View source for Top Ten Books from the Oxford Battle Series

[[File:gallipoli book.jpg|left|thumbnail|250px|<i>Gallipoli</i> by Jenny MacLeod]]
Oxford University Press has a series that covers classic battles from Ancient Greece to World War II. Each of these books discusses not only the battles themselves but how they were commemorated and their long term impact on history. The books try to understand not just how the battle took place, but why they became so important. 

'''Anne Curry'''. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0199681015/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0199681015&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=1318804a63681905f24f41be569e5017 Agincourt]'' (Oxford Univesity Press, 2015)

Why is Agincourt one the best known and celebrated battles in history? What made it remarkable? Like many of the battles in the series, the legend of Agincourt has overshadowed the battle itself. One of the most famous speeches in Shakespeare's plays ([https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A-yZNMWFqvM Saint Crispin's Day Speech]) is Henry V's speech inspiring his soldiers before Agincourt. 

Anne Curry first sets the scene, illuminating how and why the battle was fought, as well as its significance in the wider history of the Hundred Years War. She then takes the Agincourt story through the centuries from 1415 to 2015, from the immediate, and sometimes surprising, responses to it on both sides of the Channel, through its reinvention by Shakespeare in King Henry V (1599), and the enduring influence of both the play and the film versions of it, especially the patriotic Laurence Olivier version of 1944, at the time of the D-Day landings in Normandy. 

'''Simon Ball'''. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0199682038/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0199682038&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=0e6d329a23d95f71a28ef1d6c7849355 Alamein]'' (Oxford Univesity Press, 2015)

The Battle of El Alamein was the most important battle of the North African conflict between German and Italy and the British Empire. The battle, which was in reality, a series of battles, has entered military legend and it is one of the best-known battles of WWII. The battle was involved some of the most famous generals of the war, including Bernard Montgomery and Erwin Rommel. Significantly, the battle was a turning point in the European theater.

Simon Ball's book turns the interpretation of the battle on its head. Based on the intensive reading of the contemporary sources, in particular, the extensive and recently declassified British bugging of Axis prisoners of war, military historian Simon Ball turns Alamein on its head, explaining it as a cultural defeat for Britain. Ball's book is well worth a look.

'''Murray Pittock'''. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0199664072/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0199664072&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=3903b44cacfa9b765fb2f62e4d9dd7ae Culloden]'' (Oxford Univesity Press, 2016)

The Battle of Culloden was the last battle fought on British soil by regular troops. The battle was short, brutal, one-sided and decisive. The British crushed the Jacobites and forced Bonnie Prince Charlie into exile in France. While the battle itself is of little note, the result of the battle was [[How Did the Battle of Culloden Change British and American History?|extremely consequential]] to Britain, Europe, and the North American colonies. Additionally, the Battle of Culloden and Jacobite uprising been romanticized. The books and television series Outlander center around the Jacobite uprising and the Battle of Culloden are just one example.

Pittock's book examines the battle and the brutal suppression of the Highland clans after the uprising ended. He seeks to correct the notion that battle was a dramatic clash, between Highlander and Lowlander, Celt and Saxon, Catholic and Protestant, the old and the new. 

'''Jenny MacLeod'''. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/019964487X/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=019964487X&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=32d16240b85978e34ec9de589f4b9df0 Gallipoli]'' (Oxford Univesity Press, 2015)

In ''Gallipoli'', historian Jenny Macleod discusses why the Allied plan failed, and of equal importance, how the Ottoman Army withstood the assault and emerged victorious. Although new evidence has not been unearthed, Macleod takes advantage of digitization in accessing sources and presents an insightful look into the Ottoman military. Further, this text intentionally forgoes referring to Ottoman soldiers as “Turks,” and celebrates the ethnic and religious diversity of the Ottoman military forces. Finally, going beyond the battle, the author focuses heavily on the national and cultural consequences of the battle in the aftermath of the Great War.

<i>Gallipoli</i> is a detailed account of the nations involved in that battle. The book focuses more on the aftermath in the participating nations. Macleod convincingly supports her argument that due to logistics, training, and politics the Allied plan could do nothing but fail. Additionally, she conveys the respect the enemy soldiers held for each other; respect that began as hatred.

'''John France'''. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0199646953/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0199646953&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=dc0e6f5289546048465a920c66557310 Hattin]'' (Oxford Univesity Press, 2015)'

At the Battle of Hattin, the Muslim leader Saladin annihilated the Crusaders army of the Latin Kingdom of Jerusalem and forced the Crusdars out of the Holy Land. 



'''Peter H. Wilson'''. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B077TS22C1/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B077TS22C1&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=38c3c584ae6154a49853e660d629e969 Lutzen]''  (Oxford Univesity Press, 2015)



'''Ian F. W. Beckett'''. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07L5RBDP4/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B07L5RBDP4&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=66044b6238b74012f8a74f7527e84ebe Rorke's Drift and Isandlwana]'' (Oxford Univesity Press, 2015)



'''Chris Carey'''. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0198754108/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0198754108&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=c2540a1fe3b004d2e930e06b2ca2e616 Thermopylae]'' (Oxford Univesity Press, 2015)



'''Alan Forrest'''. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/0199663254/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=0199663254&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=62ba70bf374992b31bc6e0e9309d306a Waterloo]''(Oxford University Press, )



'''Mark Connelly and Stefan Goebel'''. ''[https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B07HCBFHRM/ref=as_li_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=9325&creativeASIN=B07HCBFHRM&linkCode=as2&tag=dailyh0c-20&linkId=b07788ff847e58b65bdba43ff75c228b Ypres]'' (Oxford Univesity Press, )