Free Nonfiction 2012

Why Do Men Fight? What Motivates An Ordinary Citizen To Burn And Kill? What, In The End, Motivates An Army To Win?--jacket. In The Soul Of Battle, Victor Davis Hanson, Answers These Questions In A New And Startling Way. Hanson Offers Three Incredible Stories - The Sagas Of History's Greatest Marches - That Coalesce Into A Single Powerful Theory Of Men And War. Each Story Involves A Democratic Army Pulled Together On Short Notice, Which Marched Deep Into Enemy Territory To Overthrow A Government Whose Morality Was Fundamentally Repugnant To Its Own. Each Army Stunned The World By Covering Many Miles And Capturing Huge Numbers Of Its Demoralized Foes. In All Three Cases, Hanson Argues, Conviction (more Than Firepower) Made The Difference Against Long Odds. Hanson's Conclusion Has Far-reaching Consequences In Our Convictionless Times: Right Makes Might.--jacket. Pt. 1. Yeomen Of Thebes : Epaminondas's Descent Into The Peloponnese, Winter-spring, 170-369 B.c. -- Pt. 2. The Army Of The West : Sherman's March To The Sea, November 16-december 21, 1864 -- Pt. 3. The Third Army : Patton's Race Into Germany, August 1, 1944-may 8, 1945. Victor Davis Hanson. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 463-468) And Index. Machine generated contents note: List of Illustrations vii 1 The Heaviness of an Age 1 PART I. ItWas an Actual Fact 2 A Monster is Evolved 23 3 Big Joke 38 4 Breaking the Line (the War Artist's Dilemma) 54 5 Raising the Heavy Branch at Bermicourt 62 6 Banking on the Tank 81 7 MoralVictory lo1 PART II. In the Church of Mechanization 8 Bringing it All Back Home 113 9 The Prophet's Creed 134 lo The Secret Imprint of the Great Beast 155 n The Mission Overseas 182 PART III. Blitzkrieg 12 The Lancer and the Panzer 231 13 Through Sixty Years of Mist 252 14 Into Russia with Curzio Malaparte 270 i5 The Tiger and the Mouse 287 i6 Tributes: A Flag for Europe and the True Birth of Punk 308 PART IV. The Coming of the Merkava 17 The Steeling of Zion 319 18 Jewish Blitzkrieg? 346 PART V. After the Cold War 19 Conversion: Pink Tank and Poliscar 377 20 Fort Knox: Cybertanks and the Army After Next 409 Notes 447 Acknowledgements 483 Index 487. "Why do men fight? What motivates an ordinary citizen to burn and kill? What, in the end, motivates an army to win?"--BOOK JACKET. "In The Soul of Battle, Victor Davis Hanson, answers these questions in a new and startling way. Hanson offers three incredible stories - the sagas of history's greatest marches - that coalesce into a single powerful theory of men and war. Each story involves a democratic army pulled together on short notice, which marched deep into enemy territory to overthrow a government whose morality was fundamentally repugnant to its own. Each army stunned the world by covering many miles and capturing huge numbers of its demoralized foes. In all three cases, Hanson argues, conviction (more than firepower) made the difference against long odds. Hanson's conclusion has far-reaching consequences in our convictionless times: right makes might."--BOOK JACKET. An illuminating foray into the war machine that has dominated military theory and practice throughout the twentieth century explores the tank as a cultural and social object, revealing how the tank became the symbol of technological futurism and inevitable progress, as well as of totalitarian oppression. 17,500 first printing. A look at the war machine that has dominated military theory and practice throughout the twentieth century explores the tank as a cultural and social object, revealing how the tank became the symbol of technological futurism and inevitable progress, as well as of totalitarian oppression Argues that American generals Sherman and Patton, as well as Athenian general Epaminondas, were the greatest military leaders in history