Fifteen Decisive Battles of The World From Marathon to Waterloo, The - Hardcover

Creasy, Edward

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 1404302549 ISBN 13: 9781404302549

Publisher: IndyPublish, 2002

Synopsis

Undoubtedly the most famous work of military history of the nineteenth century, Edward S. Creasy?€™s Fifteen Decisive Battles of the Worldhas been read and re-read for close to 150 years. It is not only the authoritative account of each battle that makes Creasy?€™s work such a classic—it is his command of narrative, his interest in human struggle, his profound deductions as to effects of the battles, and his striving after truth. Furthermore, his selections seem as wise and well-considered today as when Fifteen Decisive Battlesfirst appeared in 1851: Nobody since has made better ones, nor given us better accounts. Apart from the scholarship and literary skill of Creasy?€™s book, there is another reason it has endured: Creasy was essentially fair-minded. He had been a judge, and when he became England?€™s great military critic and historian, he maintained a thoroughly judicial attitude. He was not a British partisan, nor French, nor German—he was a cosmopolitan observer of great events.Out of 2300 years, Creasy only found fifteen battles which he called decisive in the highest sense. He chose them not for the number of killed and wounded, nor for their status in myth and lore, but because they fundamentally changed the course of world history. In doing so, he made his book a miniature military history of the western world, a classic that will repay continued study for generations to come, as it has for generations.

About this title

About the Author:

Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy (1812–1878) was an English historian born in Bexley, England. He was educated at Eton College and King's College, Cambridge and called to the Bar in 1837. In 1840, he began teaching history at the University of London. He was knighted in 1860 and assumed the position of Chief Justice of Ceylon. His best known contribution to literature is his Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World (1851). Academically, Creasy's work is of a high standard, featuring original texts among his writings. For example, the quoted comment 'without horse' is followed by a Greek text to that effect in the Marathon Battle account. This feature, along with his detailed explanations of sources, and often of their sources, makes his work of enduring value. Creasy's most famous work, the Fifteen Battles, reveals much about 19th century European sentiment, being laced with explicit references to the deplorable barbarism and immorality of non-Europeans. Indeed, the reason Creasy gives for the significance of many of the fifteen battles, is the very fact that they denied Middle Eastern / Far Eastern people groups access to European soil. Examples include the defeat of the Persians at Marathon, Persian defeat at Arbela, the defeat of Hasdrubal at Metaurus, Attila the Hun's defeat at Chalons, Charles Martel's defeat of the Moors at Tours. Other battles are seen as "decisive" because they shaped the development of Britain, which was the world's leading power at the time of writing: the Norman Conquest at the Battle of Hastings, the defeat of the Spanish Armada and of the French at Blenheim and Waterloo, although also the weakening of the British Empire by the independence of the USA - in 1851 nothing like the global power she would later become - won at Saratoga. Coming as he does, just before Darwin, Creasy's world-view is notably one of 'enlightenment', and he sees Europe as the keeper of civilization. His thinking is eurocentric, and he describes Christianity as a gift to Europe, which it alone could deserve. He shares with most Post-Waterloo, 19th century writers the illusion that world peace has been achieved by enlightened Man.

About this edition

• Publisher: IndyPublish
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 1404302549
• ISBN 13: 9781404302549
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 380