Twelve remarkable stories of how the world's great powers met military defeat at the hands "uncivilized savages" Some of the most fascinating yet least known events in military history are those in which world powers met with humiliating defeat at the hands of "inferior savages".

* A gold mine of primary source material, including soldiers' diaries and letters, official documents, generals' memoirs, and newspaper accounts
* Incredible battle stories from the French and Indian War, the Fall of Khartoum, the Mesopotamian Campaign, the Rifian Rebellion, all the way up to the recent debacle in Somalia JAMES M. PERRY (Washington, DC) is Senior Political Writer for The Wall Street Journal and author of several other books, including the bestselling Barry Goldwater.

Partial table of contents:
General Edward Braddock and the French and Indian War (1745--1763).
British and French Generals and Their Disastrous Efforts to Restore Slavery to Haiti (1791--1804).
General Charles MacCarthy and the First Ashanti War (1824).
Major General William George Keith Elphinstone and the First Afghan War (1839--1842).
Major General Charles "Chinese" Gordon and the Fall of Khartoum (1884--1885).
Major General William R. Shafter and the Spanish--American War (1898).
Major General Charles Vere Ferrers Townshend and the Mesopotamian Campaign in World War I (1915--1916).
Conclusion: American Mini--Disaster in Somalia (1993).
Annotated Bibliography.
Index.