Why the west wins battles
Victor Davis Hanson's Carnage and Culture, Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power hit the bookstores about three weeks before 9-11, 2001. It got a lot of attention for a very good reason and in a subsequent edition Hanson added a discussion of the 9-11 attacks and the US response that swept away the Taliban.
The book examines nine battles in some detail and points out how the cultural difference in the two sides led to decisive results favoring the west. It begins with a naval battle at Salamis in September 480 B.C. where the Greeks turned back a Persian fleet. Next is a battle that Alexander the Great fought at Gaugamela on October 1, 331 B.C. where again the Persians lost.
In a chapter that shows how you can win most of the battles and still lose the war, he examines Hannibal's defeat of Romans at Cannae, August 2, 216 B.C. The next chapter jumps ahead to October 11, 732 when Charles Martel led the Franks to a defeat of Muslim invaders at Poitiers in what is now France. It turned out to be the turning point in Islamic expansion.
The next battles look at the conquest of Mexico by a small force of Spaniards under Cortes in a series of battles beginning in1520 and ending August 13, 1521. Fifty years later the sea battle at Lepanto in October, 1751 turned back the Muslim fleet.
My favorite chapter in the book is the description of the battle at Rorke's Drift in South Africa where fewer than 100 British soldiers turned back several thousand Zulu warriors who had only days before wiped out a much larger British force. There is an excellent movie of this battle titled Zulu, but I found Hanson's description of the situation and the battle even better.
Hanson also has chapters on Midway and Tet that are quite good.
The book is not a quick read, but it is worth the effort. In almost every case cultural difference that go beyond superior weapons made the difference. For example in the battle at Rorke's Drift the Zulu warriors had captured British rifles in their previous victory, but they could not match the disciplined British soldiers in effective use of that weapon.
The stories are about real culture wars that the west has won.
The book examines nine battles in some detail and points out how the cultural difference in the two sides led to decisive results favoring the west. It begins with a naval battle at Salamis in September 480 B.C. where the Greeks turned back a Persian fleet. Next is a battle that Alexander the Great fought at Gaugamela on October 1, 331 B.C. where again the Persians lost.
In a chapter that shows how you can win most of the battles and still lose the war, he examines Hannibal's defeat of Romans at Cannae, August 2, 216 B.C. The next chapter jumps ahead to October 11, 732 when Charles Martel led the Franks to a defeat of Muslim invaders at Poitiers in what is now France. It turned out to be the turning point in Islamic expansion.
The next battles look at the conquest of Mexico by a small force of Spaniards under Cortes in a series of battles beginning in1520 and ending August 13, 1521. Fifty years later the sea battle at Lepanto in October, 1751 turned back the Muslim fleet.
My favorite chapter in the book is the description of the battle at Rorke's Drift in South Africa where fewer than 100 British soldiers turned back several thousand Zulu warriors who had only days before wiped out a much larger British force. There is an excellent movie of this battle titled Zulu, but I found Hanson's description of the situation and the battle even better.
Hanson also has chapters on Midway and Tet that are quite good.
The book is not a quick read, but it is worth the effort. In almost every case cultural difference that go beyond superior weapons made the difference. For example in the battle at Rorke's Drift the Zulu warriors had captured British rifles in their previous victory, but they could not match the disciplined British soldiers in effective use of that weapon.
The stories are about real culture wars that the west has won.
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