In 1631, Gustav Adolphus of Sweden - the creator of the first national army - scored a notable victory at Breitenfeld in the Thirty Years War. In 1815, Napoleon was defeated by Wellington and Blucher at Waterloo. This was the age of battles - romantic, even glorious in their spectacle - a period of nearly 200 years when military endeavour was dominated by the quest for the climactic battle of annihilation in which the fate of continents might be decided in a single afternoon. This study recreates the grand-scale battles of the 17th, 18th and early 19th centuries and examines their historical circumstances, the strategic thinking and the personalities of the military commanders, the tactical manoeuvring on the battle field, the role of armaments and the performance of the fighting men. Other books by the author include The American Way, A History of the United States Army and Eisenhower's Lieutenants: the Campaign of France and Germany, 1944-1945.