The Shape Of Battle

Every battle is different. Each takes place in a different context—the war, the campaign, the weapons. However, battles across the centuries, whether fought with spears and swords or advanced technology, have much in common. Fighting is, after all, an intensely human affair; human nature doesn't change. So why were certain battles fought as they were? What gave them their shape? Why did they go as they did: victory for one side, defeat for the other?