Epic Retreats: From 1776 to the Evacuation of Saigon - Hardcover

Tanner, Stephen

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0785814035 ISBN 13: 9780785814030

Publisher: Book Sales, 2002

Synopsis

In between glorious triumphs and noble catastrophes of military history lies a neglected stepchild: retreat. This book spans the modern era -- from horses to helicopters -- with highly detailed analysis of seven campaigns.

About this title

From the Publisher:

Epic Retreats, released by Sarpedon in the U.S. in September 2000, has been co-published by the prestigious military history firm Greenhill Books in London.

From the Inside Flap:

In between the glorious triumphs and noble catastrophes of military history lies a neglected stepdchild: retreat. A despised option for both commanders and troops, a retreat under pressure can nevertheless be a more fascinating event than a battle itself, and provide fully as much drama as a victory.

Epic Retreats spans the modern era--from horses to helicopters-- with highly detailed analyses of seven campaigns. With a masterful grasp of his subjects, Stephen Tanner depicts confident armies on the verge of triumph, and then follows their path to the brink of the abyss. As misfortunes unfold, objectives insidiously shift from victory to mere survival. The strong are required to protect the weak, and fighting men are seen to draw upon ever-greater resources of courage to withstand factors beyond their immediate control.

This work begins with Washington's darkest hours during the American Revolution. Napoleon's difficulties in Russia are examined, followed by the gallant flight to freedom of the Nez Perce Indians in the American West.

In World War II, the speed and scale of warfare increased dramatically, and the British were barely able to escape from the Continent before an onslaught of German panzers. Two years later, the Germans found themselves in an even more perilous situation deep inside Soviet Russia.

The American Eighth Army was surprised in Korea, its citizen soldiers unable, at first, to cope with a gigantic Chinese offensive. Theirs, in distance, was the longest retreat in American history, but it was of far shorter duration than the retreat that followed in Indochina. In Vietnam, the Americans excruciatingly tried to extricate themselves from a distant war against a diehard foe that they finally lacked will, if not means, to conquer.

Throughout these vividly drawn accounts, Stephen Tanner traces the human dimension of warfare as seen through the prism of strategic adversity. He finds battlefield heroism not the exclusive province of victors, but demonstrated across time and national lines by men who faced the greatest challenges. If retreat is the antithesis of victory, it also indicates a stubborn refusal to surrender.

About this edition

• Publisher: Book Sales
• Publication date: 2002
• ISBN 10: 0785814035
• ISBN 13: 9780785814030
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 346