The Greatest Battles In History edited by Jack Watkins
Page 13
Publication Date: October 14, 2017
Do you have some coffee table books in your home? You know, the oversized hardcovers (and sometimes large trade paperbacks) that look good displayed in your living room. Sometimes you may pick one of yours up and flip through it, or perhaps a guest has looked it over and commented on it (especially if you rotate them seasonally, making sure you set out certain ones for holidays, or perhaps when spring rolls around). But do you ever read them?
While the idea of having lots of books in your home is appealing to most book lovers, many of us worry that we’ll never get them all read before our expiration date. I’m one of those sorts of people. And yes, coffee table books are included in this worrisome aspect of book collecting.
The Greatest Battles In History, edited by Jack Watkins, is a fascinating look at past civilizations from the perspective of battle. In fact, the cover refers to it as An Encyclopedia of Classic Warfare from Megiddo to Waterloo. Before I started reading it, I thought I knew a bit about history, but this book quickly proved me wrong.
My youngest daughter gave this to me for Christmas, and I appreciate the fact that she knows many of my interests. But I was in the middle of reading another coffee table book, so this one had to wait until April (each day, I read two facing pages of these kinds of books, so it takes a while to go cover to cover, but at the same time, I’m also reading other books and magazines, which…means I read a lot). But the wait was worth it, as this trip through time filled my head with far more facts than I’ll ever retain.
The book is filled with great illustrations, maps with detailed battle maneuvers, key facts, settings/campaigns, and just enough description to inform readers of what went right for the winners, and what went wrong for the losers. The only unfortunate aspect to The Greatest Battles In History is that there are several errors, most often concerning dates. Astute readers will notice the misprints, because most of the time the error occurs on a page that also has the correct information. It’s hard to find any kind of printed document that doesn’t have a few mistakes, but this had more than I expected. Aside from that, I was pleased with the overall look and feel of the book, and its readability, including this summation concerning Napoleon Bonaparte’s defeat at Waterloo:
The Foot Guards fired a volley and charged with their bayonets, forcing the French Guard back. It took 15 minutes for Wellington to appear on the skyline and wave his hat, giving the signal for the all-out pursuit of the retreating French, and a mêlée of Allied forces quickly attacked. The French retreat became a rout. Three battalions of the Old Guard hung on to enable the Emperor to escape. He made no attempt to stay and rally his soldiers or conduct their retreat, but rode for his life. The Battle of Waterloo was over.
…and stay tuned for Page 14, coming soon!
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