Famous Last Stands
15 battles
Heroic defenses where warriors fought to the bitter end. These legendary last stands became symbols of courage and sacrifice that echo through history.
What links these battles?
A last stand is a battle fought without the expectation of winning, and these are the ones that history refused to forget. The three hundred at Thermopylae, the defenders of Masada, the garrison of the Alamo and the Marines at Chosin Reservoir fought for time, for honour or because there was nowhere left to go. Some, such as Suiyang and Leningrad, bought months that changed the war around them; others achieved nothing beyond their own legend. The collection asks what each stand actually accomplished, and why these defeats are remembered more vividly than many victories.
The 15 battles in this collection
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