The Encyclopedia of Military History from 3500 B.C. to the Present

This book is worth its weight in gold. It's best selling point, I believe, is that it offers a tight chronological narrative of warfare from Ancient to Modern Times (into 20th century) that really can't be found elsewhere. What's more, virtually every battle or siege, even obscure ones that don't show up in military history surveys, are covered. The book shares one drawback with historical sources in general in that the numbers given for the size of armies and casualties aren't totally reliable. But that is the case for the study of military history--for some clashes--even up to and including World War II. The authors concede in the preface that it is difficult to divide military history by centuries. But they use that time span to provide a detailed discussion of the advances in weaponry and strategy and tactics during that period. An excellent detail of the book is that those passages include excellent explanatory line drawings. Alas, I just wish they had provided some line drawings of battles. But what would you expect from a book that requires more than 1,500 pages to convey its materials? The authors don't waste a single page of the book in a frivolous way. It's a serious work of military history and a crucial invesment for the historian or military enthusiast.

I originally bought this book in 1978 for $25. I only replaced it with the new addition in the year 2001. This book is the definitive one-volume work on military history---nothing else can compare to it. All the battles are there and there are many helpful diagrams. The opposing forces and casualties are listed for almost every battle. Included in the book is an excellent bibliography---if you read every work there you should come out with a thoughrough understanding of military history. I haven't, even after 22 years. If you are a wargamer this is a book you will use frequently. I also recommend it to college students and even graduate students majoring in history. The book is well worth the cost. All the great military leaders are highlighted at the beginning of each chapter. I also liked the author's "Comments" section which is usually given after very important battles and events. I read parts of this book on an almost daily basis and still find out new things. This is the one book I would want on a desert island.

As a historian and army officer this is the first book I turn to when I want to know about a campaign or battle. After that I can look elsewhere for more information. This book has outstanding information on non-western battles and campaigns. It also rates the greatest leaders in each historical period. While one may not always agree with the authors, they are willing to take a stand and offer their evaluations.

This book is one of the best additions to my bookshelf in a long time. It is humongous, but instead of tracing every important event in human history as so many of these types of books do, it traces the evolution of military and warfare, it records almost every single battle ever (a few are excluded for space reasons), it has pictures and all kinds of cross-referencing indexes at the back.This book is divided into chapters for time periods, and the chapters are divided into sections that talk about different areas/nations. Each section starts with an overview of the people, their history, their tactics and strategies, and just generally adds some background. Then the authors give an extremely detailed and referenced timeline of military events.Of course, in a work this size, there will be errors. In the introduction to this edition, the author acknowledges that, and apologizes. He notes that often there are inconsistencies from one history to the next, so while researching he had to pick which was most likely to use. Still, this is an extremely helpful, thorough, well-written and illustrated book that no one should be without.And you can get some good excercise while reading it; it's somewhere around ten pounds.

One of the most comprehensive works of military history available, this is a must-have for anyone interested in the subject. Not only does this work detail every significant recorded military conflict since 3500 BC, but it sheds light on the methods, tactics, weapons, leaders, technologies, great captains, and innovations with which these conflicts were fought. Truly, R. Ernest and Trevor N. Dupuy's work should be at the center of any military historian's library, whether he be a serious scholar or just an armchair general.