A majestic survey. MacGregor transports us from the Iron Age to the Nuclear Age, from jungle to desert; mountain to ocean. Here are the military doctrines, weapons, luck and leadership that forged our world

DAN SNOW

Iain MacGregor's elegantly crafted new book offers far more than a grand parade of great battlefield dramas. Based on prodigious scholarship and written with an eye for telling detail, Battle provides a host of fresh insights which illuminate the common characteristics that have made the difference between victory and defeat in struggles which, down the centuries, have shaped the course of human history

JONATHAN DIMBLEBY

Battle shows MacGregor at his very best - fluent, incisive and utterly engaging. This is a compulsively readable, fascinating sweep through military history. A narrative that should be on every history buff's bookcase

ALEX KERSHAW

Battle is gripping, thoughtful and extremely timely. People and politicians alike have forgotten the timeless meaning of war. The wisdom distilled in MacGregor's book will bring it home to them with stunning and disturbing clarity

PATRICK BISHOP