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The Decisive Battles of the Western World: 480BC-1757
Major General J. F. C. Fuller, a pioneer of mechanized warfare in Great Britain, was one of this century's most renowned military strategists and historians. In this magisterial work he spans military history from the Greeks to the end of World War II, describing tactics, battle lines, the day-to-day struggles while always relating affairs on the field to the larger questions of social, political, and economic change in Western civilization. A masterpiece of scholarship and biting prose.
This is the 1970 abridged edition in two volumes of the original 1954 complete edition.
This is the 1970 abridged edition in two volumes of the original 1954 complete edition.
581 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1970
About the author
J.F.C. Fuller
120 books73 followersMajor-General John Frederick Charles Fuller, CB, CBE, DSO was a British Army officer (1899–1933), military historian and strategist, notable as an early theorist of modern armoured warfare, including categorising principles of warfare.
Fuller was also an early disciple of English poet and magician Aleister Crowley and was very familiar with his, and other forms of, magick and mysticism.
Fuller was also an early disciple of English poet and magician Aleister Crowley and was very familiar with his, and other forms of, magick and mysticism.
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Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews
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January 10, 2026Unannotated Book in F. Scott Fitzgerald's College of One
June 18, 2008
An excellent book that does a very good job of filling you in on the outline of Western history.
Highly recommended.
Highly recommended.
June 1, 2023
Interesting perspective though a little dated given the time written
October 11, 2021
Despite the title suggesting a collection of battle analyses, this is more an entire history of the Western World from Ancient Greece on, with decisive battles becoming hinges upon which great changes pivoted. Originally this was written in three volumes and edited down to two by John Terraine as in this edition. It is hard to judge whether this was actually a good idea? For one it does leave some gaps/jumps in the continuing historical narrative, but on the other hand this is already an immense account and maybe the sheer weight of detail would have been over tedious?
There is remains an aweful lot of detail with profusion of names and places that actually takes quite careful reading to follow at times. There are maps and dynastic trees, but to have far more would have been helpful. However all this shows that even though we are given merely a summary of situations, that in fact the causes and complications leading into war are always much more involved than is usually outlined. In fact there is so much duplicity and contentious behaviour in almost all the great heroes and saviours of history that one might be left slightly disillusioned. Perhaps Gustavus Adolphus alone emerges as uncompromised? Indeed Fuller sometimes shifts the weighting of his favour contrary to what might be expected - for example Philip II comes out slightly better than Elizabeth in the Armada account and in general the Catholic powers are more favourably treated (there is even a slight bias against Protestantism) than is usually found in English histories.
Most of the actual battles themselves (except for Hastings) receive only a cursory explanation but the campaign situation leading to the decisive encounter is very well explained. Most of all Fuller really does do a brilliant job of assessing the causes of change in western civilisation and tracing these to the results of war. Of course equally there can be other parallel histories with respect to money, energy, faith or thinking that could be written, but Fuller is more than half right that war and the hinge of fate within, is a prime impetus/ instigator of movement in these other areas too. He makes his case very well indeed.
There is remains an aweful lot of detail with profusion of names and places that actually takes quite careful reading to follow at times. There are maps and dynastic trees, but to have far more would have been helpful. However all this shows that even though we are given merely a summary of situations, that in fact the causes and complications leading into war are always much more involved than is usually outlined. In fact there is so much duplicity and contentious behaviour in almost all the great heroes and saviours of history that one might be left slightly disillusioned. Perhaps Gustavus Adolphus alone emerges as uncompromised? Indeed Fuller sometimes shifts the weighting of his favour contrary to what might be expected - for example Philip II comes out slightly better than Elizabeth in the Armada account and in general the Catholic powers are more favourably treated (there is even a slight bias against Protestantism) than is usually found in English histories.
Most of the actual battles themselves (except for Hastings) receive only a cursory explanation but the campaign situation leading to the decisive encounter is very well explained. Most of all Fuller really does do a brilliant job of assessing the causes of change in western civilisation and tracing these to the results of war. Of course equally there can be other parallel histories with respect to money, energy, faith or thinking that could be written, but Fuller is more than half right that war and the hinge of fate within, is a prime impetus/ instigator of movement in these other areas too. He makes his case very well indeed.
Displaying 1 - 4 of 4 reviews