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.

Get the real facts you weren't taught in school and learn how these myths have survived for so long.Discover the stories behind history's greatest lies and how—and why—the world's biggest whoppers have survived textbooks and lesson plans for years. For instance, did you know the conquistador Hernán Cortés wasn't as bloodthirsty as they say? Neither were the Goths, who were actually the most progressive of the Germanic tribes. Or, that a petty criminal with a resembl...

From the battles of Ancient Greece and Rome to WWII and Vietnam, this volume uncovers the surprising truth behind the history of war.Many are familiar the first Civil War battle between the ironclad warships the Monitor and the Merrimac, but few have heard about the airship that Dr. Solomon Andrews offered to Abraham Lincoln during the Civil War. Secrets of Warfare exposes the hidden history of human combat, exposing many of myths that have kept the public...

Succinct accounts of 21 guerrilla conflicts in the twentieth centuryWars covered include the Boer War, the Philippine War, World War I, the Russian Revolution, World War II, Vietnam, the Algerian War, the Afghan-Soviet War, and moreThe exploits of men like Lawrence of Arabia, Orde Wingate, Mao Zedong, and Che GueveraIn war, whenever one side outnumbers and outguns the other, the outnumbered and outgunned side often resorts to guerrilla warfare to address the asymmetr...

William Weir, author of 50 Battles That Changed the World, takes another look at the history of warfare by focusing on the hardware that served those famous battles. In this text, you’ll uncover:Crew-served weapons—from battering rams to Big Bertha.Weapons carriers, such as tanks and bombers.Unmanned weapons—punji stakes, Bouncing Betty landmines, trap guns, and more.50 Weapons That Changed Warfare analyzes the mos...

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. Listed in order of their relevance to the modern world, they range from the ancient past to the present day and span the globe many times over. This book is not so much about military strategy as the implications of the battles that were vital in shaping civilization as we know it. Some of the battles in this book are familiar to us...

Covering 13.8 billion years, a calculatedly concise, wryly intelligent history of everything, from the Big Bang to the advent of human civilizationWith wonder, wit, and flair—and in record time and space—geophysicist David Bercovici explains how everything came to be everywhere, from the creation of stars and galaxies to the formation of Earth’s atmosphere and oceans to the origin of life and human civilization. Bercovici marries humor and legitimate scientific intrigue, rocketing ...

A sweeping account of the century of experimentation that confirmed Einstein’s general theory of relativity, bringing to life the science and scientists at the origins of relativity, the development of radio telescopes, the discovery of black holes and quasars, and the still unresolved place of gravity in quantum theory.Albert Einstein did nothing of note on May 29, 1919; yet that is when he became immortal. On that day, astronomer Arthur Eddington and his team observed a solar ecl...

1816 was a remarkable year—mostly for the fact that there was no summer. As a result of a volcanic eruption at Mount Tambora in Indonesia, weather patterns were disrupted worldwide for months, allowing for excessive rain, frost, and snowfall through much of the Northeastern US and Europe in the summer of 1816.In the US, the extraordinary weather produced food shortages, religious revivals, and extensive migration from New England to the Midwest. In Europe, the cold and wet summer l...

It is an era that redefined history. As the 1790s began, a fragile America teetered on the brink of oblivion, Russia towered as a vast imperial power, and France plunged into monumental revolution. But none of these remarkable events occurred in isolation. In The Great Upheaval, acclaimed historian Jay Winik masterfully illuminates how their fates combined in one extraordinary moment to change the course of civilization.Winik brings his vast, meticulous research and narrat...

"West Virginia was the child of the storm," concluded early Mountaineer historian and Civil War veteran, Maj. Theodore F. Lang. The northwestern third of the Commonwealth of Virginia finally broke away in 1863 to form the Union's thirty-fifth state. In Seceding from Secession: The Civil War, Politics, and the Creation of West Virginia, authors Eric J. Wittenberg, Edmund A. Sargus, and Penny L. Barrick chronicle those events in an unprecedented study of the social, legal, military,...

Discover hundreds of intriguing, entertaining & often hilarious origins to the English language's most curious phrases in this trivia book from a bestselling author.English is filled with interesting phrases. This book reveals the surprising, captivating and even hilarious origins behind 400 of them, including:• Read between the Lines• Cat Got Your Tongue?• Put a Sock in It• Close, but No Cigar• Bring Home the Bacon• Caught Red-Handed• Under the Wea...