Bloody meadows

by John Carman

Battles are a major focus of military history in all periods, and battlefield sites are increasingly being taken up as part of the nation's cultural heritage. This book takes a new approach to this aspect of military history and archaeology. It looks at the physical landscapes of battles, exploring reasons behind the choice of site and exposing assumptions about how war should be conducted. The authors' method reveals shifts in landscape preferences, especially from a medieval preference for high ground near towns to a later one for low ground away from towns; in the 19th century this changed to a preference for spaces containing a number of distinct types of features: settlements, high and low ground and watercourses. Ultimately, the authors ask what it means for these sites to have been remembered as significant places for national heritage and what we can learn from them about the nature of war.--From publisher description.