000			03414cam a2200349 i 4500
001			ocn946610689
003			OCoLC
005			20180722224245.0
008			160411s2017 nyuab b 001 0 eng
010			_a 2016016391
040			_aDLC _beng _erda _cDLC _dOCLCO _dOCLCF _dOCLCQ _dYDXCP _dBTCTA _dBDX _dYDX _dOCLCO _dGZM _dNFG
019			_a921864689 _a970778519 _a971550967
020			_a9780195383782 _qhardcover ; _qalkaline paper
020			_a0195383788 _qhardcover ; _qalkaline paper
035			_a(OCoLC)946610689 _z(OCoLC)921864689 _z(OCoLC)970778519 _z(OCoLC)971550967
042			_apcc
092			_a355.409 _bN787
049			_aNFGA
100	1		_aNolan, Cathal J., _eauthor. _9174903
245	1	4	_aThe allure of battle : _ba history of how wars have been won and lost / _cCathal J. Nolan.
264		1	_aNew York, NY : _bOxford University Press, _c[2017]
300			_aviii, 709 pages : _billustrations, maps ; _c25 cm
336			_atext _btxt _2rdacontent
337			_aunmediated _bn _2rdamedia
338			_avolume _bnc _2rdacarrier
504			_aIncludes bibliographical references and index.
505	0		_aBattle in history -- Battle retarded -- Battle remembered -- Battle reformed -- Battle with reason -- Battle restored -- Battle decisive -- Battle defeated -- Battle exalted -- Battle of annihilation -- Annihilation of battle -- Annihilation of strategy -- Annihilation of nations -- Annihilation of mercy -- Annihilation at sea -- Annihilation of illusions -- Conclusions.
520	0		_a"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." Cannae, Konigsberg, Austerlitz, Midway, Agincourt-all resonate in the literature of war and in our imaginations as tide-turning. But these legendary battles may or may not have determined the final outcome of the wars in which they were fought. Nor has the "genius" of the so-called Great Captains--from Alexander the Great to Frederick the Great and Napoleon--played a major role. Wars are decided in other ways. Cathal J. Nolan's The Allure of Battle systematically and engrossingly examines the great battles, tracing what he calls "short-war thinking," the hope that victory might be swift and wars brief. As he proves persuasively, however, such has almost never been the case. Even the major engagements have mainly contributed to victory or defeat by accelerating the erosion of the other side's defenses. Massive conflicts, the so-called "people's wars," beginning with Napoleon and continuing until 1945, have consisted of and been determined by prolonged stalemate and attrition, industrial wars in which the determining factor has been not military but matériel. Nolan'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 battle's role in war, replacing popular images of the "battles of annihilation" with somber appreciation of the commitments and human sacrifices made throughout centuries of war particularly among the Great Powers. Accessible, provocative, exhaustive, and illuminating, The Allure of Battle will spark fresh debate about the history and conduct of warfare."--Provided by publisher.
650		0	_aBattles. _924842
650		0	_aMilitary history. _928740
994			_aC0 _bNFG
999			_c249876 _d249876