Fifteen Decisive Battles
by Edward Shepherd Creasy
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Ranging from Marathon to Waterloo, this classic of military history chronicles battles that changed the course of history. Originally published in 1851, at the zenith of British imperial power, it found an eager audience of readers who wanted to understand how Britain had achieved its tremendous influence and how long it would last. Since then, these chronicles of ancient and modern military confrontations have informed and inspired generations of students and armchair historians.Educated at show more Eton College and the University of Cambridge, Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy was called to the Bar in 1837, show lessTags
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Member Reviews
Very useful for home schooling history - I might go so far as to say indispensable. This is history as it was once taught, Battles and Great Men (and Women) and should not be entirely neglected in favour of the currently popular emphasis on social history and daily life of ordinary folk.
Descriptions of the battles, victors, vanquished, and political implications of the times. The author rarely makes it clear as to why they these battles were so decisive. Prose is overdone - written in 1851
A classic I read with interest when young. To me it has some interesting period references --Creasey still feared a French invasion of Britain in the mid-19th century, for instance.
166. The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World from Marathon to Waterloo, by E. S. Creasy (read 13 Dec 1944) I read this in December of 1944, when I was a junior in high school, and was enthralled by the accounts of the 15 battles. On 8 Dec 1944 I said to myself: ": "Read about battles of Arbela, Metaurus, Arminius, Chalons, and Tours. Very good and interesting." On Dec 10 I said: "Reading in Battles. Good." On Dec 11 I said: "Read tonight about Blenheim, and Pultowa. Very good. Certainly am enjoying this classic. I'm learning more history than I have in the past year." On Dec 13: "Finished book. Very good. Informative. History. An important supplement ro keep me from forgetting this year when I can't study it myself. A summary of show more world's history.". show less
First book on wars and battle that I can remember reading at LaSalle.
zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz.....................
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- Canonical title
- Fifteen Decisive Battles
- Alternate titles
- The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World from Marathon to Waterloo
- Original publication date
- 1851
- People/Characters
- Publius Quinctilius Varus; Charles Martel; Joan of Arc; William the Conqueror; Sir Francis Drake; John Churchill, 1st Duke of Marlborough (show all 9); Arthur Wellesley, 1st Duke of Wellington; Napoleon Bonaparte; Alonso Pérez de Guzmán, 7th Duke of Medina-Sidonia
- Important places
- Marathon, Greece; Syracuse, Sicily, Italy; Waterloo, Walloon Brabant, Belgium; Tours, Indre-et-Loire, Centre-Val de Loire, France; Hastings, East Sussex, England, UK; Orléans, Centre-Val de Loire, France (show all 8); Blenheim, Bavaria, Germany; Saratoga, New York, USA
- Important events
- Battle of Marathon (490 BCE); Second Battle of Syracuse (413 BCE); Battle of Arbela (331 BCE); Battle of the Metaurus (207 BCE); Battle of the Teutoburg Forest (9); Battle of the Catalaunian Plains (451) (show all 15); Battle of Tours (732-10-11); Battle of Hastings (1066-10-14); Siege of Orléans (1429); Sinking of the Spanish Armada (1588); Battle of Blenheim (1704-08-13); Battle of Poltava (1709); Battle of Saratoga (1777-09-17 | 1777-10-07); Battle of Valmy (1792-09-20); Battle of Waterloo (1815-06-18)
- Dedication
- Dedicated to Robert Gordon Latham, M.D., F.R.S., Late Fellow of King's College, Cambridge; Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians, London; Member of the Ethnological Society, New York; Late Professor of the English Languag... (show all)e and Literature in University College, London; by his friend the author
- First words
- Two thousand three hundred and forty years ago a council of Athenian officers was summoned on the slope of one of the mountains that look over the plain of Marathon, on the eastern coast of Attica.
- Last words
- (Click to show. Warning: May contain spoilers.)"Peace hath her Victories No less renowned than War;" and no battlefield ever witnessed a victory more noble than that which England, under her Sovereign Lady and her Royal Prince, is now teaching the peoples of the earth to achieve over selfish prejudices and international feuds, in the great cause of the general promotion of the industry and welfare of mankind.
- Canonical LCC
- D25 .C952
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Statistics
- Members
- 706
- Popularity
- 40,073
- Reviews
- 6
- Rating
- (3.60)
- Languages
- English
- Media
- Paper, Ebook
- ISBNs
- 41
- UPCs
- 1
- ASINs
- 66
