Publication Date:February 16, 2006 Availability:Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days Shipping:International shipping available Condition:New hardback in jacket. Posts from UK 1st class or Airmail.
Customer Reviews:
Battlefield landscapes; Does a statistical analysis work?August 3, 2006 1 out of 2 found this review helpful
What a perplexing book. The cover subtitle `investigating landscapes of battle' and the declared intent of examining the impact of physical landscape on the decision to fight at a location, is very compelling and absolutely in line with the way a professional battlefield guide should prepare battlefield research. However having set out the background to the chosen battles and the methods to be employed in analysing them, the book becomes an intellectual thesis which is in great danger of using many words to arrive at the blindingly obvious. For example, high ground, roads and rivers ever have impacted the choice of battle ground, either because the `defending' army has chosen where to stand, or the `attacking' army has arrived at that place. That fewer of the chosen battles after 1643 seem to have relied less on high ground does not add significantly to our understanding, as clearly improved roads and differing strategic and tactical considerations may well explain why the opportunity to gain or use high ground was limited. In general, wider strategic and tactical influences are not discussed adequately and we are left with an analysis of topographical features which is disjointed and lacking in a rounded outcome. The practice of including reference sources in the text rather than indexing them to chapter notes also interrupts the flow of the reader and what is really missing is the connection between the landscape and the events on the field of battle. We have explanations of both but not their dependence, and indeed the consequences for the outcome. The result is a series of analytical tables that add little to our understanding of battlefield dynamics, which is a shame as the subject deserves exploration, but in a broader context. In fairness the authors have of necessity chosen a small number of battlefields to analyse and their project invites readers to follow their system to increase the database, so it may be that that useable information emerges in due course. Not a book for the general reader but provocative for the researcher.
Michael McCarthy Editor, "The Battle Guide" Guild of Battlefield Guides.
