The best account of sixteenth-century warfare by the author of A History of the Peninsular War. This is an unrivalled account in which Sir Charles Oman covers the Great Wars of 1494-1559; Henry VllI's continental wars; the French Wars of Religion, 1562-98; the Dutch War of Independence, 1568-1603; and the Turkish offensive against Christendom.
Oman's two-volume history of warfare in the Middle Ages is the key work for understanding the changing face of battle as it was tested, refined and transformed through centuries of upheaval. Both scholarly and accessible this is wonderful account of the strategies, tactics and military organisation that took place during the Middle Ages.
Oman's two-volume history of warfare in the Middle Ages is the key work for understanding the changing face of battle as it was tested, refined and transformed through centuries of upheaval. Both scholarly and accessible this is wonderful account of the strategies, tactics and military organisation that took place during the Middle Ages.
Often some one precious detail of war lurks in the middle of a book of the most unlikely description. After turning over tens of thousands of leaves in Latin, French, Italian, German, English, Spanish and Dutch print, one is left with an accumulation of observed phenomena - religious, cultural, literary, psychological - which the mind is forced to coordinate into some sort of general conclusions. As the author has stated in some of the pages which follow this preface, the author is profoundly averse to formulating 'philosophies of history', and though the author feels impelled to put in order the impression which much reading and pondering have left with me, the author does not pretend to link these impressions into any theory of evolution. There are as many 'ifs' in history as 'therefores'.
THE BEST ACCOUNT OF SIXTEENTH-CENTURY WARFARE BY THE AUTHOR OF A HISTORY OF THE PENINSULAR WAR This is an unrivalled account of sixteenth-century warfare, in which Sir Charles Oman traces the dramatic, far-reaching changes in the military strategy, tactics and organization of the period. Showing how warfare developed, he covers the Great Wars of 1949-1559; military events in Tudor England, including Henry VIII’s continental wars; the French Wars of Religion, 1562-98; the Dutch revolt and war of independence, 1568-1603; and the Turkish offensive against Christendom, from 1520 until the Peace of Sitva Torok in 1606. The battles, sieges and campaigns that Oman examines in detail clarify military development across the century, such as Ravenna (1512), the first battle won by dominance in artillery; Pavia (1525), a ‘victory by surprise’; Pinkie (1547), where an old-fashioned infantry army proved helpless against the combination of all arms; and Arques (1589), exemplifying the defence of a defile by very inferior number. Contemporary maps illustrate many of the actions, and add to the value of this brilliant and lucid history of the art of war. Sir Charles Oman was one of Britain’s foremost historians and a gifted writer. His books, noted for being both scholarly and accessible, include the two-volume History of the Art of War in the Middle Ages, the seven-volume A History of the Peninsular War and others.
Includes over 100 maps of the actions, engagements and battles of the entire Peninsular War. Whilst writing his magisterial The History of The Peninsular War, Sir Charles Oman gathered material that was to become Wellington’s Army. Into Wellington’s Army he gathered, as he says in his Preface, “much miscellaneous information which does not bear upon the actual chronicle of events in the various campaigns that lie between 1808 and 1814, but yet possesses high interest in itself, and throws many a side-light on the general course of the war ... these notes relate either to the personal characteristics of that famous old army of Wellington, which, as he himself said, ‘could go anywhere and do anything,’ or to its inner mechanism — the details of its management. I purport to speak in these pages of the leaders and the led; of the daily life, manners, and customs of the Peninsular Army, as much as of its composition and its organization. I shall be dealing with the rank and file no less than with the officers, and must even find space for a few pages on that curious and polyglot horde of camp followers which trailed at the heels of the army, and frequently raised problems which worried not only colonels and adjutants, but even the Great Duke himself.”
Illustrated with 11 maps and 2 portraits The 1807-14 war in the Iberian Peninsula was one of the most significant and influential campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars. Arising from Napoleon's strategic need to impose his rule over Portugal and Spain, it evolved into a constant drain on his resources. Sir Charles Oman's seven-volume history of the campaign is an unrivalled and essential work. His extensive use and analysis of French, Spanish, Portuguese and British participants' accounts and archival material, together with his own inspection of the battlefields, provides a comprehensive and balanced account of this most important episode in Napoleonic military history. Between the autumn of 1812 and the late summer of 1813 campaigning in the peninsula took on a new aspect. From being a defence of Portugal and those parts of Spain not under French control, it became an effort by the British, Spanish and Portuguese forces to drive the French out completely. Operations at the end of 1812 included the unsuccessful British siege of Burgos and the subsequent retreat; renewed campaigning on the east coast of Spain, including Murray's actions around Tarragona; and the beginning of the final offensive against the French, including the epic battles of Roncesvalles, Maya and Sorauren.
Illustrated with 14 maps and 5 portraits The 1807-14 war in the Iberian Peninsula was one of the most significant and influential campaigns of the Napoleonic Wars. Arising from Napoleon's strategic need to impose his rule over Portugal and Spain, it evolved into a constant drain on his resources. Sir Charles Oman's seven-volume history of the campaign is an unrivalled and essential work. His extensive use and analysis of French, Spanish, Portuguese and British participants' accounts and archival material, together with his own inspection of the battlefields, provides a comprehensive and balanced account of this most important episode in Napoleonic military history. Volume III covers the period from September 1809 to December 1810, when the French were consolidating their hold on Spain, crushing resistance and attempting to drive the British out of Portugal. However, they could not wholly defeat their opponents. The forces of the Spanish Regency Council, with British and Portuguese aid, held out against the siege of Cadiz. Wellington's Allied army fought a model defensive battle at Bussaco, stalling the French drive into Portugal and enabling the British and Portuguese forces to retire to the shelter of the Torres Vedras fortifications. Here the Allies' defence led to a strategic victory, blunting the French offensive, and ultimately forcing the French to abandon their invasion.
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