This is a magnificent and highly illustrated international survey of 52 of the worlds elite fighting forces crack units that have changed the course of battles and influenced the fates of entire nations. Each profile includes fact boxes featuring key battles and dates, together with quotations from contemporary sources. An unrivalled international team of military historians, including Andrew Lambert, Professor of the Department of War Studies, Kings College, London, and Peter H. Wilson, Grant Professor of History, University of Hull, ensures that this is the most authoritative and up-to-date account available.