The book, Last Stands: Famous Battles Against The Odds, represents a fascinating look at seventeen different last stands dating back to 450 B.C..  While a soldier's willingness to stand and fight with no real hope of surviving seems irrational, throughout the course of history many groups of individuals have done just that.  The book, "Last Stands" recounts the most dramatic of these battles and reviews this extraordinary willingness to sacrifice all including death for the sake of fundamental beliefs, honor or patriotism.  While making a last stand in battle usually ends in disaster, the author points out several examples as exceptions to this rule.  This interesting book spans the centuries to re-create conflicts as different as Agincourt, Little Big Horn and Okinawa.  Yet as different as these famous battles may seem on the surface, they all occurred due to a state of mind that has, at its core, an unwillingness to surrender and a determination to die in battle for a cause.  The major sections of this book are as follows: 1) Introduction; 2) Thermopylae 480 B.C.; 3) Acre 1191; 4) Calais 1347; 5) Agincourt 1415; 6) Constantinoble 1453; 7) Malta 1565; 8) Culloden 1746; 9) Quebeck 1759; 10) Alamo 1836; 11) Vicksburg 1863; 12) Little Bighorn 1876; 13) Rorke's Drift 1879; 14) Khartoum 1884; 15) Peking 1900; 16) Verdun 1916; 17) Okinawa 1945 and 18) Dien Bien Phu 1954.  In addition to a comprehensive narrative, this book includes the following features: 1) Approximately 59 black and white vintage photographs; 2) About 18 color photographs; 3) Approximately 52 black and white illustrations; 4) About 18 color illustrations and 5) 17 battlefield maps.  In the end, this book will appeal to the military enthusiast and the general reader alike.  This book is 160 pages and is in very good condition.  The author is Craig Philip.  Edition published in 1994.