History's Worst Battles and the People Who Fought Them

In the bad, old, politically incorrect days, history was about individuals - kings, queens, emperors, prime ministers, generals, and presidents - and the battles they fought, and lost or won. Today, history is much more likely to be about technological change, economics, and abstract socio-political forces. But that doesn't mean that battles aren't important. If Napoleon hadn't met his Waterloo, after all, the English might be speaking French. Therefore some battles do matter a great deal, even if the reasons why one side won and the other lost might go a lot deeper than the abilities of the generals and soldiers on the day. Organised chronologically from the first battle for which we have sound tactical evidence, Kadesh in 1274 BCE, History's Worst Battles features some of the most disastrous military engagements ever fought, on five continents and in every major conflict from antiquity to modern times....