From the ancient Egyptian battle at Megiddo in 1469 BC to the recent military actions in Iraq; great battles have had an enormous impact on the shaping of history. Now; in this fully illustrated book; one hundred of the world's most important military confrontations are described in detail. 100 Decisive Battles gives us the facts about the battle and also explains where it fits in to the scope of world history.In each entry we are given the name and date of the battle; the commanders; the size of the opposing forces; and casualties. An account of the battle plan and the military action are strategically discussed; and each description closes with a valuable consideration of how history was affected by the outcome of the conflict. Among the battles presented are the Battle of Thymbra (546 BC); the Battle of Chalons (451 AD); the Battle of Cajamarca (1532); the Battle of Dien Bien Phu (1954); and the Tet Offensive (1968). Accompanying maps and sidebars help further orient us with each military action.Global in scope; with excellent coverage of American; Central American; European; Asian; and Middle Eastern battles; and with its stirring accounts of familiar battles and many lesser known military conflicts; 100 Decisive Battles is essential reading for military buffs and anyone interested in how the modern world came to be.
#1467702 in Books Lynne Viola 1999-01-28Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.10 x 1.00 x 6.20l; 1.18 #File Name: 0195131045328 pagesPeasant Rebels under Stalin Collectivization and the Culture of Peasant Resistance
Review
3 of 4 people found the following review helpful. New twist on an old taleBy R. L. HuffMs. Viola has done an excellent job fleshing out the archaeology of village Russia in a pivotal era. While peasant society has been well-plowed regarding the revolutions of 1905 and 1917; its response to the "third revolution from above" has been murkier. But it was not the terra incognito as some might suggest. The essentials of this story were known from the beginning.Ms. Viola is right on stating; on page 235: "Collectivization encapsulated the original fault lines of the Bolshevik revolution; between a minority class in whose name the Communists professed to rule and the majority peasantry whose very reality appeared to block the revolution." But the Manichean world of Red/White was already well-established under Soviet rule; city and country both. Collectivization would not otherwise have been possible.I also take some issue with a statement on p. 238; when she writes that the peasant rebellion of the first collectivization drive was "the most serious episode in popular resistance experienced by the Soviet state after the Russian Civil War." This is so *only if* the line is drawn prior to WW II. The upsurge in nationality-based violence - from both state and ethnic minorities - in the wake of the Nazi advance was surely equal to the class-induced turmoil of the collectivization period.Her conclusion - that peasants made the collective farm their own tool of support - is spot on. Post-Soviet decollectivization was initially resisted by the very class who'd first fought the system. There were numerous reasons for this; which Ms. Viola enumerates: outmigration; education; military service; improved rural-urban contact; upward mobility (for some); the introduction of private plots and produce markets; and the social benefits and improved working conditions of the kolkhoz. Let me also add that Great Russian patriotism during WW II helped transfer peasant resentments into acceptable channels against an outside (and arguably worse) aggressor. Outsiders - whether Nazi generals; cold war planners; or Western academics - have consistently floundered in such matters when concocting schemes for reform and liberation of the Soviet countryside. The collective farm; like the Soviet regime itself; became nashi - "ours." Not; to be sure; without reservations and ambivalence: much like Americans when defining their society as a democracy.11 of 11 people found the following review helpful. New Insights on Peasant RebellionBy A CustomerIn an original new work of social history on the early Stalinist era; Lynne Viola examines an aspect of Soviet collectivization hitherto unconsidered; namely that of intense peasant resistance to the policy. Historians traditionally conceived of Stalin's policies in the countryside in purely totalitarian terms. These focused primarily or even entirely on an overbearing regime whose subjects were simply regarded as victims. Viola; in a superb example of historical revisionism; allows for the possibility of resistance by those once thought to have played little if any role during these years. In Viola's countryside the traditional victims of collectivization; the peasants of Ukraine; the Russian Volga; the Northern Caucasus; and other regions were just as influential in the events as those making and enforcing collectivization policies.Viola focuses on nearly all aspects of peasant revolt during the years of collectivization; from the seemingly irrational mass destruction of livestock to apocalyptic rumor mongering to the more everyday forms of rebellion like undermining Soviet grain collection efforts. Very few segments of rural society are left untreated; and perhaps the most thoroughly considered are women. Women were the agents of much peasant resistance precisely because Soviet authorities gave them more leeway due to their perceived political ignorance and naivete. In other words; those who are traditionally seen as the most vulnerable were in many ways among the most influential.For those wishing to strengthen their traditional conceptions of Stalinist society; Viola's landmark study will prove to be a serious disappointment; for it confirms very little of what was previously thought about the process of collectivization. Instead; her work challenges us with an entirely new vision. Viola meticulously utilizes an impressive collection of archival materials to fashion her arguments; and at the same time she remains open to the worthiest contributions in the fields of peasant; gender; and religious studies. Those interested in these fields as well as in Soviet history in general will gain an important perspective from one of the twentieth century's most important episodes. Viola; a leader among Western scholars of the early Soviet era; has made a most invaluable contribution to its literature.
