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Carnage and Culture

Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power

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Carnage and Culture

By: Victor Davis Hanson
Narrated by: Bob Souer
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About this listen

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 Latin America Ancient History Imperialism Socialism Middle Ages Self-Determination Middle East Thought-Provoking Africa Iran Social justice United Kingdom Mexico Law Solider Russia Ancient Greece Capitalism
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I had never thought before about European armies and what makes so uniquely deadly. Victor Davis Hanson lays out in a thoughtful and well researched book how freedom, capitalism and the rights of the individual have also created the most dangerous soldiers. As Spider Man would say, with great power comes great responsibility

A whole new take on Europe at war

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His basic premise is argued well. He connected the dots between warfare and free civil society well. I liked his logic in doing so. Narrator was good and not robotic. The book was published in 2002 so his examination stops at 911. Would have been really interesting to hear his thoughts on the conflicts since then. I suspect you only have to go on YouTube to find him expanding on today's situation. Be worth a look after reading this book.

Great Read/ listen

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The narrator sounded like an AI program, often distracting until you got used to it.

Good summary of one side of Western Culture argume

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Victor Davis Hanson impartially gives stunning and analytical accounts of Western and non-Western militaries. He however arbitrarily and without argument rejects the notion that genes or race plays any part in military history without consulting any of the relevant literature.

Other than that minor gripe, he demonstrates an erudite and world and era spanning knowledge of history to present a fascinating thesis of a tradition of surpassing Western military excellence.

Great military history summary

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