This volume provides a comprehensive guide to three major theaters of combat: the Atlantic, the Mediterranean, and the Indian Ocean. The war at sea was a critical contest, as sea-lanes provided the logistical arteries for British and subsequent Allied armies fighting on the three continents of Africa, Asia, and Europe. Land forces ultimately won World War II, but the battles at sea fundamentally altered the balance of military power on the ground.

The closest thing to total war before World War I, the Seven Year's War was fought in North America, Europe, the Caribbean and India, with major consequences for all parties involved. This text reviews the grand strategies of the combatants and examines the differing styles of warfare used in the many campaigns. These ranged from the large-scale battles and sieges of the European front to the ambush and skirmish tactics used in the forests of North America. Daniel Marston's narrative is supported by personal diaries and memoirs, and official reports.

The bitter war between Russia and Turkey, aided by Britain and France, was the setting for the stuff of legends. This book details the gallant yet suicidal Charge of the Light Brigade. It relates the reports made by the first real war correspondent, William Russell of the London Times - reports which served only to highlight the army's problems - and memorializes the heroic deeds of Florence Nightingale, who struggled to save young men from the most formidable enemy in the Crimean War: not the Russians, but cholera.

In April 1861 the United States erupted into fighting at Fort Sumter, South Carolina, beginning what would become the most cataclysmic military struggle in the western world between Waterloo and the World War I. This volume focuses on events in the Virginia theatre during the conflict's first two years, highlighting Union and Confederate strengths and weaknesses, leadership and strategy on each side, and the ways in which events on the battlefield influenced politics, diplomacy, and debates about emancipation

Leading historians from around the world have been commissioned to write 42 accessible and definitive guides to every major war throughout history, with an emphasis on the people who fought and the impact on the world at large. Eyewitness accounts are used to give a soldier's-eye view of the conflict and expose the reality of the battlefield. Illustrated with colour photographs and maps throughout, Essential Histories will provide for a deepened understanding of the nature of war and human history.

In 1808 Napoleon dominated Europe, but the peace was not to survive for long. Todd Fisher continues his detailed account of the Napoleonic Wars with Austria's attack against Napoleon in 1809. Despite being defeated at Aspern-Essling, Napoleon rallied his forces and emerged triumphant at Wagram. With glorious victory behind him Napoleon now turned his attention to Russia and invaded in 1812. Yet the army was not the Grand Armee of old, and even the capture of Moscow availed him nothing - the foe remained elusive, the decisive battle remained unfought. This book tells the full story of the now...

This book provides a full introduction to the Norman Conquest, an event which resulted in dramatic changes to England's aristocracy, church and administration. It brought a new language and cultural influences and revolutionised military architecture with the introduction of the castle. The profound impact was not brought about as the result of a single battle and it took a five-year war for William to establish control over his new kingdom. The campaigns are studied in detail, with maps showing how William's energy and strategic intelligence enabled him to defeat his formidable opponents and...