{"product_id":"the-allure-of-battle-a-history-of-how-wars-have-been-won-and-lost-9780190931513","title":"The Allure of Battle: A History of How Wars Have Been Won and Lost","description":"History has tended to measure war's winners and losers in terms of its major engagements, battles in which the result was so clear-cut that they could be considered \"decisive.\" Marathon, Cannae, Tours, Agincourt, Austerlitz, Sedan, Stalingrad--all resonate in the literature of war and in our imaginations as tide-turning. But were they? As Cathal J. Nolan demonstrates in this magisterial and sweeping work, victory in major wars usually has been determined in other ways. Even the most legendarily lopsided of battles did not necessarily decide their outcomes. Nolan also challenges the hoary concept of the military \"genius,\" even of the Great Captains--from Alexander to Frederick and Napoleon--mapping instead the descent into total war. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Allure of Battle\u003c\/em\u003e systematically recreates and analyzes the major campaigns among the Great Powers, from the Middle Ages through the 20th century, from the fall of Byzantium to the defeat of the Axis powers, tracing the illusion of \"short-war thinking,\" the hope that victory might be swift and conflict brief. Such has almost never been the case. Even one-sided battles have mainly contributed to victory or defeat by accelerating erosion of the other side's defenses, resources, and will. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eMassive conflicts, the so-called \"people's wars,\" beginning with Napoleon and continuing until the end of World War II, have been more fundamentally determined by prolonged stalemate and attrition, wars in which the determining factor was not tactical but industrial. \u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003eNolan's masterful book places battles squarely and mercilessly within the context of the wider conflict in which they took place. In the process it help corrects a distorted view of their role in war, replacing popular images of \"decisive battles\" with somber appreciation of the sacrifice and endurance necessary to victory. Accessible, provocative, exhaustive, and illuminating, \u003cem\u003eThe Allure of Battle\u003c\/em\u003e will spark fresh debate about the history and conduct of warfare.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eAuthor:\u003c\/b\u003e Cathal J. Nolan\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eBinding Type:\u003c\/b\u003e Paperback\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublisher:\u003c\/b\u003e Oxford University Press, USA\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePublished:\u003c\/b\u003e 03\/01\/2019\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003ePages:\u003c\/b\u003e 728\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eWeight:\u003c\/b\u003e 1.9lbs\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eSize:\u003c\/b\u003e 8.20h x 5.50w x 1.60d\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eISBN:\u003c\/b\u003e 9780190931513","brand":"Oxford University Press, USA","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":42709577859209,"sku":"9780190931513","price":23.99,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0636\/9240\/6921\/files\/img_25819fbe-bb4e-4192-b35f-94b1e4f9f16b.jpg?v=1719519067","url":"https:\/\/sonsanddaughtersbooks.com\/products\/the-allure-of-battle-a-history-of-how-wars-have-been-won-and-lost-9780190931513","provider":"Sons and Daughters Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}