Military History Matters 152
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Military History Book Awards
Military History Matters has curated a list of best military history titles from 2025: the nominees for this year’s MHM book awards. Our selection includes some of the best researched, most insightful,
The day Sussex died: The Battle of the Boar’s Head, 30 June 1916
In the second part of our special, Stephen Roberts focuses on the little-known battle whose appalling casualty rate laid down a marker for the Somme.
Review: Royal Navy Submarine Museum
Reviewing the best military history exhibitions WITH MATTHEW ADAMS.
The Battle of Pharsalus, 9 August 48 BC
MHM Editor Neil Faulkner analyses Caesar’s greatest victory.
Great Commanders: Julius Caesar
Graham Goodlad analyses the military genius of ancient Rome’s best-known general.
War Reporters: William Howard Russell
Widely regarded as the first modern war correspondent, Russell was a globetrotter with a wide purview, reporting on the Indian Rebellion of 1857, the American Civil War, the coronation of Tsar Nicholas I, the Franco- Prussian War, and the Zulu War among many other key events of the tumultuous 19th century.
War Reporters: Jean Froissart
Froissant claimed to have born witness, during his travels, to many of the battles that took place during the Hundred Years War, committing all he had seen and heard to writing in the form of elaborate illustrated manuscripts. Seema Syeda examines battlefield scoops through the ages.
Churchill and Stalin: an unlikely alliance
From 1917 to the 1950s, Winston Churchill had a long and bumpy relationship with the Soviet Union, and it had a profound effect on his reputation in America. Taylor Downing charts the zigzags.
Stalingrad: the greatest Allied victory?
It has been argued that the Allied victory in Tunisia in May 1943 was a greater victory than Stalingrad. Anthony Heywood disagrees.
Ancient Russian battle-axes discovered
This is a significant event for Russian archaeology, since no similar site has been uncovered for the past quarter-century.
War Reporters: Julius Caesar
He was a charismatic leader, a seasoned military veteran, and a formidable politician. It is little wonder that he is rarely thought of as being an ancient example of the modern-day war reporter. Seema Syeda examines battlefield scoops throughout the ages.
Wellington’s lessons in failure
‘The art of victory is learned in failures.’ It might have been said by Wellington (though in fact it was said by South American revolutionary leader Simón Bolívar). Stephen Roberts explains why.
‘Banners, advance!’ The Battle of Poitiers, 1356
Marilyn Livingstone and Morgen Witzel reassess the famous victory of the Prince of Wales over the French during the Hundred Years War.
Cynoscephalae, 197 BC
Brian English analyses the battle that broke the military power of Ancient Greece.
Afghanistan: graveyard of armies
A huge, mountainous, landlocked Central Asian state, Afghanistan has defied invaders for 2,500 years. Jules Stewart takes a look at Afghanistan’s military longue durée.
Last stand: Thermopylae
Continuing his occasional series on legendary last stands, American military historian Fred Chiaventone recounts the Spartan defence of the Hot Gates in 480 BC.
War on Film – The Vietnam War
James H Willbanks gives an insider’s view on the making of The Vietnam War.
The end game: how did the Viet Cong win?
Neil Faulkner analyses the reasons for the eventual defeat of the United States in Indo-China.
The Vietnam War
Vietnam veteran James H Willbanks, who is a consultant to Ken Burns’ The Vietnam War, looks back on the conflict that tore the United States apart 50 years ago.
All you need to know about iklwas
Weapon specifications Most African tribes use a form of assegai, a light throwing-spear used in both hunting and war, typically around 6-feet long with a 6-inch steel head. Some of the most