Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy (1812–1878) was a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
historianAn historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time...
. He was educated at
Eton CollegeEton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent boarding school for boys aged approx. 13 to 19. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and
King's College, CambridgeKing's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.Founded in 1441, the college's formal name is "The King's College of Our Lady and St. Nicholas in Cambridge". It is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the university.- History :King's was founded in 1441 by...
and called to the Bar in 1837. In 1840, he began teaching history at the
University of LondonBased primarily in London, England, United Kingdom, the University of London is a federal mega university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes...
. He was knighted in 1860 and assumed the position of
Chief JusticeThe Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Supreme Court of India, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Supreme...
of Ceylon. His best known contribution to literature is his
Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World (1851). Other works include;
Historical and Critical Account of the Several Invasions of England (1852),
History of the Ottoman Turks,
The Rise and Progress of the English Constitution, and
Imperial and Colonial Institutions of the British Empire (1872).
Academically, Creasy's work is of a high standard, featuring original texts among his writings.
For example, the quoted comment 'without horse' is followed by a Greek text to that effect in the Marathon Battle account.
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Sir Edward Shepherd Creasy (1812–1878) was a
BritishThe United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland is a sovereign state located off the northwestern coast of continental Europe. It is an island country, spanning an archipelago including Great Britain, the northeastern part of Ireland, and many small islands...
historianAn historian is an individual who studies and writes about history, and is regarded as an authority on it. Historians are concerned with the continuous, methodical narrative and research of past events as relating to the human race; as well as the study of all events in time...
. He was educated at
Eton CollegeEton College, often referred to simply as Eton, is a British independent boarding school for boys aged approx. 13 to 19. It was founded in 1440 by King Henry VI as "The King's College of Our Lady of Eton besides Wyndsor"....
and
King's College, CambridgeKing's College is a constituent college of the University of Cambridge, England.Founded in 1441, the college's formal name is "The King's College of Our Lady and St. Nicholas in Cambridge". It is usually referred to simply as "King's" within the university.- History :King's was founded in 1441 by...
and called to the Bar in 1837. In 1840, he began teaching history at the
University of LondonBased primarily in London, England, United Kingdom, the University of London is a federal mega university made up of 31 affiliates: 19 separate university institutions, and 12 research institutes...
. He was knighted in 1860 and assumed the position of
Chief JusticeThe Chief Justice in many countries is the name for the presiding member of a Supreme Court in Commonwealth or other countries with an Anglo-Saxon justice system based on English common law, such as the Supreme Court of Canada, the Supreme Court of India, the Supreme Court of Pakistan, the Supreme...
of Ceylon. His best known contribution to literature is his
Fifteen Decisive Battles of the World (1851). Other works include;
Historical and Critical Account of the Several Invasions of England (1852),
History of the Ottoman Turks,
The Rise and Progress of the English Constitution, and
Imperial and Colonial Institutions of the British Empire (1872).
Academically, Creasy's work is of a high standard, featuring original texts among his writings.
For example, the quoted comment 'without horse' is followed by a Greek text to that effect in the Marathon Battle account. This feature, along with his detailed explanations of sources, and often of their sources, makes his work of enduring value.
Creasy's most famous work, the Fifteen Battles, reveals much about 19th century white-supremacist
European sentiment, being laced with explicit references to the deplorable barbarism and
immorality of non-Europeans. Indeed, the reason Creasy gives for the significance of most of the fifteen battles, is the very fact that they denied Middle Eastern / Far Eastern people groups access to European soil. For example, Attila the Hun's defeat at Chalons, defeat of the Moors at Tours, Babylonian defeat at Arbella, Defeat of Hasdrubel at Metaurus, other Carthaginian defeats in Mediterranean and the first battle Creasy describes, Marathon.
Coming as he does, just before Darwin, Creasy's world-view is notably one of 'enlightenment', and he sees Europe as the origin of civilization. His logic is ephemeral, as he ascribes the Christian Gospel as a gift to Europe, which she alone could deserve.
He shares with most Post-Waterloo, 19th century writers the illusion that world peace has been achieved by enlightened Man.