Product Description

Conflicts that Changed the World provides an insight into the major battles and the effect they had on the world. Listed in chronoligal order, the author leads us through ancient to modern conflicts and the domination and control of the military leaders involved. Whether the conflicts took place on British soil or abroad, there are details of who the major combatants were, when the battle was fought, where the fight happened and why the conflict occurred. The book is divided into two sections BC and AD beginning with the Battle of Megiddo in 1479 BC to the Battle of Actium in 31 BC. In the second part of the book it starts with the Battle of the Teutoburg Forest in AD 9 and ends with the Fall of Baghdad in 2005.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #106739 in Books
• Published on: 2008-05-01
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Hardcover
• 512 pages

About the Author
Commended for his meticulous research and fluency of expression, Rodney Castleden's work has been published for 30 years. A teacher of history, he lives and works in Brighton.

Customer Reviews

Impressive but imposing
Having watched the movie 300 I was intrigued by the famous last stand of king Leonidas. I started tearing through the pages of Wikipedia to find out as much as I could about the event and found out that it was one of the few conflicts that likely changed the world. I wanted to read more on the battle and the other similar conflicts. Hardly a few days ago, while passing through the local high street I saw this book and quickly bought it.

I read through this book and found it held a flood of factual and impressive research based opinions. It is commendable and monumental in that regard (although as expected not quite as big-screen adapted as 300).

The author at the begining shows his opinion of being anti-war in general, and expresses his disdain for violence and loss of life. However, even with this he still manages to praise the prowess and military genius of the leaders. This would make for a good, balanced read.

However, my main criticism of this book is that the author does not do this consistantly and indiscriminately, and it becomes only too obvious when reading his sharper criticisms of religions (yes Islam typically and tediously is the main target of his wrath). This would be fair enough - or should I say bearable, but it becomes transparent when historical inaccuracies and offensive descriptions are happily repeated. Its what should be expected from tabloids not from a book which should have been based on research instead of ideology, (which is ironic as in his introduction he appears to despise imposing ideologies).

I commend the detail and facts presented here, but that can be found in other similarly named books (e.g. 50 conflicts that changed the world, and yes even Wikipedia) which this book arguably matches. It severly is hampered by the stereotypes it repeats.

If only the author could keep seperate his ideological bias from the facts, the book may have proved to be invaluable.

Conflicts that changed the world
This book is packed with succinct well researched information. The conflicts are not all obvious ones and the book is more interesting because of this. The author has presented balanced views of difficult, multi-faceted issues with great skill. This is a fascinating read. Don't miss it!

Dumbed-down rubbish - don't waste your money
The title of my review says it all - don't waste your time or money on this book