Description
Book SynopsisWorld’s Worst Military Disasters examines some of the worst battle defeats in military history from ancient times through to the present day, including some of the most famous battles in history. The accounts range from remarkable stories of how the world’s great powers met military defeat at the unlikely hands of ill-equipped native peoples, such as the events at Little Big Horn, to embarrassing technical failures and miscommunication evidenced during Operation Eagle Claw. World’s Worst Military Disasters investigates military catastrophes originating from all kinds of circumstances.
Each fascinating account gives a full and detailed analysis of the events leading up to the disaster, followed by studies of the strategies used during the manoeuvres and the reasons for their failure. Learn about the blunders at Pearl Harbor, the attack at Stirling Bridge and find out the reasons for thousands of people dying at the siege and fall of Jerusalem. Each story is highly illustrated bringing every battle and military mishap to life, plus key facts outline the most important information and allows the reader the see facts at a glance.
Whether the result of enemy action or pure human error, World’s Worst Military Disasters offers an educational and riveting read.
Table of ContentsIntroduction
1. Ancient Battles 2000BC-300BC
Battle of Megiddo (c.1479)
Kadesh (c.1274 BC)
Marathon (490 BC)
Salamis (480 BC)
Battle of Gaugamela (331 BC)
2. Roman Victories, Roman Defeats 300 BC-AD450
Cannae (216 BC)
Battle of Zama (202 BC)
Battle of Carrhae (53 BC)
Battle of Actium (31 BC)
Teutoburger Wald (AD 9)
Battle of Adrianople (378)
3. The Dark Ages 450-1100
Battle of Vouille (507)
Battle of Dara (530)
Battle of Tours (733 or 734)
Battle of Talas (751)
Jerusalem (1099)
4. Medieval Melees (1100-1500)
Hattin (1187)
Stirling Bridge (1297)
Bannockburn (1314)
Crecy (1346)
Nicopolis (1396)
Battle of Tannenberg (1410)
Agincourt (1415)
Fall of Constantinople (1453)
Nancy (1477)
Battle of Bosworth (1485)
5. Early Modern Disasters 1500– 1763
Flodden (1513)
Lepanto (1571)
Battle of Nagashino (1575)
Spanish Armada (1588)
Yellow Ford (1598)
Magdeburg (1631)
Breitenfeld (1631)
Blenheim (1704)
Culloden (1746)
Rossbach (1757)
Leuthen (1757)
Minden (1759)
6. Imperial Disasters 1760–1900
Saratoga (1777)
Ulm (1805)
Austerlitz (1805)
Jena/Auerstadt (1806)
Retreat from Moscow (1812)
Burgos (1812)
Afghanistan (1842)
Antietam (1862)
Fredericksburg (1862)
Little Bighorn (1876)
Isandlwana (1879)
Adowa (1896)
Spion Kop (1900)
7. Modern Catastrophes 1900–2000
Verdun (1916)
Somme (1916)
Dunkirk and the Fall of France (1940)
Crete (1941)
Kiev (1941)
Pearl Harbor (1941)
Singapore (1942)
Midway (1942)
Dieppe (1942)
Stalingrad (1942/43)
Kursk (1943)
Byelorussia (1944)
Warsaw uprising (1944)
Arnhem (1944)
Korea (1950)
Dien Bien Phu (1954)
Six-Day War (1967)
Operation Eagle Claw (1980)
Bravo Two Zero (1991)
Mogadishu (1993)
Fall of Mosul (2014)
Index
