Sir Lawrence Freedman
The academic, historian, and author on war stories, shifting interests, and some memorable moments.
strategy
The Chalcolithic and Bronze Age in Jersey
This book is part of Jersey’s Archaeological Research Framework, which also oversaw the publication of The Neolithic in Jersey by Alison Sheridan, Emmanuel Ghesquière, and Cyril Marcigny (reviewed in CA 431). The Framework was commissioned by Jersey Heritage and led…
Tunisgrad: victory in Africa
It is something of a cliché in the history of the Second World War to claim that Stalingrad, the graveyard of Germany’s Sixth Army in Russia, was the decisive turning point of the conflict: the moment when Hitler’s hopes of…
Korea: war without end
REVIEW BY TAYLOR DOWNING General The Lord Dannatt, once Chief of the General Staff, has teamed up with military historian Robert Lyman to provide a fascinating new take on the Korean War of 1950 to 1953. Their book has three…
The last warrior monarch
Graham Goodlad reviews the military career of a ruler who gained the British throne in a bloodless coup but had to fight to retain it and then analyses in detail his part in the battle against French domination of the Low Countries.
Midway: the Pacific War’s most famous battle
REVIEW BY MARK DeSANTIS The Battle of Midway in early June 1942 is arguably the most significant naval encounter of the Second World War, and easily one of the most notable battles in all history. The three-day fight in the…
From Trenton to Yorktown: Turning points of the Revolutionary War
REVIEW BY FRED CHIAVENTONE The American Revolutionary War of 1775 to 1783 had plenty of ‘turning points’, as might be the case with any war that lasted for the best part of eight years, but have they not all been…
The Price of Victory: A Naval History of Britain 1815-1945
REVIEW BY GRAHAM GOODLAD Nicholas Rodger began his monumental history of British sea power, tracing its development from Anglo-Saxon times to the end of the Second World War, almost three decades ago. The second volume, which took the story from…
War Classics – The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World: From Marathon to Waterloo
Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy’s The Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World was so significant a book in its day that it would have sat in the libraries of middle-class households alongside the Bible, Shakespeare’s Complete Works, and Milton’s Paradise Lost.
Napoleon’s Undefeated Marshal: Louis Davout and the Art of Leadership
REVIEW BY ANDRÉ VAN LOON To start with what this book is not: Martin Sullivan, a lecturer in business and previously an investment banker, does not give us a straightforward biography of Louis-Nicolas Davout, Duke of Auerstädt and Prince of…
In Brief
MHM’s round-up of the latest military history releases.
The Civil War by numbers
Infographics: Calum Henderson / Images: Wikimedia Commons
In Brief
MHM’s round-up of the latest military history releases.
The Vietnam War: A military history
REVIEW BY JONATHAN EATON The legacy of the Vietnam War continues to haunt American policymakers for the example it provides of a major power drawn gradually yet inexorably into a grinding conflict with no clear pathway for withdrawal. Claiming to…
Lodi and Arcola: making the myth
Graham Goodlad analyses the clashes that made Napoleon’s name as a soldier of genius.
The shock of the new
Marshal Turenne’s bold Winter Campaign of 1674-1675 defied the norms of 17th-century warfare, says William E Welsh. It also sealed his reputation as one of France’s greatest commanders.
Far from Suitable? Haig, Gough and Passchendaele: A reappraisal
REVIEW BY PATRICK MERCER Stand on any part of the battlefield of Passchendaele and you will be struck by how unremarkable it looks. Gentle slopes are topped by woods, while hedges, villages, and small towns pepper the area, which is…
Operation Overlord – What happened next: from D-Day to Paris
6 JUNE 1944: D-DAY 12 JUNE (D+6) Carentan, a small town on the Cherbourg Peninsula, is captured by American troops. All the Allied bridgeheads in Normandy are now linked up. The following day, British troops attempt to advance through the…
At the sharp end: D-Day, 80 years on
In the fourth part of our series on the Normandy landings, Patrick Mercer follows three British units to understand what 6 June 1944 was really like for those at the point of the spear.
Hitler’s Fortress Europe: Planning for defeat?
D-Day, 80 years on: Graham Goodlad examines Germany’s flawed preparations to resist an Allied invasion of North-West Europe.
MHM 139 Letters – March
Your thoughts on issues raised by the magazine.
The last charge: The Battle of Mars-la-Tour and Von Bredow’s ‘Death Ride’, 16 August 1870
One of the crucial battles of the Franco-Prussian War was also the scene of perhaps the last successful cavalry charge in Western European warfare, as William E Welsh explains.
Victory in Iberia: The Peninsular War, 1808-1814
Graham Goodlad assesses the events that led to the defeat of Napoleonic France in the Peninsular War.
Ciudad Rodrigo and Badajoz: A tale of two sieges, January-April 1812
Graham Goodlad describes the capture of two key frontier fortresses, whose fall opened Spain to the advance of Wellington’s army.
It was just meant to be a night out
John Lock resumes his occasional series on the ‘Butterfly Effect’ by examining another event that would have unforeseen consequences. This time, he turns his attention to Paul Revere’s ‘midnight ride’ and the events that became known as the ‘shot heard round the world’.
Turning the tide in the north: The Battle of Marston Moor, 2 July 1644
Graham Goodlad analyses the events that enabled Parliament to win control of northern England.
MHM competition: win a copy of Anthony Tucker-Jones’ ‘Churchill: Master and Commander’
Put your military history knowledge to the test with our competition!
Roman Battles Quiz
Which notable battle, named after one of Italy's largest lakes, was won by the Carthaginian general Hannibal in 217 BC?
The end: Vietnam, 1973
Fifty years ago this spring, the last American troops left Vietnam. Taylor Downing looks back on a conflict that ended in humiliation for the US.
Military History Matters Letters 133 – March
Your thoughts on issues raised by the magazine.
The Peloponnesian War
In the first part of our special, Paul Rahe examines the background to the struggle between Athens and Sparta for control of the ancient Greek world.
The Peloponnesian War: the Battle of Mantineia
In the second part of our special feature, Paul Rahe reveals how Sparta won the largest land battle fought within Greece during the Peloponnesian War.
Military History Matters Crossword 133
Across 5 Soviet general instrumental in the defeat of Finland in 1940 (10) 7 Battle of WWI fought in August 1914 (4) 9 Battle fought in Castile in April 1367 (6) 10 Country invaded by Japan in December 1941 (8)…
Win a copy of Angus Konstam’s ‘100 Greatest Battles’!
Put your military history knowledge to the test with our competition, and win a copy of '100 Greatest Battles'!
![Right Kitchener [on the left] and Roberts [right] had a proven record of success in colonial warfare, but the two had not campaigned together before arriving in South Africa.](https://i0.wp.com/the-past.com/wp-content/uploads/2023/03/post-1_image0-18-e1677858429147.jpg?fit=768%2C873&ssl=1)
Imperial firefighters: Roberts, Kitchener, and the Anglo-Boer War
Graham Goodlad reveals how two late-Victorian commanders forged a winning partnership in South Africa – but left controversy in their wake.
War Classics – The Guns of August
Tuchman aims to explore how a series of political and military decisions, often based on personal factors, faulty intelligence, or naïve assumptions, gradually escalated tensions to the outbreak of war.’