Review by Cmdr. Peter B. Mersky, USNR (Ret.)
A very unusual concept, this book offers descriptions of what the author considers to be history’s 100 greatest battles from Marathon 490 B.C. to Desert Storm, 1991.Each two-page entry contains a full-page illustration of a battle scene (no photos), while the second page contains a concise description of the battle. Obviously, it is a unique use of existing “artworks” from Osprey’s many other volumes from existing series. The $20 price is very attractive.
A few other examples, some well-known, others not so famous, are: Thermopylae, 480 B.C., Hastings, 1066, Malta, 1565, Quebec, 1759, Waterloo, 1815, the Battle of Britain, 1940, and Dien Bien, Phu, 1954.
For our purposes in this particular column, Pearl Harbor is also included.
The author/editor comes from Orkney, an island off Scotland’s north coast and has written more than 100 books, including 75 for Osprey, although he might not be familiar to American readers.
Nonetheless, it is an interesting trip through history and certainly represents a ready reference for armchair historians of many dates, familiar and not so familiar.