War: The Definitive Visual History
£23.80£28.50 (-16%)
Follow the epic 5,000-year story of warfare – from the earliest battles to the War on Terror – with this guided tour of every major conflict.
Combining a clear and compelling historical narrative with a wealth of fascinating eyewitness accounts and photography throughout, this is the ultimate guide to the history of military conflict, from the armies of ancient
Egypt to the rise of Isis in Syria and Iraq, and the ongoing Yemeni civil war.
War explores the battles, the warriors, the tactics, and the weapons and technology that have shaped conflict worldwide. Lavishly illustrated with paintings, photographs, artefacts, and maps, this book offers a uniquely detailed and visually rich view of all major aspects of human conflict.
Whether on the bloody battlefields of the ancient world or in the modern era of drones and laser-guided missiles, this is the complete story of the wars that have shaped our world.
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Additional information
| Publisher | DK (2 April 2020) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 512 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0241392160 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0241392164 |
| Dimensions | 24.2 x 3.4 x 28.8 cm |
by ALF
Interesting facts and covers all the important wars & battles… My son, 13, is total immersed in it.
by Siltone
Most of us obviously get the bulk of our knowledge these days from the Internet, because it’s easily accessible, it’s kinda free, and the areas you may explore are limitless. However, for me there is still something almost magical about learning the old-fashioned way – by picking up, and leafing through a well-written, beautifully produced book like this one from DK. It’s a tactile experience, it’s also a feast for the eyes, with all those sublime pieces of artwork, wonderful photographs, detailed coloured maps, and a multitude of fascinating facts, figures and quotations.
This was previously published as The Encyclopedia of War, but now has the more catchy title of ‘WAR -The Definitive Visual History.’ It really is a compelling tome, and is such a well thought-out and detailed book that it will surely encourage most readers to explore its pages, and easily digest its contents. This is a book that you could gift to yourself (we all need a ‘treat’ once in a while), or it would make a super present to give to a child or adult. I have no hesitation in recommending this 512 page publication.
by FraserD
This review is for War: The Definitive Visual History Hardcover – 2 Apr 2020.
Contents and Index pages. Each section starts with an outline of the period under review with brief chronological descriptions of events that took place. The section then expands on some of the more salient (or possibly important) events to cover them in more detail.
Dorling Kindersley books are well known for providing a populist overview of topics for children which are heavy on illustrations yet provide some depth of information. This book, with 512 pages and over a kilo in weight, attempts to lay out the history of war from the earliest recorded times to the present day and give more information on each topic. This is a colossal task and it is to be expected that due to the huge range of the project both in time and geography that some aspects may not be covered, or well covered. This book is firmly aimed at the casual historian or reader or people who have little to no knowledge of the periods covered and in that respect it does a remarkable job.
The book speaks quality, from the beautiful cover and bindings to the pages and illustrations within. It is lovely to hold a real book again and it should be a pleasure to browse through again and again.
That said, I had thought that as a History of War, it would have concentrated more on wars and their impact on the societies involved, rather than on the battles involved in them. I also found the book to be very western-centric with a relatively smaller part of the book covering wars and battles of India, Asia and so on. I was also disappointed not see any discussion over the creation of the Persian Empire which was huge and was stolen from them by “western” powers. The last post-WWII pages also just described a list of battles, and some wars, that has happened since then with no over-arching headings. Perhaps I am being over picky.
If you are not a student of history, or know nothing about wars and battles throughout history, then this book will give you an insight and perhaps inspire you to research more. We can only hope that humanity will eventually learn from our history and live in peace with each other; learning about the awful conflicts the world has endured has to be a step in the right direction. As the Foreword to the book states:
‘Between 1500 BCE and 1860 CE there were in the known world, on average, thirteen years of war to every one year of peace.’
A horrifying statistic and it is noticeable that there isn’t one for the period following that.
by CJ
As a definitive history of war, you can’t ask much more from this book. Weighing in at a huge 512 pages, it’s a big, heavy tome covering human conflict from the beginning of history up until the military actions following 9/11 in the 21st century. Although densely populated the book is beautifully laid out with quality photographs and illustrations, all printed on quality paper and bound in a in a textured (if rather busy) hardback cover.
Each conflict is given on average two pages with some detail on the circumstances surrounding the war or battle and how it was fought. Some particular wars, such as the world wars, get more space, but generally the book doesn’t dwell on one particular incident for very long. This makes it a nice quick reference but obviously limited in terms of detail. The book is perfectly suited to reading through the progression of how wars are fought (and often why) rather than focusing on specific areas.
There are also break-out sections (again, typically two pages) on particular technology of warfare, such as muskets or machine guns. The final 150 pages of the book are dedicated to the ‘Directory’, which lists every major war since 3000 BCE to the present, with each one receiving a one paragraph description. This is a useful reference tool.
The book is well written and accessible, with quotes, statistics and fantastic photos, drawings and other illustrations. Sometimes it is frustrating when detail is lacking but you have to remember the purpose of the book: to cover everything. Find something particularly interesting and you can then invest in further books on that subject.
For £23, it’s a steal. Whether leafing through it, looking for specific events or reading from cover to cover (as I am doing), it’s a great reminder of how good books are and still better than using the internet for such things if you really want to wallow in the subject, Highly recommended.
by Ricardo Melo
War has been part of our civilization from the begining of time.
This books wonderfully explains us when, where, why and how it all happened.