Battle: A History of Combat and Culture from Ancient Greece to Modern America (Paperback)
$18.96 - Save $2.83 12% off - RRP $21.79 Free delivery worldwide (to United States and
all these other countries) Usually dispatched within 48 hours | |Short Description for Battle A noted military historian offers a cultural approach to the history of warfare, insisting that we understand combat best when we study the beliefs, values, and expectations of the adversaries. Battle: A History of Combat and Culture spans the globe and the centuries to explore the way ideas shape the conduct of warfare.
Full description- Publisher: Westview Press Inc
- Published: 23 November 2004
- Format: Paperback 432 pages
- See: Full bibliographic data
- Categories: War & Defence Operations | History: Specific Events & Topics | Military History
- ISBN 13: 9780813333724 ISBN 10: 0813333725
- Sales rank: 372,888
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Full description for Battle
Spans the globe and the centuries to explore the way ideas shape the conduct of warfare Drawing on examples from Europe, the Middle East, South Asia, East Asia, and America, John A. Lynn challenges the belief that technology has been the dominant influence on combat from ancient times to the present. In battle, ideas can be more far more important than bullets or bombs. Carl von Clausewitz proclaimed that war is politics, but even more basically, war is culture. The hard reality of armed conflict is formed by - and, in turn, forms - a culture's values, assumptions, and expectations about fighting. The author examines the relationship between the real and the ideal, arguing that feedback between the two follows certain discernible paths. Battle rejects the currently fashionable notion of a 'Western way of warfare' and replaces it with more nuanced concepts of varied and evolving cultural patterns of combat. After considering history, Lynn finally asks how the knowledge gained might illuminate our understanding of the war on terrorism. The book includes a new Epilogue by the author.
