From Library Journal
McRandle, who has written previously on German military history, portrays modern war as the continuation of a tradition of ritual that has been practiced since the earliest ages of humanity. Mythmaking psychological techniques, social forces, intensive responses to fear, and aggressiveness are all martialed and manipulated through ritual to serve war's purposes. This provocative consideration of the sources of war traces the continuity of such aspects as unit size, tactics, and the function of uniforms. Firsthand accounts of battle from various periods of history give a sense of immediacy to the narrative. Some of McRandle's conclusions will be controversial, particularly his arguments that warfare served to promote gene flow between isolated groups of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens. Recommended for military history collections.
Michael Coleman, Alabama Regional Lib. for the Blind & Physically Handicapped, Montgomery
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
Michael Coleman, Alabama Regional Lib. for the Blind & Physically Handicapped, Montgomery
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to the Hardcover edition.
From Booklist
McRandle tries to explain why "given all its disadvantages, war seemed [and seems] so attractive" to so many people. His argument is that war reflects more than simple human hostility. It is a human ritual, from the training leading up to war to the actual battle itself. It also operates as an institution, answering deep needs in its participants. War further creates and reinforces powerful myths. McRandle argues that war spurred a flow of genes between various isolated groups of Homo erectus and early Homo sapiens. Although some of his conclusions will be controversial, McRandle has drawn together an interdisciplinary array of sources to support his argument. Of interest to military buffs as well as to students of the human psyche. Brian McCombie
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
