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The names of history's most famous battles still ring in our ears today, their influence immediately understood by all. Marathon lent its name to the world's most famous race, but it also preserved Western civilization during the First Persian War. Saratoga, won by one of the colonists' most renowned war heroes before he became his nation's most vile traitor. Hastings ensured the Normans' success in England and changed the course of British history. Waterloo, which marked the reshaping of the European continent and Napoleon's doom, has now become part of the English lexicon. Given the magnitude and importance of these battles, it's no surprise that historians and readers still cover all of these battles today. In The 15 Decisive Battles of The World From Marathon to Waterloo, Sir Edward Creasy covers history's most famous battles one chapter at a time, including: THE BATTLE OF MARATHONDEFEAT OF THE ATHENIANS AT SYRACUSE, B.C. 413.THE BATTLE OF ARBELA, B.C. 331.THE BATTLE OF THE METAURUS, B.C. 207.VICTORY OF ARMINIUS OVER THE ROMAN LEGIONS UNDER VARUS, A.D. 9.THE BATTLE OF CHALONS, A.D. 451.THE BATTLE OF TOURS, A.D. 732.THE BATTLE OF HASTINGS, A.D. 1066.JOAN OF ARC'S VICTORY OVER THE ENGLISH AT ORLEANS, A.D. 1429.THE DEFEAT OF THE SPANISH ARMADA, A.D. 1588.THE BATTLE OF BLENHEIM, A.D. 1704.THE BATTLE OF PULTOWA, A.D. 1709.VICTORY OF THE AMERICANS OVER BURGOYNE AT SARATOGA, A.D. 1777.THE BATTLE OF VALMY.THE BATTLE OF WATERLOO, 1815.Creasy's book is indicative of 19th century European thinking; it includes explicit references to the deplorable barbarism and immorality of non-Europeans. In fact, the reason Creasy gives for the significance of many of the fifteen battles, is that they kept non-Europeans away from European soil.