One of our most distinguished military historians tells the story of six defining battles . . .Every battle is different. Each takes place in a different context the war the campaign the weapons. However battles across the centuries whether fought with sticks and stones or advanced technology have much in common. Fighting is after all an intensely human affair human nature doesnt change. So why were battles fought as they were What gave them their shape Why did they go as they did victory for one side defeat for the other In exploring six significant feats of arms the war and campaign in which they each occurred and the factors that determined their precise form and course The Shape of Battle answers these fundamental questions about the waging of war.Hastings 1066 everyone knows the date but not perhaps the remarkable strategic background.Towton 1461 the bloodiest battle to be fought on English soil. Waterloo 1815 more written about in English than any other but rarely in its true context as the culminating battle in the longest war in modern times.DDay 1944 a battle within a larger operation Overlord and the longestplanned and most complex offensive battle in history. Imjin River 1951 this little known battle of the Korean War was the British Armys last largescale defensive battle. Operation Panthers Claw 2009 a battle that has yet to receive the official distinction of being one an offensive conducted over six weeks with all the trappings of 21stcentury warfare yet whose shape and face at times resembled the Middle Ages. The Shape of Battle is not a polemic it doesnt try to argue a case. It lets the narratives the battles speak for themselves.