Atlas of World Military History

This is a great book that covers military history from one of history's first known battles at Kadesh to the Yugoslav conflicts and possible future wars. Richard Brooks addresses most of the major events and advances in warfare for the past 4000 years. The maps presented in the book add greatly to the understanding of the events and are very clear. There also are several tables and pictures to assist in the reading. Brooks tends to focus much more on certain time periods and events than others. For example 22 pages are given to the Napoleonic Wars, 32 to World War I, and 34 to World War II out of a 253 page book, excluding the index. Certain times are given less attention than deserved, like Rome or the Mongols, or skipped all together like the Normans, the English Civil War, or most of the Americas' wars. Also, it should be noted, that most of the time the focus of the book is on innovations, new tactics of certain leaders, and the general overview of the conflict, and gives less blow by blow of the campaigns and battles. Overall I would say that this is an excellent book and well worth the buy!