hamahakkimies is not currently reading any books.
I’m male, from Finland. I’ve been a DailyLit member since May 26, 2008.
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Wikipedia Tour: Major Battles of the 20th Century - Good choices, but the articles are disappointing
This Wikipedia tour includes many interesting battles from the 20th century that have been selected rather nicely. Unfortunately, the articles themselves are in many cases disappointing and biased toward the American side of the battle. In some cases this American viewpoint is very distracting and severely mars the exposition. Furthermore, the Midway article lists approx. 30 references out of which only one is Japanese. This reference is also dismissed as "a Japanese account, colored by hindsight and sometimes inaccurate". Similarly, the Mogadishu article lists all the American casualties by name -- skipping the Somalian casualties with "there must have been 1,500 to 2,000 Somalis killed and wounded that day".
Wikipedia Tour: Major Battles Throughout History - Worthless list of battles taking place in the U.S.
The list concentrates on the history of the United States and its author lacks any sense of proportion. There is a really annoying Anglo-American bias in the selections.
The List:
1. Trojan War ("Yes, a WAR.")
2. Marathon
3. Thermopylae
4. Gaugamela
5. Cannae
6. Alesia
7. Hastings
8. Mongol Invasion of Central Asia ("Not exactly a singular battle if it takes place in 'Central Asia' and lasts from 1206 to 1221, is it?")
9. Crécy
10. Agincourt
11. Siege of Orléans ("Yes, that's three battles from the Hundred Years' War between France and England.")
12. Gravelines
13. Lexington and Concord
14. Siege of Yorktown
15. Trafalgar
16. Waterloo
17. Alamo
18. Gettysburg
19. Siege of Vicksburg
20. Little Bighorn ("Yes, list actually parallels Little Bighorn with the Mongol Invasion of Central Asia.")
Even though the depictions of individual battles are interesting, I honestly can not recommend the list as a whole.