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Carnage and Culture

Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power

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Examining nine landmark battles from ancient to modern times - from Salamis, where outnumbered Greeks devastated the slave army of Xerxes, to Cortes' 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.

©2001 Victor Davis Hanson (P)2019 Tantor Anthropology Military Political Science Politics & Government United States World Thought-Provoking
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Listen to this book and you will understand what most free people’s and nations fought to protect, and why they win in the end. It brilliantly lays out the line and movement of the free and just side of history.

What does freedom mean?

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Incredible book. Immediately going to order his next one. Great way to get familiar with some key cultures and battles in western history.

Amazing

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