Staff Officer in the Headquarters of the 36th (Ulster) Division and the 62nd (2nd West Riding) Division during the course of the war. He was awarded the French Croix de Guerre, and was discharged from the British Army with the rank of Captain. After completing his military service, Falls wrote a history of one of the units he had served with during the war. His first book, 'The History of the 36th (Ulster) Division' was published in 1922. From 1923 to 1939 he was employed by the Historical Section of the U.K. Government's Committee of Imperial Defence, researching and writing several volumes of the British Government's 'Official History of the War'. During World War II he served as the military correspondent for 'The Times' of London, from 1939 to 1945. After the war he held the post of Chichele Professor of Military History at All Souls College, Oxford University from 1946 to 1953.

Robert B. Asprey
Author · 9 books

Robert Brown Asprey was born in Sioux City, Iowa (1923 – January 26, 2009) and was an American military historian and author, noted for his books on military history published between 1959 and 2001. Asprey received a bachelor's degree from the University of Iowa in 1949, after serving in World War II. He also studied at New College, Oxford, at the University of Vienna, and at the University of Nice. In World War II, Asprey was a member of the secret Marine Beach Jumper Unit, then joined the 5th Marine Division. In the 1950s, he served in U.S. Army Intelligence in Austria before returning to the U.S. Marine Corps in the Korean War with the rank of captain. He received a Purple Heart and a Presidential Unit Citation for his service.

Earl Schenck Miers
Author · 5 books

Earl Schenck Miers was an American historian. He wrote over 100 published books, mostly about the history of the American Civil War. Some of them were intended for children, including three historic novels in the We Were There series. Miers received honorary degrees from Lincoln College and Rutgers University. On 17 November 1972, at the age of 62, Miers died at his home in Edison, New Jersey.

David Lavender
Author · 21 books

David Sievert Lavender was a well-known historian of the Western United States, nominated twice for the Pulitzer Prize, who is best remembered by many for his River Runners of the Grand Canyon. Lavender spent most of his life in Ojai, California. An articulate and deeply knowledgeable speaker on the political and social history of the American West, he often spoke at the annual Telluride Film Festival.

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