Decisive Factors in Twenty Great Battles of the World

If the choice were to grade this book solely on the military content it would receive 3 stars but the inclusion of the surrounding historical commentary gave it a boost. This is NOT a book about alternate endings or a discussion of how the losing side could have won the battle. It is instead a study of twenty battles and how they were won, the individual, collective, tactical and morale-boosting efforts required for such a win. One may question individual inclusions or exclusions but the battles were selected not necessarily for their geopolitical importance but to illustrate the author's point. Namely that battles, particularly those in the past, were won by brilliant thinkers, unexpected events, inspired generals and dedicated fighters. It is hard to quarrel with his conclusions - even the startling one that the battle of Warsaw in 1920 was perhaps the one that affected European civilization more than any other. (A win by the bolsheviks would have condemned Eastern Europe, Germany and maybe part of Western Europed to the economic, political and cultural horror that engulfed the USSR.) The format is similar in all cases: A brief forward setting the battle within a proper context, an introduction to the chief players, a description of what happened and then a one paragraph conclusion. Very readable.