I'm specifically looking for material which analyzes specific conflicts and series of battles in great detail. Particularly step by step accounts which explain the formations they took and why. The psychology of the battles is equally important: How the Generals went about securing the advantage through ruses, spies, and innovation.
I am fascinated by such figures as Alexander, Napoleon, and Hannibal. I also have studied The Art of War by Sun Tzu and would love to find similar books, I recently acquired the The Prince as well.
I am writing a novel, and I would like to bring some degree of knowledge to my fiction. Examples of other fiction writers who do well at this would be great too.
Any and all help is appreciated.
'The Campaigns of Alexander' written by Arrian is quite good in terms of describing the way in which Alexander won his battles with quite a fair mention of the tactics he used. It goes in depth about how he set up his army in different battles and how he overcame problems and won his battles. I'd definitely recommend it if you're looking into the strategy/tactics of generals.
Well if you are looking for organization, tactics and strategy of an Early Roman Empire army, look at Vegetius' De Re Militari, there are free translations pretty easily available online. While Vegetius is writing at the time of time of the late Empire, the army he is describing is an ideal force that he wishes the Emperor to return to. Gives a good impression and was also the basis on which most Medieval and even Early Modern generals based their tactics/strategy.
Bernard Cornwell is a fiction author who does a good job of creating at least an interesting story of historical warfare.
Keegan's Face of Battle is an excellent treatment on the experience of battle for the persons involved, less about commanders and formations, but no doubt very helpful if you haven't read it. The section on Agincourt might be useful for you; I'm not sure on your timeframe.
Goldsworthy's text "Roman Warfare" is a good general treatment of how the Romans fought, but it covers a vast amount of information and thus does not go into terrible depth about anything. Perhaps read it and get an idea of battles you want a closer look at and how those battles may have been different from the usual. Cannae in particular has gotten a lot of attention; there are a number of works on that battle, including another by Goldsworthy if you like his style from the general treatment I recommended.
Ancient sources are interesting, but often unsatisfactory for the questions you pose. It is not always true, but ancient historians are usually more interested in the numbers involved and any interesting speeches they suppose the general to have made before or during the battle than the chaotic events themselves; reconstructing these events even for modern conflicts simply requires a giant amount of primary evidence being pulled together and considered critically, which is all too often impossible for ancient battles.