Outnumbered: Incredible Stories of History's Most Surprising Battlefield Upsets

Outnumbered presents fourteen accounts of battles in which smaller forces defeated larger armies. The book spans from Alexander the Great's encounter with Persian forces at Issus in 333 BCE to twentieth-century conflicts, including Confederate General Robert E. Lee's victory at Chancellorsville during the US Civil War and Japanese commander Yamashita Tomoyuki's conquest of Singapore in 1942. While numerical superiority has historically determined most military outcomes, these cases demonstrate exceptions where outnumbered forces prevailed through brilliant strategy, unexpected tactics, unusual weaponry, fortunate circumstances, or enemy miscalculation. The book examines how inspired military leaders overcame seemingly insurmountable odds to achieve epochal victories that shaped history. The accounts capture both the excitement and terror of warfare while illustrating the unpredictable nature of battle and the courage and ingenuity required for such victories. The book includes color illustrations and maps.