This book investigates the complexities of modern urban operations¿a particularly difficult and costly method of fighting, and one that is on the rise. Contributors examine the lessons that emerge from a range of historical case studies, from nineteenth-century precedents to the Battle of Shanghai; Stalingrad, German town clearance, Mandalay, and Berlin during World War II; and from the Battle of Algiers to the Battle for Fallujah in 2004. Each case study illuminates the features that differentiate urban operations from fighting in open areas, and the factors that contribute to success and failure. The volume concludes with reflections on the key challenges of urban warfare in the twenty-first century and beyond.

Gregory Fremont-Barnes is Senior Lecturer  in the Department of War Studies at the Royal Military Academy, Sandhurst, UK. He has written or edited over twenty-five books on subjects covering warfare from the eighteenth century to the present day.

1. Introduction.- 2. Nineteenth-Century Precedents.- 3. Armageddon Rehearsed: The Battle of Shanghai, August-November 1937.- 4. The Battle of Stalingrad, September-November 1942.-  5. 'The rest of the day was perfectly bloody': The 51st Highland Division and Town Clearance in Germany, February-March 1945.- 6. 'Come Ye Back to Mandalay': 14th Army's Battle for Mandalay, March 1945.- 7. The Battle of Berlin, April-May 1945.- 8. Rocking the Casbah: 10 Parachute Division and the Battle for Algiers -1957.- 9. Among the Ashes of Emperors: Operation Hue City - January 1968.- 10. 'Live Nobly, Die Gloriously': The Battle for Saigon - Tet 1968.- 11. 'Acting with restraint and courtesy, despite provocation?' Army Operations in Belfast during the Northern Ireland 'Troubles', 1969-97.- 12. 'Its Flames Will Blaze': The Battle for Fallujah, 7-13 November 2004.- 13. The Poisoned Chalice: Urban Warfare in the Twenty-First Century and Beyond.