Battlegrounds : Geography and the Art of Warfare, Michael Stephenson

In Battlegrounds, Michael Stephenson assembles an impressive roster of the world?s best military historians and writers, including Dr. David Chandler, Richard Holmes, John Warry, and Brendan Morrissey, to discuss the impact of geography on military strategy and history. This collection of essays, illustrated with vintage and modern maps, offers geographic adventure around the world, across centuries, and through every kind of terrain, shedding new light on famous battles and introducing less well-known?but nevertheless significant?moments in military history.

Throughout military history, battles have often been determined by certain ?geographic imperatives??characteristics of the terrain that significantly affect the nature of the fighting. Confrontations, therefore, have essentially been decided by an army¼s ability to adapt to geographical features, giving rivers, mountains, and beaches lead roles in the political shaping of the world.

From Alexander the Great?s attack across the Granicus in 334 B.C. to the U.S. siege of the mountains of Afghanistan in 2001, geography has been a permanent and crucial factor in battle. Battlegrounds provides an unprecedented and fascinating look at this most formidable of adversaries throughout the history of warfare.