Full name: Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power

Author: Victor Davis Hanson Year: 2001 Rank: Rating: Original Rating: Pop Rating: Genres/categories: History, Non Fiction, War/Military Purchase/reserch links: LibraryThing Goodreads Amazon ISBNs: 9780385720380 0385720386

Examining nine landmark battles from ancient to modern times--from Salamis, where outnumbered Greeks devastated the slave army of Xerxes, to Cortes's conquest of Mexico to the Tet offensive--Victor Davis Hanson explains why the armies of the West have been the most lethal and effective of any fighting forces in the world. Looking beyond popular explanations such as geography or superior technology, Hanson argues that it is in fact Western culture and values-the tradition of dissent, the value placed on inventiveness and adaptation, the concept of citizenship-which have consistently produced superior arms and soldiers. Offering riveting battle narratives and a balanced perspective that avoids simple triumphalism, Carnage and Culture demonstrates how armies cannot be separated from the cultures that produce them and explains why an army produced by a free culture will always have the advantage. Similar books: The Second World Wars by Victor Davis Hanson The Western Way of War by Victor Davis Hanson A History Of Warfare by John Keegan Military Blunders by Saul David The Soul of Battle by Victor Davis Hanson On the Origins of War by Donald Kagan The Art of War in the Western World by Archer Jones A History of Warfare by Bernard Montgomery The Father of Us All by Victor Davis Hanson The Face of Battle by John Keegan The Savage Wars Of Peace by Max Boot War Made New by Max Boot The Mask of Command by John Keegan Battle by John A. Lynn War in Human Civilization by Azar Gat Warriors by Max Hastings Makers of Ancient Strategy by Victor Davis Hanson Intelligence in War by John Keegan A War Like No Other by Victor Davis Hanson 13 Hours by Mitchell Zuckoff