A Quote of Wellington Some individuals may recollect all the little events [of which the great result is the battle won or lost.] The sentence above is an excerpt from a quote of Duke of Wellington, who contributed to the decisive defeat of Napoleon. I cannot understand the bracketed part (of which - or lost). I interpreted it as "...all the little events the great result of which=(all the little events) is the battle won or lost". But I'm not sure of my understanding. Thank you for reading to this end. Perhaps you would explain.I'm unsure of the meaning of [of] here too. I would be really pleased if you expound on it.

Unclear "their" in a sentence Western archaeologists were afraid to call their Syrian colleagues for fear of putting [their lives] at risk. This sentence above is from an article which explained the dire circumstances of Palmyra after IS took over it. The paragraph that includes this sentence mainly expounds on the concrete atrocities commited by the group. I'm unsure of whose lives the Western archaeologists feared to put at risk, namely, their own or their Syrian colleagues' lives. (I assumed that it would mean the latter.) Thank you for reading to this end. Perhaps you would explain, though I suppose this is a trivial question.

find A adj. to do The text below is an excerpted paragraph from a book review on the book entitled The Ottoman Endgame, which examines the final years of the empire. I have an unsure point (please see the blacketed part) as to this. [Mr McMeekin(the author) finds it easy to imagine the world as it appeared to the young masters of the Ottoman realm, as they and their Teutonic allies faced the combined forces of Russia, Britain and France]; and he brings alive the memory of tsarist commanders like Nikolai Yudenich and the titanic battles they fought in wild places like Van and Erzurum, with ghastly consequences for civilians on the wrong side.I normally interpret the word "find" in an expression like "find it adj. to do" as "consider," "judge," or "deem," so I construed the blacketed part "the author judges that it is easy to picture the world in the way it was seen/revealed to the young masteres..., when they and their Teutonic allies(i.e., Germany and Austria) were confronted by the combined forces of..." Is my understanding proper? Thank you for reading to this end. I'd be deeply greatful if you would explain it or paraphrase the part.

Function of "but" Below is an excerpt from a book review on The Witches: Salem, 1692 written by Stacy Schif. I am unsure of my interpretation of "but no one else" at the end of this paragraph. I would like to know how should I understand it. “What sets Salem apart”, Ms Schiff writes, “is not the accusations but the convictions.” She assigns particular blame to William Stoughton, the chief justice at the trials, whose name still adorns a Harvard dormitory. As Ms Schiff points out, he was a bachelor with no knowledge of teenage girls; hence his willingness to allow “spectral evidence” seen by hysterical girls and other accusers, but no one else. If you are uncertain of the purport of this question, please tell me frankly. Then I will do my best to make it clear. Thank you for reading to the end. Perhaps you would explain.

Meaning of "Unlikely" The sentence below is an excerpt of an article telling about Oscar Wilde. I'm a little bit unsure of my understanding concerning the part between square brackets[]. He succeeded (in attaining his ambition), of course, and his notoriety poses a problem for biographers [unlikely to discover anything new about the great aesthete.] Q. Is the "unlikely" here an adjective which modifies "biographers"? If so, what is the synonym which has the closest meaning to that of the "unlikely" used here? Thank you for reading to this end. Perhaps you would explain.

A casual note It is often remarked gloomily that we Japanese naively take peace for granted. Such a statement, I believe, is definitely true and one can observe a lot of testaments to it in daily life. For example, the main concern of a majority of news programs this morning was a disorderly charge committed by a sumo wrestler, and the second subject was about petty affairs of celebrities; thereafter several serious news, domestic and international, were treated perfunctorily. You may deem it just an exception, but it is normal in my nation, though the chief topic varies day to day from a meal of ministers to a visit to a hot spring of a governor. My personal feelings toward this state are intricate. On the one hand, I have a sensation similar to irritation, or rather rage, against such insouciance of our fellow countrymen. On the other, I find myself really fortunate to live in this amazingly peaceful country where a woman in her 20s like me can walk about the streets alone at night almost without feeling misgivings about being assaulted and robbed. I did not begin writing this to bring about a definite solution. I wrote this just as a casual note in order to inspect my proficiency at writing in English. So here is the end. Thank you for reading.

"That" as a relative pronoun and "in + verbal noun" Below is a sentence from a book review of The Economist. I am a little unsure of my comprehension of "that" and "understanding" in the sentence. 1. The book is likely to be the closest [that anyone will come to understanding the thinking behind a foreign policy that has many critics.] I assumed "that" here would be the relative pronoun modifying "the closest (book)." And I supposed the verbal noun "understanding" here should be understood as "in understanding" like in the sentence "In planning public expenditure it is better to be prudent." Therefore I interpreted the sentence as "The book is likely to be the closest (book) to which anyone will come in understanding(= when he tries to understand) the thinking behind a foreign policy that has many critics." Q1. Are my interpretations of "that" and "understanding" correct? Q2. If it is right to interpret "understanding" here as the equal with "in understanding", is it possible to omit "in" in a similar case?Thank you for reading to this end. Perhaps you would explain