Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #865130 in Books
• Published on: 2002-02-28
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 560 pages

Synopsis
England's battlefields bear witness to dramatic turning-points in the country's history. At Hastings, Bosworth Field, Flodden and Naseby, the battles fought were to have an enormous effect on English life. This double volume, containing Burne's famous "Battlefields of England" and "More Battlefields of England" make it possible for readers to follow the course of 39 battles from AD 51 to 1685, as if they were on the battlefields themselves.

Customer Reviews

The outstanding book on battlefields in England. Buy it!
In my opinion this is the outstanding book on battlefields in England - better than all the rest. Actually it is a compendium of The Battlefields of England (first published 1950) and More Battlefields of England (first published 1952) by Lt.-Colonel Alfred H. Burne D.S.O.

Before finding Burne, I had bought numerous other books each of which tells you what happened - cut and dried. It doesn't help much that there are variations in their accounts of the battles. What is different about Burne is that, for each battle, he dissects and analyses the previously published accounts/sources. Then, using what he calls Inherent Military Probability, accepting/rejecting previous accounts with the reasons for so doing combined with his own researches, he gives his version of what actually happened. Absolutely brilliant! In some cases Burne convincingly overturns what was previously accepted history.

Of course, this does not make Burne automatically right about everything. Probability, inherent or otherwise, is probability and not necessarily fact. Indeed, I am not convinced, for example, about the location he gives for the battle of Mount Badon.

Whereas previously I simply accepted what was put in front of me and remained puzzled about varying accounts of battles, now I have been given the ability to judge for myself. It has transformed my appreciation of the battles and the battlefields, looking at them with deeper understand. It has greatly enhanced my pleasure and enjoyment of studying and understanding not only England's battlefields but also battles generally.

Even if you don't visit the battlefields - and I recommend that, if you can, you do - the book is highly readable just for Burne's analysis. Get it today!