Ambushes and Surprises

Ambushes and surprise attacks are tactics as old as warfare itself. This instructive and interesting book, written by a distinguished Victorian soldier and military historian, describes and analyses some of historys most famous military ambushes - including Hannibals waylaying of the Romans on the shores of Lake Trasimene; the other great disaster to Roman arms when the Legions were lured to their doom by the Teutonic tribes of Germanicus in the Teutoburg Forest; from the Age of Charlemagne Malleson tells the story of Roland and Olivers doomed stand against the Moors at Roncesvalles in the Pyrenees.

Other surprises and ambushes recounted in the book include Marshal Massenas campaign of 1799 around the St Gothard Pass in the Swiss Alps, and Frances successful ambush of Braddocks British force iun the North American wilderness at Fort Duquesne. Each account is illustrated by a map, making this a most illuminating as well and an highly entertaining, read.