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Carnage and Culture by Victor Davis Hanson
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Carnage and Culture

Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power

Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power

By Victor Davis Hanson

By Victor Davis Hanson

By Victor Davis Hanson

By Victor Davis Hanson

Best Seller
Paperback $24.00

Aug 27, 2002 | ISBN 9780385720380

Ebook $7.99

Dec 18, 2007 | ISBN 9780307425188

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    Carnage and Culture by Victor Davis Hanson
    Paperback $24.00
    Aug 27, 2002 | ISBN 9780385720380

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    • $24.00

      Aug 27, 2002 | ISBN 9780385720380

      Buy from Other Retailers:

    • Dec 18, 2007 | ISBN 9780307425188

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    About Carnage and Culture

    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.

    About Carnage and Culture

    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.

    Read An Excerpt

    Read An Excerpt

    Also by Victor Davis Hanson

    The Western Way of War
    Between War and Peace
    A War Like No Other
    Ripples of Battle
    An Autumn of War
    See all books by Victor Davis Hanson

    Also by Victor Davis Hanson

    The Western Way of War
    Between War and Peace
    A War Like No Other
    Ripples of Battle
    An Autumn of War
    See all books by Victor Davis Hanson

    About Victor Davis Hanson

    Victor Davis Hanson has written or edited numerous books, including The Western Way of War, The Wars of the Ancient Greeks, The Soul of Battle, Carnage and Culture, and Ripples of Battle. He is also the author of two bestselling… More about Victor Davis Hanson

    About Victor Davis Hanson

    Victor Davis Hanson has written or edited numerous books, including The Western Way of War, The Wars of the Ancient Greeks, The Soul of Battle, Carnage and Culture, and Ripples of Battle. He is also the author of two bestselling… More about Victor Davis Hanson

    Product Details

    Category: Military History | Politics

    Paperback | $24.00
    Published by Anchor
    Aug 27, 2002 | 544 Pages | 5-3/16 x 8 | ISBN 9780385720380

    Category: Military History | Politics

    Ebook | $7.99
    Published by Anchor
    Dec 18, 2007 | 544 Pages | ISBN 9780307425188

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    Praise

    “Vivid . . . ambitious . . . Challenges readers to broaden their horizons and examine their assumptions. . . . [Hanson] more than makes his case.”–The New York Times Book Review

    “No one offers a more compelling picture of how wars reflect and affect the societies, including our own, that wage them.” —National Review

    “Hanson . . . is becoming one of the best-known historians in America . . . [Carnage and Culture] can only enhance his reputation.” —John Keegan, Daily Telegraph (London)

    “Victor Davis Hanson is courting controversy again with another highly readable, lucid work. Together with John Keegan, he is our most interesting historian of war.” —Jean Bethke Elshtain, author of Women and War

    Table Of Contents

    List of Maps
    Preface

    CHAPTER ONE
    Why the West Has Won

    Enlightened Thugs · The Primacy of Battle · Ideas of the West ·The Western Way of War

    PART ONE · CREATION

    CHAPTER TWO
    Freedom—or “To Live as You Please” · Salamis, September 28, 480 B.C.

    The Drowned · The Achaemenids and Freedom ·The Persian Wars and the Strategy of Salamis · The Battle ·Eleutheria · The Legacy of Salamis

    CHAPTER THREE
    Decisive Battle · Gaugamela, October 1, 331 B.C.

    Angles of Vision · The Macedonian Military Machine · Killing Spree · Decisive Battle and Western Warfare

    CHAPTER FOUR
    Citizen Soldiers · Cannae, August 2, 216 B.C.

    A Summer Slaughter · Hannibal’s Jaws · Carthage and the West · Legions of Rome · The Idea of a Nation-in-Arms ·“Rulers of the Entire World”—the Legacy of Civic Militarism

    PART TWO · CONTINUITY

    CHAPTER FIVE
    Landed Infantry · Poitiers, October 11, 732

    Horse Versus Foot · The Wall · The Hammer · Islam Ascendant ·Dark Ages? · Infantry, Property, and Citizenship · Poitiers and Beyond

    CHAPTER SIX
    Technology and the Wages of Reason · Tenochtitlán, June 24, 1520–August 13, 1521

    The Battles for Mexico City · Aztec War · The Mind of the Conquistadors · Spanish Rationalism · Why Did the Castilians Win? · Reason and War

    CHAPTER SEVEN
    The Market—or Capitalism Kills · Lepanto, October 7, 1571

    Galley War · Legends of Lepanto · Europe and the Ottomans · Capitalism, the Ottoman Economy, and Islam · War and the Market

    PART THREE · CONTROL

    CHAPTER EIGHT
    Discipline—or Warriors Are Not Always Soldiers · Rorke’s Drift, January 22–23, 1879

    Killing Fields · The Imperial Way · Zulu Power and Impotence · Courage Is Not Necessarily Discipline

    CHAPTER NINE
    Individualism · Midway, June 4–8, 1942

    Floating Infernos · The Annihilation of the Devastators ·The Imperial Fleet Moves Out · Western and Non-Western Japan ·Spontaneity and Individual Initiative at Midway · Individualism in Western Warfare

    CHAPTER TEN
    Dissent and Self-Critique · Tet, January 31–April 6, 1968

    Battles Against the Cities · Victory as Defeat · Aftermath · War amid Audit, Scrutiny, and Self-Critique

    EPILOGUE
    Western Warfare—Past and Future

    The Hellenic Legacy · Other Battles? ·The Singularity of Western Military Culture · The Continuity of Western Lethality ·The West Versus the West?

    AFTERWORD
    Carnage and Culture
    after September 11, 2001

    GLOSSARY
    FOR FURTHER READING
    INDEX

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