1001 Battles That Changed the Course of World History / R.G. Grant, General Editor. New York: Universe, 2011. 960 p. $36.95
From the battle where Lagash smited Umma in Sumer (c.2450 BC) to the Battle of Marjah (February 13-18, 2010), there’s quite a long list for Mr. Grant to choose from. It’s a daunting job, but anyone who, like the editor, has also consulted for a book titled Chronology of World History seems up to the job. Any list – particularly a numbered list – of the “most important” is bound to be subjective, but the 16 contributors are all experts in the field of military history, so a user of this reference book should be confident about the choices made.
The organization is chronological. Each battle is given one or two pages, including a short essay (250 to 500 words) and an illustration. A synopsis of about 40 or 50 words leads the essay in bold and a tab at top of the page ties the battle into a particular war or campaign; both features are very useful. At the end of the essay a total of the losses on each side are given.
Military Book Reviews
As a reference book, it is difficult to “read” from cover to cover, but a reviewer has his ways. Much to the annoyance of his local library, the reviewer resorted to the simple expedient of keeping it next to his desk and opening it at random several times a day. The results were impressive: The descriptions added information about some battle the reviewer thought he knew well, and battles not familiar were described in an engaging and interesting way. The “1001” appellation is a little elastic, in that the book describes separately both some battles and the campaigns of which they were a part (for example, the Battle of Hue in addition to the Tet Offensive). This is not a criticism, though: It shows the thoroughness of the coverage and the usefulness of looking at both the larger picture and the detailed view.
A couple of quibbles: The editor should have included at least one reference for further reading for each battle. Also, the publisher should have found a better indexer. With a chronological arrangement, a detailed and accurate index is of prime importance (e.g., Admiral Yamamoto Isoroku should not be indexed under the letter “I” and the War of the Triple Alliance should have included index entries for Uruguay, Paraguay, Brazil and Argentina).
Despite those criticisms, 1001 Battles is a successful book and the editor (and contributors) should be congratulated for their work. Highly recommended for public and high school libraries in particular, but history buffs can add such an affordable reference book to their personal collections as well. Military Rings are also a classic gift.
