"The most dissected battle " Topic

Which battle has had more ink (and pixels) expended upon it in after the fact analysis?

Suggestions? I reckon Waterloo must be in with the leaders of the pack.

And, though I know this is probably a forlorn hope, this thread is not an invitation to start a flame war(s).

On medieval battles, Agincourt tends to get quite some attention.

In the states it is Gettysburg by far.

Gettysburg.

Got to be Waterloo.

Austerlitz also gets a lot, but nothing compared to the above.

on the US in WWII The Buldge, and midway

Probably Gettysburg and also Waterloo.

I'd bet Waterloo would win by a country mile. But Rourke's Drift and The Alamo would have to be in the top ten somewhere…

I think Waterloo, then Gettysburg. Everyone analyzes Waterloo, but most of the analysis of Gettysburg was done by the Confederate generals involved, each trying to blame the other for the defeat.

And Tarawa. There are tons of books on that one!

Around TMP?
Jenkins Ear…

Gettysburg by a ton.

Its going to depend what side of the pond you are on i'd think.

In the UK i'd say Waterloo, D-Day and Market Garden by miles.

Waterloo in terms of books, papers, and research be a wide margin. Although D-Day would be a good second choice, lots of analysis and ink expended on that battle as well.

Waterloo, D-Day and Gettysburg to judge by the books at Borders.

While Gettysburg seems to be the leading contender in the US, I think strong arguments can also be made for Little Big Horn and (depending upon how you define 'battle') the OK Corral.

Battle of Hoth, 3 ABY

You'd have to add Guadalcanal to the WWII battles.

I'll nominate Stalingrad, especially if you include dissection in languages other than English.

D-day --lots of books with even more published after the 50 anniversary

Market Garden has to be up there – certainly the number of books and level of intrest out weighs it's size

Waterloo

Battle of Britian

I'll nominate Stalingrad, especially if you include dissection in languages other than English.

I thought about D-Day, Stalingrad and Gettysburg, but I think it probably IS Waterloo after all (as an individual battle, rather than a campaign) if you take into account studies etc. in languages other than English.

I did read an opinion somewhere that the American Civil War was probably the most written-about war in history. I could believe that, to be fair, given the sheer volume of personal accounts, official records, novels and actual histories out there.

Waterloo!

Waterloo – I was defeated, you won the war
Waterloo – promise to love you for ever more
Waterloo – couldn't escape if I wanted to
Waterloo – knowing my fate is to be with you
Waterloo – finally facing my waterloo

How about The Battle of Little Bighorn? There seems to be plenty of books about that one.

The key word, that some people seem to be overlooking is 'analysis'. Not 'someone bought out another book full of pretty pictures about the Battle of Pratt's Bottom for the 327th anniversary of the event'…

Do please carry on. It's interesting to watch the US/Euro divide.

It has to be either Waterloo or Gettysburg. There isn't another close, none. To my way of thinking it's Gettysburg because EVERY year there are buckets of books published on it, every year!. Just when you think, 'It's done to death! There can't be anything else'… another dozen books come out.

Gettysburg.

Waterloo

- To my way of thinking it's Gettysburg because EVERY year there are buckets of books published on it, every year! -

Same with Waterloo, but Waterloo has a 48 years head start.

I'd say the big 3 would be;

Waterloo
D-Day
Gettysburg

Tet

Funny, nothing got mentioned of any WW1 battles.

Beaverdams

…well, OK, I only said it because I live a couple miles away…

Hoser

"Same with Waterloo, but Waterloo has a 48 years head start."

Ohhhhhhhhhh… I don't think that mattered much. The Gettysburg writers alive and dead bang-out these books out at a record pace.

Gettysburg is number one, Waterloo is number two and Abe Lincoln is number three. Okay Honest Abe isn't a battle but it was once said in the "Memorial" period of the CW that there were so many books on Lincoln alone that the reviewer claimed "the ONLY thing that wasn't covered about Lincoln was a book on Lincoln's Doctor's dog…" and he expected that shortly! :)

*sigh* It's like herding cats.

Cats with shorter attention spans than a goldfish.

In english I guess you mean. I'm sure Russians, Germans, and Japanese would have different answers.

ed if I know. I'm still waiting for TMP's German, Russian and Japanese members to get back to me. More pedants need not apply.

We have enough of those already.

D-Day
Waterloo
Gettysburg

Velikiye Luki?

In France, you'll have to count with Verdun. Much more given attention in the popular psyche than Waterloo.

Verdun
Marne
D Day 1944
May 1940
Alesia
Dien Bien-Phu

And after only the napoleonic battles.

Thermopylae

If analysis is defined tightly I would say Waterloo or D-Day by a long long way.

Gallipoi does well in Australia

Sticking with analysis rather than mere narrative or mention as part of something else…

For a battle of its size (a few divisions over a few days), Arnhem.

Here is my informal scientific analysis:

On Amazon.com in the BOOKS category I searched on
Gettysburg and got 5,056 results:
link

I keyed in Waterloo and got 4,365 results:
link

I keyed in D-Day and got 9,136 results:
link

I keyed in Alamo and got 3,900 results:
link

As there are few pretty photographs available for Gettysburg and Waterloo, I would nominate those two. Unless you're familiar with the WWII writings, it's impossible to sort through the chaff of D-Day photograph books to get to any substance.

I've read some Alamo books and in my view, it's difficult to find anything written beyond the American point of view. I did pick up a book yesterday from the Mexican point of view, so I'm eager to see what it says.

I would suspect it's something like:

In the US: Gettysburg

In th UK: Waterloo

US & UK combined: D-Day

I like the amazon test. Amazon.co.uk.

Gettysburg 13,357

Waterloo 27,685

D-Day 8,325

Arnhem 5,400

Hastings 38,904…..

however on the august pages of TMP I would humbly submit that Montgomery's genius/idiocy wrt Arnhem has been the subject of more ink and blood spilled than all the other battles in history put together.

Just ot give our German and Russian pals a chance:

Borodino 1,894

Koeniggratz + Sadowa, 183 +1409

I tried Sedan but got a lot of car manuals.

Hitler 52,105

Stalin 29,243

Napoleon 68,720

Churchill 63,502

Vive L'Empereur!

No surprise there, I once read that Napoleon is the second most wrote about (in terms of book) person, behind a guy called Jesus…

Using Amazon for a definitive source is silly. There are hundreds and hundreds of books that they don't carry and/or are out of print.

Well then, on Google books, which is likely a more representative sample:

……………….Search Term……In Title
Gettysburg:…25,500………2,489
Waterloo:…….34,973………2,603
D-Day:………..9,450………1,215
Porto Bello:…………….…….244