From the Publisher: Important and timely histories bring to life conflicts that educated readers have heard of but want to know more about because of their significance in world history. Joseph Cummins describes each conflict with a gripping vitality that brings the time, people, and crises to life in a narrative history style. This book offers a look at multiple conflicts in an accessible format-a sophisticated narrative history that history buffs and general readers will enjoy. Readers will have heard of most of the conflicts but will gain a greater depth of understanding through the many details, stories, and characters that illuminate the bigger consequences of these clashes.

Introduction -- Guide to The war chronicles -- French revolutionary Wars, 1792-1802 -- Napoleonic wars, 1803-1815 -- War of Greek Independence, 1821-1829 -- Mexican-American War, 1846-1848 -- Taiping Rebellion, 1851-1864 -- Crimean War, 1854-1856 -- US Civil War, 1861-1865 -- Franco-Prussian War, 1870-1871 -- Anglo-Zulu War, 1879 -- Spanish-American War, 1898 -- Russo-Japanese War, 1904-1905 -- Mexican Revolution, 1910-1920 -- World War I, 1914-1918 -- Russian Civil War, 1918-1921 -- Chinese Civil War, 1927-1949 -- Spanish Civil War, 1936-1939 -- World War II, 1939-1945 -- Arab-Israeli War, 1948-1949 -- Vietnam War, 1955-1975 -- Soviet-Afghan War, 1979-1989 -- Iran-Iraq War, 1980-1988 -- Acknowledgments -- Bibliography -- Index.