Battlescapes: A Photographic Testament to 2,000 Years of Conflict (General Military)

Viewing the panoramic landscape photos of battle sites like Murten (1476), Vienna (1683), Austerlitz (1805), and Waterloo (1815) it's difficult to fathom how such hauntingly beautiful places were once the scene of bloody, vicious conflicts. With few notable exceptions--Verdun (1916), for example--the scars to the landscape have long since disappeared, and cemeteries and memorials (if any) provide the only reminder of the terrible events that once took place at these now pristine locales. Jason Zasky, Failure Magazine

Through magnificent color photographs, this coffee-table book takes readers to 34 European battlefields as they appear today. Most of these locations hosted famous conflicts, e.g., Hastings, Agincourt, Blenheim, Waterloo, and Normandy. Others, such as Marchfield (1278) in what is now Austria, are not as well known. Travelers may have driven by some of these sites unknowingly, while others bear scars and extensive memorials and cemeteries. Narrator Cowper, military history editor at Osprey, provides ample background information to accompany the dominant images by Buellesbach. An alternative approach to military history, richer on mood than historical detail, this will appeal to military history enthusiasts, landscape photography buffs, and some readers considering future travels. Library Journal (October 2009)

This striking book marries pithy descriptions of key European battles throughout history with lush contemporary panoramic photographs of the sites of those conflicts. The battlescapes--from Hastings to Austerlitz, Waterloo to Hurtgen Forest--beckon readers to step into the frame and imagine themselves in the battle's midst, the eerily serene scenes transformed by war. Military History Quarterly

These photographs are of the battlefields as they are today and brought to us with superlative images that cover nearly two feet from one side of the page to the other. In amongst the images of the battlefield are those of the memorials and cemeteries that dot the landscape; especially in the battles of the last century. Each entry is accompanied by a short history of the event and its significance to history. It is an outstanding book on how these places are today and one that I can easily recommend to you. Scott Van Aken, Modeling Madness, modelingmadness.com (February 2010)

The basic, straightforward nature of these contemporary landscapes lend to the viewer's impulse to imagine the horrors that once took place on these grounds. Time has caused the signs of previous battles to vanish; only man-made monuments or fortresses suggest the specifications. One is encouraged to conceptualize the location's historical events. These beautiful, untouched landscapes were at one point blood stained and littered with bodies. The contrast of the present beauty with previous ugliness makes for an interesting allusion to the overall cycles of history. Tara Sellios, Boston Photography Focus (January 2010)

Alfred Buellesbach and Marcus Cowper's Battlescapes: A Photographic Testament to 2,000 Year of Conflict will reach into general-interest as well as military libraries, gathering over 200 images of major world battlefields taken by a leading landscape photographer and presented in an oversized collection of panoramas. More than just a photo album, though, the accompanying history of battles and events is invaluable. The Bookwatch (January 2010)

Viewing the panoramic landscape photos of battle sites like Murten (1476), Vienna (1683), Austerlitz (1805), and Waterloo (1815) it's difficult to fathom how such hauntingly beautiful places were once the scene of bloody, vicious conflicts. With few notable exceptions--Verdun (1916), for example--the scars to the landscape have long since disappeared, and cemeteries and memorials (if any) provide the only reminder of the terrible events that once took place at these now pristine locales. --Jason Zasky, Failure Magazine

Through magnificent color photographs, this coffee-table book takes readers to 34 European battlefields as they appear today. Most of these locations hosted famous conflicts, e.g., Hastings, Agincourt, Blenheim, Waterloo, and Normandy. Others, such as Marchfield (1278) in what is now Austria, are not as well known. Travelers may have driven by some of these sites unknowingly, while others bear scars and extensive memorials and cemeteries. Narrator Cowper, military history editor at Osprey, provides ample background information to accompany the dominant images by Buellesbach. An alternative approach to military history, richer on mood than historical detail, this will appeal to military history enthusiasts, landscape photography buffs, and some readers considering future travels. --Library Journal (October 2009)

This striking book marries pithy descriptions of key European battles throughout history with lush contemporary panoramic photographs of the sites of those conflicts. The battlescapes--from Hastings to Austerlitz, Waterloo to Hurtgen Forest--beckon readers to step into the frame and imagine themselves in the battle's midst, the eerily serene scenes transformed by war. --Military History Quarterly

These photographs are of the battlefields as they are today and brought to us with superlative images that cover nearly two feet from one side of the page to the other. In amongst the images of the battlefield are those of the memorials and cemeteries that dot the landscape; especially in the battles of the last century. Each entry is accompanied by a short history of the event and its significance to history. It is an outstanding book on how these places are today and one that I can easily recommend to you. --Scott Van Aken, Modeling Madness, modelingmadness.com (February 2010)

The basic, straightforward nature of these contemporary landscapes lend to the viewer's impulse to imagine the horrors that once took place on these grounds. Time has caused the signs of previous battles to vanish; only man-made monuments or fortresses suggest the specifications. One is encouraged to conceptualize the location's historical events. These beautiful, untouched landscapes were at one point blood stained and littered with bodies. The contrast of the present beauty with previous ugliness makes for an interesting allusion to the overall cycles of history. --Tara Sellios, Boston Photography Focus (January 2010)

Alfred Buellesbach and Marcus Cowper's Battlescapes: A Photographic Testament to 2,000 Year of Conflict will reach into general-interest as well as military libraries, gathering over 200 images of major world battlefields taken by a leading landscape photographer and presented in an oversized collection of panoramas. More than just a photo album, though, the accompanying history of battles and events is invaluable. --The Bookwatch (January 2010)

Alfred Buellesbach, M.A., was born in Asbach, Westerwald, Germany in 1961. He studied photography at Lette-Verein, Berlin and journalism, geography and political science at Freie Universitat Berlin. Since 1993 he has been co-owner, managing director and photographer of VISUM photo agency, Hamburg. He is a member of Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Photographie. In his photography, he is attracted most to landscapes that show not just nature but have a deeper cultural meaning. He first made the first connection between history and landscape in the high altitude of the Italian Dolomites when he joined the Paths of Peace 25 years ago. Here, volunteers of the Dolomitenfreunde, coming from many nations, established an open-air-museum in the high alpine battlefield of the Monte Piano, establishing new hiking trails that linked not just historic military objects but also people in that famous vacation area. His website may be found at www.buellesbach.com.

Marcus Cowper studied Medieval history at the universities of Manchester and Birmingham. He specialized in High and Late Medieval Church history, and received his postgraduate degree for a study on the impact of heresy in the locality. He has edited Osprey military history books for over seven years and is one of the editors responsible for the creation of the Fortress series. The author lives in Oxford, England.