The War Chronicles: From Chariots to Flintlocks: New Perspectives on the Two Thousand Years of Bloodshed That Shaped the Modern World Review

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The War Chronicles: From Chariots to Flintlocks: New Perspectives on the Two Thousand Years of Bloodshed That Shaped the Modern World ReviewI have mixed feelings about this book. On the one hand, it is a well layed out and designed general introduction to important campaigns and battles. On the other hand, the book is lacking in accuracy and detail for the specific episodes it covers. This is a almost a necessay consequence of being a general history and it would be unfair not to allow for some shortcomings. I will try to judge this book for what it is intended to be.
Each chapter begins with a summary of the conflict. A short history of the campaugn follows. Next, the author focuses on a specific battle of the campaign that he deems most important. The commanders are then profiled. Last are a series of short sidebar articles on random aspects of the historic episode. The layout is clean and eay to follow.
The choice of campaigns is slanted toward the anglophone world, but not by as much as similar books on the market. Central Europe and the far east get a bit of a mention. Russia is not given her due, in my opinion nor is Byzantium.
I could sit here all day and pick apart the details. I don't think it would be entirely fair, as I said before, given the mission of the book. On the other hand, a look at the bibliography disturbs me. Is this a select bibliography, designed to help beginners to military history? Is it the complete set of works the author consulted? For example, by the chapter on the Thirty Years War, which I have some knowledge of, I am not sure if the author read anything beyond the lone source listed: Wedgewood's history of the conflict.
The other problem I have is the selection of picures. It may seem a minor matter, but I think not. The author frequently selects latter day artistic interpretations of the events rather than something historically accurate. For example, the chapter on the Gallic Wars has a full page reproduction of the Battle of Alesia, which depicts the Roman-Gaul struggle as a fight between two 16th century armies, with Landsknechts and Swiss, fully armoured knights and canons. Also, a medieval painting showing "Roman" troops dressed in medieval outfits is particularly unneccessary. I understand why the artists may have painted what they did, but why did the author see fit to include them?
And no, no "New Perspectives" show up in the book as promised on the cover. There is still plenty to recommend as long as the reader isn't expecting a scholarly treatment of the subject. All together, a decent coffee table book on military history, suitable for beginners.The War Chronicles: From Chariots to Flintlocks: New Perspectives on the Two Thousand Years of Bloodshed That Shaped the Modern World Overview

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