50 Battles That Changed the World

William Weir

May 2018 · Permuted Press+ORM

About this ebook

An informative look at the military conflicts that most altered the course of history and civilization, from ancient times to the modern world.

Rather than celebrating warfare, 50 Battles That Changed the World looks at the clashes the author believes have had the most profound impact on world history. Ranked in order of their relevance to the modern world, these struggles range from the ancient past to the present day and span the globe many times over.

Some of the battles in this book are familiar to us all—Bunker Hill, which prevented the American Revolution from being stillborn, and Marathon, which kept the world’s first democracy alive. Others may be less familiar—the naval battle at Diu (on the Indian Coast), which led to the ascendancy of Western Civilization and the discovery of America, and Yarmuk, which made possible the spread of Islam from Morocco to the Philippines.

With remarkable accounts of both famous and lesser-known clashes, 50 Battles That Changed the World provides impressive insight into the battles that shaped civilization as we know it.

Ratings and reviews

It's definitely biased with the writer constantly describing people as "stupid" or "brilliant" and cultures / peoples as "civilized" or "barbarians." Some myths or misconceptions are stated as fact. Also, I'm not sure if it's badly written or badly edited, but sometimes people are talked about as if you should know who they are when it's the first time they're mentioned. There's a number of sentences that make no sense, as if they're missing words. You get the gist, but it's not quite right, for example : "The Year of the Monkey's monkey trap Vo Nguyen Giap had taken an idea from his country's monkey hunters."

love it so far

About the author

William Weir was an army MP, and later served as an army combat correspondent in the 25th Infantry Division during the Korean War. He was a newspaper reporter in Missouri and Kansas, which included being military editor at the Topeka State Journal. While a public relations specialist for a large telephone company, he wrote some 50 magazine articles, many of them on military history and weaponry. Since retiring from his public relations job, he has written four books, Written With Lead: Legendary American Gunfights and Gunfighters, Fatal Victories, In the Shadow of the Dope Fiend and A Well Regulated Militia: The Battle Over Gun Control. He now lives in Connecticut where he and his wife, Anne, watch with pride the activities of their three children, Alison, an Air Force officer, Joan, a special education teacher, and Bill, a newspaper reporter.