Dictionary of Battles and Sieges: A Guide to 8,500 Battles from Antiquity through the Twenty-First Century

摘要

Gilbert and Sullivan's Major-General Stanley could "quote from fights historical, from Marathon to Waterloo, in order categorical": he had probably learnt them from Creasey's Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World. Had he been able to read this dictionary, he could have quoted 8,500 fights historical and contemporary, from Megiddo (supposed date 1468 BCE) to Tikrit (2003). This huge number of entries has dictated that every battle, large or small, is treated in the same short, standard format of about 80 words, showing the date and place of the battle, what war it belonged to, who commanded on both sides (if known), what was the cause of the battle, and what resulted from it. Thus, not far apart, the cataclysmic Battle of the Somme (1916) and the practically bloodless British reoccupation of South Georgia (1982) are treated equally. As the author explains, he has produced a dictionary and not an encyclopedia. By the same token, no maps are provided.