Carnage and culture : landmark battles in the rise of Western power

Amazon.com Review Many theories have been offered regarding why Western culture has spread so successfully across the world, with arguments ranging from genetics to superior technology to the creation of enlightened economic, moral, and political systems. In Carnage and Culture , military historian Victor Hanson takes all of these factors into account in making a bold, and sure to be controversial, argument: Westerners are more effective killers. Focusing specifically on military power rather than the nature of Western civilization in general, Hanson views war as the ultimate reflection of a society's character: ''There is...a cultural crystallization in battle, in which the insidious and more subtle institutions that heretofore are murky and undefined became stark and unforgiving in the finality of organized killing.'' Though technological advances and superior weapons have certainly played a role in Western military dominance, Hanson posits that cultural distinctions are the most significant factors. By bringing personal freedom, discipline, and organization to the battlefield, powerful ''marching democracies'' were more apt to defeat non-Western nations hampered by unstable governments, limited funding, and intolerance of open discussion. These crucial differences often ensured victory even against long odds. Greek armies, for instance, who elected their own generals and freely debated strategy were able to win wars even when far outnumbered and deep within enemy territory. Hanson further argues that granting warriors control of their own destinies results in the kind of glorification of horrific hand-to-hand combat necessary for true domination. The nine battles Hanson examines include the Greek naval victory against the Persians at Salamis in 480 B.C., Cortes's march on Mexico City in 1521, the battle of Midway in 1942, and the 1968 Tet Offensive in Vietnam. In the book's fascinating final chapter, he then looks forward and ponders the consequences of a complete cultural victory, challenging the widespread belief that democratic nations do not wage war against one another: ''We may well be all Westerners in the millennium to come, and that could be a very dangerous thing indeed,'' he writes. It seems the West will always seek an enemy, even if it must come from within. --Shawn Carkonen From Publishers Weekly ''The Western way of war is so lethal precisely because it is so amoral shackled rarely by concerns of ritual, tradition, religion, or ethics, by anything other than military necessity.'' Ranging from Salamis in 480 B.C. to the Tet offensive in Vietnam, Hanson, a California State at Fresno classics professor, expands the scope of his The Western Way of War: Infantry Battle in Classical Greece, offering a provocative look at occidental aggression as illustrated by nine paradigmatic battles between Western and non-Western armies. Hanson sheds the overly romanticized view of battles as nationalist or ethnic honorifics and vividly portrays the deadly killing machines Western powers evolved for the destruction of non-Western opponents. Throughout, Hanson stresses the technology based lethality of Western warfare, and the role of individual initiative as opposed to the more collectivist strategies of the Persians, Carthaginians, Arabs, Turks, Aztecs, Zulus, Japanese and Vietnamese opponents who get a chapter apiece. The single Western defeat chronicled in these pages, of the Romans in Cannae in 216 B.C., shows a victorious Hannibal unable to capitalize on his win. (The idea of the citizen/soldier, the role of civic militarism and the republican ideals of Rome seem to be the reasons why not.) A number of Hanson's conclusions will engender debate, such as his claim that America won in Vietnam, but failed to recognize it, as well as the larger claim that ''free markets, free elections, and free speech'' have led directly to superior forces. The book's last few chapters are fairly driven by that idea, which, along with precise, forceful writing, sets it apart from the season's secondary-sourced, battle-based military histories. (Aug.)Forecast: Hanson's direct, literate style and his evenhandedness should appeal to the liberalist middle of the left and right alike. By isolating the ingredients of military success via elaborate examples, the book can potentially draw on two separate military-history readerships: those looking for theory and those for action. Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc. From the Preface... ... I have deliberately concentrated on those West-East fault lines that emphasize the singular lethality of Western culture at war in comparison to other traditions that grew up in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. These valid generalizations should not imply that at times there were not real differences among particular European states themselves or that Western and non-Western cultures were either monolithic or always at odds with each other. And while I discuss larger issues of government, religion, and economy, my primary aim is to explain Western military power, not the general nature and evolution of Western civilization at large. This is not a book, then, written for academic specialists. Instead, I have tried to offer a synthesis of Western society at war for the general reader across some 2,500 years of history that concentrates on general trends, rather than an original work of primary research within a defined historical period. I have used formal scholarly citations in parentheses in the text only for the longer direct quotations—although detailed information concerning factual material is derived from primary sources and secondary books and articles discussed at the conclusion of the book. 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. Examining nine landmark battles from ancient to modern times--from Salamis, where outnumbered Greeks devastated the slave army of Xerxes, to Cortess 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 valuesthe tradition of dissent, the value placed on inventiveness and adaptation, the concept of citizenshipwhich 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. 1. Why the West has won 2. Freedom, of "To live as you please"; Salamis, Sept. 28, 480 B.C. 3. Decisive battle; Guagamela, Oct. 1, 331 B.C. 4. Citizen soldiers; Cannae, Aug. 2, 216 B.C. 5. Landed infantry; Poitiers, Oct. 11, 732 6. Technology and the wages of reason; Tenochtitlán, June 24, 1520-Aug. 13, 1521 7. The market - or capitalism kills; Lepanto, Oct. 7, 1571 8. Discipline - or Warriors are not always soldiers; Rorke's Drift, Jan. 22-23, 1879 9. Individualism; Midway, June 4-8, 1942 10. Dissent and self-critique; Tet, Jan. 31-Apr. 6, 1968 11. Western warfare : past and future. Through Vivid Depictions Of Historic Battles, The Author Exposes The Connection Between The West's Superiority On The Battlefield And Its Rise To World Dominance, Including Controversial Arguments Ignited By The Recent Works Of Various Historians. 25,000 First Printing. Through depictions of historic battles, the author exposes the connection between the West's superiority on the battlefield and its rise to world dominance, including controversial arguments ignited by the recent words of various historians.