Gordon Corrigan

In this major new history, Gordon Corrigan argues that what we call the Second World War was in fact two separate conflicts: one against Germany (and, for a while, Italy) in Western Europe, Soviet Russia and North Africa; the other against Japan in the Far East and Pacific. Each conflict had distinct causes and had to be fought in different ways against very different enemies, who rarely, if ever, coordinated their efforts. This is a new and cogent account of an immense, exhausting six-year conflict that continues to fascinate. Corrigan examines the agendas of the warring nations and offers fresh and vivid interpretations; Britains own part in the war comes in for particularly close scrutiny: militarily, the British suffered an agonising series of defeats before the tide turned. The country emerged economically broken, with the loss of her empire a virtual certainty. The Second World War is vast in its erudition and epic in its execution. It will change forever the way we think about the titanic conflicts that dominated the years 1939 to 1945.

Fought on Sunday, 18 June 1815, by some 220,000 men over rain-sodden ground in what is now Belgium, the Battle of Waterloo brought an end to twenty-three years of almost continual war between revolutionary and later imperial France and her enemies. A decisive defeat for Napoleon and a hard-won victory for the Allied armies of the Duke of Wellington and the Prussians led by the stalwart Blucher, it brought about the French emperors final exile to St Helena and cleared the way for Britain to become the dominant world power.A former soldier, Gordon Corrigan is the author of an acclaimed military biography of Wellington and has walked the battlefields of the Napoleonic era many times. He is perfectly placed to offer a robust, clear and gripping account of the campaign that surveys the wider military scene before moving on to the actions at Quatre Bras and Ligny and then the final, set-piece confrontation at Waterloo itself. He is also well qualified to explore, often in fascinating detail, the relative strengths and frailties of the very different armies involved - French, British, Dutch, Prussian and German - of their various arms - infantry, artillery and cavalry - and of their men, officers and, above all, their commanders.Wellington remarked that Waterloo was a damned nice thing, nice meaning uncertain or finely balanced. He was right. For his part, Napoleon reckoned the English are bad troops and this affair is nothing more than eating breakfast. He was wrong, and this splendid book proves just how wrong.

The Hundred Years War was fought between 1337 and 1453 over English claims to both the throne of France by right of inheritance and large parts of the country that had been at one time Norman or, later, English. The fighting ebbed and flowed, but despite their superior tactics and great victories at Crecy, Poitiers and Agincourt, the English could never hope to secure their claims in perpetuity: France was wealthier and far more populous, and while the English won the battles, they could not hope to hold forever the lands they conquered. The real and abiding significance of the war lies in the fact that, at its end, the English had become English, as opposed to Anglo-French, and France too had set out on the road to nationhood. (Both countries would subsequently become the very best of enemies.) The war also sparked a real revolution in the English way of waging war, with increasing professionalism and the use of technology to make up for lack of numbers - factors which remain relevant throughout the subsequent history of the English, and then the British, army and which are still critical to it today. Military historian Gordon Corrigans new history of these epochal events is brisk, combative and refreshingly straightforward, and the great kings, men and battles of the period receive the full attention and reassessment they deserve.

In this major new history, Gordon Corrigan argues that what we call the Second World War was in fact two separate conflicts: one against Germany (and, for a while, Italy) in Western Europe, Soviet Russia and North Africa; the other against Japan in the Far East and Pacific. Each conflict had distinct causes and had to be fought in different ways against very different enemies, who rarely, if ever, coordinated their efforts. This is a new and cogent account of an immense, exhausting six-year conflict that continues to fascinate. Corrigan examines the agendas of the warring nations and offers fresh and vivid interpretations; Britain's own part in the war comes in for particularly close scrutiny: militarily, the British suffered an agonising series of defeats before the tide turned. The country emerged economically broken, with the loss of her empire a virtual certainty. The Second World War is vast in its erudition and epic in its execution. It will change forever the way we think about the titanic conflicts that dominated the years 1939 to 1945.

The popular view of the First World War remains that of ''Blackadder'': incompetent generals sending brave soldiers to their deaths. Alan Clark quoted a German general''s remark that the British soldiers were ''lions led by donkeys''. But he made it up. Indeed, many established ''facts'' about 1914-18 turn out to be myths woven in the 1960s by young historians on the make. Gordon Corrigan''s brilliant, witty new history reveals how out of touch we have become with the soldiers of 1914-18. They simply would not recognize the way their generation is depicted on TV or in Pat Barker''s novels. Laced with dry humour, this will overturn everything you thought you knew about Britain and the First World War. Gordon Corrigan reveals how the British embraced technology, and developed the weapons and tactics to break through the enemy trenches.

18 de junio de 1815, domingo, cerca de doscientos mil hombres lucharon en un terreno empapado por la lluvia en lo que hoy en día es Bélgica: Waterloo. Fue la derrota decisiva para Napoleón y una victoria duramente conseguida para los ejercitos aliados del duque de Wellington y los prusianos dirigidos por el leal Blucher. Tras ella, el emperador frances partio a su exilio definitivo en la isla de Santa Elena y Gran Bretaña vio el camino abierto para convertirse en la potencia dominante del mundo.Gordon Corrigan, militar jubilado y autor de numerosos libros de historia militar, ha recorrido los campos de batalla de la epoca napoleonica en numerosas ocasiones y nos ofrece un relato fascinante de la campaña y sus escenarios. Detalla, ademas, los puntos fuertes y las debilidades de cada uno de los ejercitos implicados frances, britanico, holandes, prusiano y aleman, de sus diferentes armas infanteria, artilleria y caballeria y de sus hombres, oficiales y, sobre todo, comandantes.Antes de que empezara el combate, Napoleon le comento al mariscal Soult: Os digo que Wellington es un mal general, que los ingleses son malos soldados y que esto sera pan comido. Se equivoco, y este esplendido libro demuestra cuanto.

En junio se cumple el 200 aniversario de una de las batallas más famosas y trascendentes de la Historia: Waterloo18 de junio de 1815, domingo, cerca de doscientos mil hombres lucharon en un terreno empapado por la lluvia en lo que hoy en dia es Belgica: Waterloo. Fue la derrota decisiva para Napoleon y una victoria duramente conseguida para los ejercitos aliados del duque de Wellington y los prusianos dirigidos por el leal Blucher. Tras ella, el emperador frances partio a su exilio definitivo en la isla de Santa Elena y Gran Bretaña vio el camino abierto para convertirse en la potencia dominante del mundo.Gordon Corrigan, militar jubilado y autor de numerosos libros de historia militar, ha recorrido los campos de batalla de la epoca napoleonica en numerosas ocasiones y nos ofrece un relato fascinante de la campaña y sus escenarios. Detalla, ademas, los puntos fuertes y las debilidades de cada uno de los ejercitos implicadosfrances, britanico, holandes, prusiano y aleman, de sus diferentes armasinfanteria, artilleria y caballeriay de sus hombres, oficiales y, sobre todo, comandantes.Antes de que empezara el combate, Napoleon le comento al mariscal Soult: Os digo que Wellington es un mal general, que los ingleses son malos soldados y que esto sera pan comido. Se equivoco, y este esplendido libro demues...