Edward J. Erickson

Although the Ottoman Empire was led by warlike leaders carrying out policies of aggression, by the 19th Century it had become known as "The Sick Man of Europe." It was not, however, until the Balkan Wars of 1912-1913 when the forces of Bulgaria, Serbia, Greece and Montenegro formed the Balkan League to fight the Ottoman Empire that it was thoroughly defeated. Specific reasons for the defeat of the Empire are examined by Erickson from the point of view of military history as well as from the perspective of the Ottoman Army. Basing his research mainly on Turkish General Staff's official histories, Erickson constructs a detailed analysis of the Ottoman defeat. His book may be the first to detail the specific reasons for the Ottoman defeat, thus providing an important contribution to the historiography of the Ottoman Empire.

The book's title, Defeat in Detail, comes from a "doctrinal military term that means to defeat an enemy by destroying small portions of its armies ins