Battle Studies: Ancient and Modern Battle by Ardant du Picq
du Picq gives insightful ideas on some ancient battles and the campaigns he witnessed during his lifetime. The book, which is both a commentary as well as a treatise on tactics in ancient and modern war, is divided into two major sections and includes a supplementary section of the author's related works. The first part is about ancient battles. du Picq highlights the major battles of Hannibal and Julius Caesar by differentiating the battle formations and the value of morale. However du Picq's main focus is the importance of understanding man's mind under pressure. The second part is more technical. It discusses combat methods, weapons, cavalry and infantrymen. This part of the book might be confusing to the reader not familiar with the battles and names in du Picq's time. The book does not focus on technical stuff like the correct battle formations, weapons, and others. The author emphasized several times that although the weapons and times have changed, even ...