Why are some battles remembered more than others? Surprisingly, it is not just size that matters, nor the number of dead, the ‘decisiveness’ of battles or their effects on communities and civilisations. It is their political afterlife
the multiple meanings and political uses attributed to them
that determines their fame. This ground-breaking series goes well beyond military history by exploring the transformation of battles into sites of memory and meaning. Cast into epic myths of the fight of Good against Evil, of punishment for decadence or reward for virtue, of the birth of a nation or the collective assertion against a tyrant, the defence of Civilisation against the Barbarians, Christendom against the Infidel, particular battles have acquired fame beyond their immediate contemporaneous relevance. The epic battles of European history examined in this first volume range from the siege of Troy and the encounters of Marathon and Thermopylai, to the wars of the Israelites which inspired the way many later battles would be narrated; and from the triumphs and defeats of the Roman Empire, to Hastings, the massacre of Beziers and the battle of Courtrai. In each chapter, the historical events surrounding a battle form the backdrop for multi-layer interpretations, which, consciously or unconsciously, carry political agendas. AUTHORS: Beatrice Heuser is known for her books on strategic studies including Reading Clausewitz (Pimlico, 2002), The Strategy Makers (ABC Clio 2010) containing translations of early texts, and Strategy Before Clausewitz (Routledge, 2017). She is keenly interested in myths invoked in foreign policy making, treated in (edited, with Cyril Buffet) Haunted by History (Berghahn, 1998). Athena Leoussi is known for her books on nationalism, including the Encyclopaedia of Nationalism (Transaction, 2001). She is a founder of The Association for the Study of Ethnicity and Nationalism, and the journal, Nations and Nationalism. She is also known for her publications on the classical body, and contribution to the British Museum’s exhibition, ‘Defining Beauty’ (2015).