Fields of Conflict [Two Volumes]

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Fields of Conflict [Two Volumes] Battlefield Archaeology from the Roman Empire to the Korean War

Douglas Scott, Lawrence Babits, Charles Haecker

ISBN: 0-275-99315-9

ISBN-13: 978-0-275-99315-3

DOI:

480 pages

Praeger Publishers

Publication: 11/30/2006

List Price: $175.00 (UK Sterling Price: £120.95)

Discount Price: $87.50 Sale Price for U.S. Customers Only. Save 50%. Ends 12/31/2009.

Availability: In Stock

Media Type: Hardcover

Trim Size: 6 1/8 x 9 1/4

Subjects:

Series Title: Praeger Security International

Reviews:

Suitable for graduate libraries.
—Library Journal 4/1/2007
Twenty-four articles in two volumes on the archaeology and significance of battlefield research are ground truthing the written record of particular battles. Introductory articles define battlefield archaeology and its methodology, theoretical basis, and focus on the landscape....These articles not only enhance the documentary record, but also provide significant new data on the battles' ebb and flow and tactics that do not exist in the written record, thus reinterpreting, in many cases, the course of the action. Recommended. All levels/libraries.
—Choice 10/1/2007
"The editors...explore the ways in which battlefield archaeology clarifies our understanding of military tactics and strategy as they have evolved over the last 2,000 years. In two volumes, they not only reveal new interpretations of classic battles, but show clearly how achaeology can be used regardless of geographic or temporal location, making this an ideal set for the general reader and professional archaeologist or soldier alike."
—Lt. Colonel Robert A. Lynn, Florida Guard 4/9/2009

Description: To the world, battlefields represent sites of international conflict, places where the courseof history is decided. On a national level, battlefields are places of pride and community identity, where the sacrifice and courage of those who fought take on mythic status. Battlefield archaeology is a crucial tool for understanding how battles are fought and won, often revealing shocking conclusions at odds with the documentary record. Nothing shows the effects of strategies and tactics better than the evidence in the ground-physical evidence shows whether battle plans succeeded or failed and the effectiveness of planning versus luck.

The editors of Fields of Conflict explore the ways in which battlefield archaeology clarifies our understanding of military tactics and strategy as they have evolved over the last 2000 years. In two volumes, they not only reveal new interpretations of classic battles, but show clearly how archaeology can be used regardless of geographic or temporal location, making this an ideal book for general reader and professional archaeologist or soldier alike. First showing the reader how to identify a battlefield from earthworks and particular artifacts, the authors then foster a new understanding of warfare by examining some of the best preserved battlefields in the world. From the ancient world, through the Middle Ages to World Wars I and II and the Korean war, the analysis of what gets left behind at the close of epic struggles shows all too painfully how men fought and died, and how decisions made by commanders shaped history even today. Yet more than history, battlefield archaeology can be deeply meaningful to relatives of soldiers today, who seek to know where their missing loved ones fought, died, and were possibly buried. While military archaeology has always been popular, this set is the first attempt to create a cohesive chronological interpretation for future study and understanding.

Table of Contents:

List of Figures
Acknowledgments
Introduction to Conflict and Battlefield Archaeology
How do you know its a battlefield?
Mustering Landscapes: What historic battlefields share in common.
Characteristics of Ancient Battlefields: Battle of Varus (9 AD).
Finding battery positions at Wilsons Creek, Missouri.
Battlefield viewsheds or what the general saw: Lookout Mountain Battlefield Chattanooga, Tennessee.
What the musket ball can tell: Monmouth State Battlefield, New Jersey.
Listen to the Minie balls: Identifying firearms in battlefield archaeology.
Total Roman Defeat at the Battle of Varus (9 AD).
English Battlefields 991-1685.
Arrows Point to Mass Graves: Finding the dead from the Battle of Towton, AD 1461.
Indian Resistance in New Spain The AD 1541 Battlefield of Peol de Nochistl.
Tatars, Cossacks, and the Polish Army the Battle of Zboriv.
The Camden Battlefield and the American Revolution.
Volume II
Apache Victory against the U.S. Dragoons, the Battle of Cieneguilla, New Mexico.
The Confederate Cantonment at Evansport, Virginia.
Fort Davidson Battlefield, Missouri.
The Confederate Forward Line, Battle of Nashville, Tennessee.
Seven Eventful Days in Paraguay Reconnoitering the War of the Triple Alliance.
Buffalo Soldiers versus the Apache The battle in Hembrillo Basin, New Mexico.
Scars of The Great War. Western Flanders, Belgium.
Pointe-du-Hoc Battlefield, Normandy, France.
For You the War is Over Finding the Great Escape Tunnel at Stalag Luft III.
Hill 209, The Last Stand of Operation Manchu, Korea.
Conclusions: Toward a Unified View of the Archaeology of Fields of Conflict

About the Author: Douglas Scott is the author of They Died with Custer and a frequent commentator on the History Channel.

Lawrence Babits is Director and Professor of the Program in Maritime Studies specializing in military issues at Eastern Carolina State University, and is the author of Devil of a Whipping: The Battle of Cowpens.

Charles Haecker is an archaeologist at the National Parks Service in Santa Fe and co-author of On the Prairie of Palo Alto: Historical Archaeology of the U.S.-Mexican War Battlefield.

LCC Class: D25

PDF Catalogs:
PSI Reference Spring 2008.pdf


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