Verbalism Personified

Battlefield Detectives

At lunch today, Hugh Tan introduced Siva and myself to an in-depth discussion on Crowd dynamics at the Battle of Agincourt.

Even being outnumbered three to one, the English managed to wipe out the advancing French army with minimal casualties. As they would have it that day, luck, topography, doctrine, tactics and strategy were on the side of the English.

Recounting similiar one-sided battles like the Roman defeat at Cannae in 216 BC, the Ottoman slaughter at Lepanto in 1571, the Zulu massacre at Rorke's Drift in 1879 to the Vietcong's rude awakening at Tet in 1968, factors inherent at the start decide how a battle is fought and won. Often in these cases, the victors were usually outnumbered. But due to mistakes made by the opposing side and some very deft tactical improvisation on the side of the smaller force, they snatched victory from the jaws of defeat.

Now in seasonal documentaries, Battlefield Detectives shows us the topographical side of the die that cast the final outcome. Fielding academics from soil scientists to specialists in crowd dynamics and the weather, they add the missing dimension to what it was like all those bloody eons ago. It is an education, no military historian should do without.

Read the book.

posted by Teutoburg @ 1:32 PM