Just Living History
The Archive
Battles, commanders and the turning-point decisions behind them, filed with the facts that mattered and the documentaries that tell the story.
Battle of Thermopylae
A Greek force under Leonidas of Sparta held a narrow coastal pass against the invading army of Xerxes for three days, until a mountain path around them was revealed.
Battle of Cannae
Hannibal let the larger Roman army push into his centre, then closed both wings around it. It became the textbook double envelopment, studied by commanders for two…
Battle of Hastings
Harold Godwinson raced south from victory at Stamford Bridge to meet William of Normandy. A day-long fight on Senlac Hill ended with Harold dead and the Norman conquest…
Battle of Agincourt
A sick, outnumbered English army trapped in northern France chose a narrow, muddy field between two woods. French armoured knights advanced into it and were destroyed.
Battle of Trafalgar
Nelson broke the conventions of naval warfare by driving two columns straight into the Franco-Spanish line. Britain lost no ships; the combined fleet lost twenty-two…
Battle of Waterloo
Napoleon attacked Wellington’s army south of Brussels, needing to win before the Prussians arrived. They arrived first.
Battle of Gettysburg
Lee’s second invasion of the North collided with Meade’s Army of the Potomac at a crossroads town. It ended with Pickett’s Charge and the costliest battle of the Civil…
Battle of Midway
Forewarned by codebreakers, the US Navy ambushed the Japanese carrier force near Midway Atoll. Four Japanese fleet carriers were sunk, and Japan lost the initiative in…
D-Day: Operation Overlord
Allied forces landed on five Normandy beaches after a night of airborne drops. By nightfall more than 150,000 troops were ashore and the liberation of Western Europe had…
Battle of Stalingrad
A German drive on the city on the Volga became months of street fighting. A Soviet counter-offensive encircled the German Sixth Army, which was forbidden to break out…
Hannibal Barca
He crossed the Alps with an army and elephants, won some of the most complete victories in military history in Italy, and still lost the war.
Napoleon Bonaparte
An artillery officer who became emperor, Napoleon won dozens of battles through speed and concentration of force, and lost everything through overreach.
Horatio Nelson
Aggressive, inspiring and wounded repeatedly, Nelson won the Nile, Copenhagen and Trafalgar, and died at the moment of his greatest victory.
Henry V of England
A young king who revived England’s claim to the French throne, won at Agincourt against heavy odds, and came close to uniting both crowns before dying at 35.
Dwight D. Eisenhower
Not a battlefield tactician but a manager of coalitions, Eisenhower held the Allies together through the invasion of Europe and later served two terms as US president.
Chester W. Nimitz
Taking command after Pearl Harbor, Nimitz bet the Pacific Fleet on intelligence at Midway and directed the long island-hopping campaign across the Pacific.
Crossing the Rubicon
Ordered to give up his army, Julius Caesar led a legion across the river that marked the border of Italy. It was an act of war against the Roman Republic.
Grouchy at Wavre
While the Battle of Waterloo began, Marshal Grouchy heard the guns. His subordinates urged him to march toward them. He kept to his orders to pursue the Prussians.
The Charge of the Light Brigade
A vague written order, a rushed messenger and two feuding cavalry commanders sent the British Light Brigade charging down a valley lined with Russian guns.
Nimitz trusts the codebreakers
Washington and Pearl Harbor disagreed about where Japan would strike next. A simple deception confirmed the target, and Nimitz bet his carriers on it.
The D-Day weather call
With a storm battering the Channel, Eisenhower had to decide whether to launch the invasion on a forecast of a brief break, or wait weeks for the next suitable tides.