GREAT AMERICAN BATTLES

Quebec, Trenton, New Orleans, Mexico City, Chancellorsville, Appomattox, Santiago, Belleau Wood, Guadalcanal, Normandy, Pusan-Inchon -- a list that deliberately omits some of the biggest to focus on those which were salient in the course of a war or the course of history, or which epitomized a particular collaboration or strategy. In the foreword, Mr. Leckie states as his purpose to present a capsule history of American wars, explaining not only why but how; in the eleven chapters following he places each engagement in context, if only briefly, and does describe the particular weaponry and/or tactics as well as the nature of the troops involved. Individuals are deftly characterized, the description of incidents is striking. It makes interesting multi-dimensional reading, considerably assisted by excellent, mostly contemporary maps and illustrations. Mr. Leckie has drawn some of the material from his well-received adult The Wars of America (1968); in its more modest way, this is equally good.