50 military leaders who changed the world / by William Weir.

Includes bibliographical references (p. 241-246) and index.

Contents -- Introduction-- I King of the Four Corners of the Earth: Sargon of Akkad-- II The World Turned Upside Down: The Captains of the Sea Peoples-- III The Shepherd King: Cyrus the Great-- IV The Art of War: Sun Tzu-- V The King Who Would be God: Alexander the Great-- VI East Meets West: Chandragupta Maurya
-- VII Unexpected Consequences: Hannibal-- VIII The Wild Beast of Ch¿in: Ch¿in Shih-huang-ti--
IX Crossing the Rubicon: Julius Caesar-- X The Scourge of God: Attila the Hun-- XI The Prophet and His Disciples: Muhammad-- XII Recreating the Empire: Charlemagne-- XIII The Holy Roman Empire: Otto the Great -- XIV Enter the Turk: Tughril Beg-- XV England Enters the Mainstream: William the Conqueror
XVI The Honor of the Faith: Saladin-- XVII ¿One God in Heaven, One Khan on Earth:¿ Genghis Khan--
XVIII The Fine Italian Hand: Enrico Dandolo-- XIX The Maid of Orleans: Joan of Arc--
XX Opening the Door to Europe: Muhammad II-- XXI Controlling the Riches of the Indies: Franciso de Almeida-- XXII The First Non-European Conquest: Hernan Cortes-- XXIII The Incredible Conquest: Francisco Pizarro-- XXIV Russia Rejoins Europe: Ivan the Terrible-- XXV The First Ironclads: Yi Sun Shin--
XXVI The Shogun: Tokugawa Ieyasu-- XXVII The Importance of Firepower: Maurice of Nassau--
XXVIII Rationalizing the ¿God of War:¿ Jean Baptiste Vacquette de Gribreauval-- XXIX Forced March to the Present: Peter the Great-- XXX Juvenile Delinquent to Empire Builder: Robert Clive--
XXXI ¿The Old Fox:¿ George Washington-- XXXII General Jekyll and Mr. Hyde: Benedict Arnold
-- XXXIII The Tyrant as Liberator: Napoleon I-- XXXIV The Triumph of the Whale: Horatio Nelson
-- XXXV The Philosopher of War: Karl Maria von Clausewitz-- XXXVI The Liberator of the North: Simon Bolivar-- XXXVII The Liberator of the South: Jose de San Martin-- XXXVIII Retreat to Victory: Sam Houston
-- XXXIX ¿Old Fuss and Feathers:¿ Winfield Scott-- XXXX The Art of Mobilization: Helmut von Moltke the Elder-- XXXXI All-Out War for Survival: U.S. Grant -- XXXXII The Clausewitz of the Ocean: Alfred Thayer Mahan-- XXXXIII Samurai on the Sea: Togo Heihachiro-- XXXXIV The Father of Air Power: Giulio Douhet
XXXXV The Monster: Adolf Hitler-- XXXXVI Achtung! Panzer: Heinz Guderian-- XXXXVII The Father of the Carrier Task Force: Yamamoto Isoroku-- XXXXVIII Japan¿s Fatal Six Minutes: Raymond A. Spruance-- XXXXIX Protracted War: Mao Zedong-- XXXXX ¿Old Iron Tits:¿ Matthew B. Ridgway-- Other Leaders, Other Times: Where¿s Osama?-- Other Leaders, Other Times: Confederates and a Baker¿s Dozen of Honorable Mentions
-- Bibliography

50 Military Leaders That Changed the World does not celebrate warfare, but rather shines its spotlight on the leaders the author believes have had the greatest impact on world history.The 50 Military Leaders That Changed the World weren't necessarily the "best" leaders, the most innovative strategists, craftiest tacticians, or even the bravest, smartest, or most admirable people. They were, however, the men and women who, for good or ill, entered the field of battle and left the world much changed upon their exit.

You will easily recognize some of the names — George Washington, Napoleon Bonaparte, Charlemagne, Horatio Nelson, and Ulysses S. Grant, among others. And you may be stumped by those that only a historian could claim to know, like Yi Sun Shin, Tuhril Beg, Chandragupta, and Sargon of Akkad.
Some, like Genghis Khan, were brilliant. Others, like Ivan the Terrible, were mediocre generals, at best. While Joan of Arc is officially a saint, Adolf Hitler is universally considered a monster, Attila the Hun raped, pillaged, and brutally killed thousands, and Mao Zedong killed millions, more than even Hitler.

But each and every of them changed history. You may remember some or most of the men and women in this book. You may honor some, revile others. But after reading 50 Military Leaders That Changed the World, you won't deny that these are the leaders who made the greatest impact on our brief history on this planet.
You may be equally interested in those who were relegated to "honorable mentions" (military leaders who changed the world…but not enough), including Hannibal, William Wallace and Fidel Castro. And those who were omitted from list entirely, including Robert E. Lee, Stonewall Jackson, George S. Patton, Dwight D. Eisenhower, George C. Marshall and Douglas MacArthur.