Battlefield Detectives
(updated 31st August 2007)
Keywords: Battlefield detectives, battlefield analysis
Dr. G. Keith Still is a specialist in Crowd Dynamics and has been the consultant on two of the series of seven programmes now showing on the History Channel. In the making of these programmes he used a wide range of analysis tools and techniques including the Myriad Suite, agent based software and spatial analysis tools developed over the last 15 years.
Click on the following links for further information.
Battlefield Detectives - Agincourt
Battlefield Detectives - Gettysburg
Product Details - Book: Battlefield Detectives (available from Amazon.Com)
Paperback 256 pages (March 2003)
Publisher: Granada Media
ISBN: 0233050833
Category(ies): History
Book Description
From the Battle of Hastings to the tragedy of Gallipoli, Battlefield Detectives covers nearly a thousand years of battles. This book looks at seven of the most famous battlefields in history, using traditional methods and modern technology to discover what really happened on the day. The results include new and controversial insights into some of the world’s enduring military mysteries. Battlefield Detectives uses evidence uncovered by a team of experts from a wide range of disciplines.
Archaeologists, forensic scientists, crowd dynamics specialists, metal-detectorists and military experts contribute to a new understanding of these fields of war.
The Battle of Hastings: The latest technology shows precisely how dramatically the coastline near Hastings has changed since 1066 and a business strategist takes a sideways view of the battle: King Harold, a charming line manager, versus William, the projects man bent on a hostile takeover.
The Battle of Agincourt: Were the French really defeated by the English longbow, or was Agincourt just a crowd disaster waiting to happen?
The Spanish Armada: Marine archaeology and meticulous new research in meteorology and oceanography force a rethink of events.
Waterloo: Was Marshal Ney, who directed the French battle, unfit for command? Military psychiatrists analyse the evidence.
The Charge of the Light Brigade: New research suggests that the real heroes of the day may not have been the 600 men of the Light Brigade, but the 600 or so Turkish soldiers who manned the defences.
The Battle of Little Bighorn: The most minute scientific analysis of battlefield debris reveals precisely how the battle was fought, demolishing the myth of Custer’s Last Stand.
Gallipoli: New terrain analysis shows why the Allies’ campaign was so flawed, and how disastrous their strategy was.
Review. "withnail67 from Cheltenham, Gloucestershire United Kingdom"
"...Popular Battlefield Archaeology is something of a new concept in television. The TV series 'Two Men in a Trench' is perhaps the most obvious example, but for me, the fascinating data they (usually) recover is a little marred by a rather too flippant approach. Is jaunty soul music really appropriate when discussing the violent death of thousands in battle?
'Battlefield Detectives' however was TV documentary by the number. Clear, secure, detailed and reasoned. The 'Custer 1876' section was most familiar, and I think it was the examination of the Little Big Horn battlefield after a brush fire in the 1980s that really triggered modern battlefield archaeology. The forensic examination of bullets and cartridges, and their distribution with other artefacts blew away the image of a heroic 'Last Stand' to be replaced by a violent massacre as units lost their cohesion while under overwhelming pressure.
There is some fascinating material here - Agincourt almost turns into a Heysel-like crowd disaster; the heroism of the Turks at Balaclava is recovered and reappraised; the stunning lack of adequate intelligence before the Gallipoli landings shows how doomed the campaign was from the start."