The Allure of Battle

A History of How Wars Have Been Won and Lost

By: Cathal J. Nolan

Narrated by: Julian Elfer

Length: 25 hrs and 30 mins

Publisher's summary

History has tended to measure war's winners and losers in terms of its major engagements, battles in which the result was so clear-cut that they could be considered "decisive". Cannae, Konigsberg, Austerlitz, Midway, Agincourt - all resonate in the literature of war and in our imaginations as tide-turning. But these legendary battles may or may not have determined the final outcome of the wars in which they were fought.

Cathal J. Nolan's The Allure of Battle systematically and engrossingly examines the great battles, tracing what he calls "short-war thinking", the hope that victory might be swift and wars brief. As he proves persuasively, however, such has almost never been the case. Even the major engagements have mainly contributed to victory or defeat by accelerating the erosion of the other side's defenses.

Massive conflicts, the so-called "people's wars", beginning with Napoleon and continuing until 1945, have consisted of and been determined by prolonged stalemate and attrition, industrial wars in which the determining factor has been not military but materiel. Nolan's masterful book places battles squarely and mercilessly within the context of the wider conflict in which they took place. In the process it helps correct a distorted view of battle's role in war.

©2017 Cathal J. Nolan (P)2018 Tantor

Critic reviews

"This is one of the most valuable military histories in years. A must-read for students of military history." (Kirkus, Starred Review)

Excellent overview but leaves several questions

Good performance but glosses over Hitler (and Napoleon's) near triumphs as criticisms of his thesis.

Good military history of early modern Europe

This should be required reading for any political or military leader to reconsider the wisdom of seeking a shirt, sharp clash. Wide ranging western history from classical Greece to Hiroshima but the strength of the book was from Thirty Years war through the German Wars of Unification. A pleasant surprise.

deep pockets & a long magazine.

well read, do holes in thought but well stated and credible. He will make you stop and engage in some rethinking

very good...

but I do not believe some of the conclusions the author came to. it's a detailed look at major recent wars and how they were won.

insightful.

battles are real attention grabbers and the ability of the author to step back and look at the context of battles throughout Western history is an approach I appreciated. the forest after all is more important than the spectacular trees.

Powerful and beautifully written

Fantastic overview of major conflicts, their roles in establishing our collective view of war, and how wars have been won and lost over the ages. Nolan makes a compelling case for understanding war for what it is (horrific, grinding, and endlessly complicated) and for avoiding romanticizing it through the veneration of generals and battle. Detailed, gripping, and surprisingly empathetic. Highly recommended.

A book to break the hearts of those who love war.

“The more one studies war, the more one comes to hate war.” That is the theme, and while there is the very occasional detail which I can dispute, the overall point is made perhaps beyond rational dispute. Well done, and kudos to the narrator as well!

A must read refutation of the concept decisiveness

absolutely amazing. As a fan of military history I had taken it for granted that there were decisive moments which determined the course of history. This work is an invaluable look at the true nature of war.

A ‘must read’ for all military professionals

The author gives a very in depth and unvarnished look into the realities of war throughout human history. He addresses and astutely details the heroic historical inaccuracies which still mesmerize today’s public and military leaders alike. The great captains of war are held accountable for their mistakes and their hubris. It gives a pragmatic basis to understand the repeated failures by top military leaders throughout history. It disputes the faulty idea of war as a positive economic venture. While the author aptly and thoroughly details the mechanics, strategy and technologies from the classical to the modern era, he explains the hard truth of war, namely the carnage, the human cost and the false rationalizations by historic figures. Ultimately it dispels the myth of ‘Short War’ by decisive battles. It serves as a warning against the faulty allure of offensive actions and other ill conceived motivations encouraging diplomatic paths to Total War.

Missing important facts and not well researched

The book is not very well researched and it is missing many important historical facts.

For example, it repeats the old German propaganda and myth that the Polish Air Force was destroyed on the ground in the first two days of September 1939.This, of course, is simply untrue. Polish squadrons were deployed to reserve airfields following the mobilization on 30 and 31 August, and played an active role in the campaign till September 17th, when the Red Army invaded Poland from the east and the evacuation order was given. 

This book does not even mention the Polish-Soviet War (February 1919 – March 1921). This War was an armed conflict between the Second Polish Republic, the Ukrainian People's Republic, Soviet Russia and Soviet Ukraine over the control of an area equivalent to today's Ukraine and parts of modern-day Belarus. In 1921 Poland won and stopped the Communist Revolution from spreading into Europe. Had Poland lost this war and let the Red Army advance into Europe, then Germany, Hungary, Romania, Italy might have gone Communist.