In Greek myth the jurisdiction over war is divided. Athena Nike, as governess over the arts, crafts, and sciences is in charge of victory as a corrallary to being in charge of strategy and statecraft. Ares is in charge of war in itself-he likes the fury of war for it's own sake. And while many historians, understandably prefer to study Athena Nike, this book is devoted to studying the ways of Ares.
It has been said that war is an extention of politics. That is in a sense true, in so far as the one who gives the orders for the commencement of hostilities is usually a politician and therefore inspired by political motives. However it is less true that people fight for politics. People fight for more important things like duty, honor, country, faith, friends, family, comrades-in-arms and so on. And if these things are "delusions" as cynics say, it might be pointed out that much of cynicism is itself a delusion and not the most pleasant of them.
The book gives an overview of the customs of warriors throughout history and the recuring themes. It shows how the culture of fighting men, the subtle(and not so subtle) ways in which they boast of their prowess and assert their right to be recognized as men-among-men is has much in common worldwide. It gives examples of such things as traditions, decorations, and what not, all designed to give the suspicion that people do to some degree like to fight. It shows how no matter how far apart cultures are in technology or customs, some things remain the same(this struck me in the Movie Zulu when the Zulus were singing their war songs and the Welsh were singing "Men of Harlech" in reply). Much of the points in the book of course I take for granted, have been a member of the "civilian" part of the culture of war sense the first time I read a war-story or played my first wargame. The book by the way sheds some light on this, telling about reenactors, wargamers and the like. Some would deplore the "culture of war" and say it should be removed. But it is part of life and not the worst part.
The disadvantage of the book from my point of view are twofold is that I desired cultural history and thus the authors personal opinions were an annoying distraction. Another disadvantage is that Crevald can be an annoying writter at times. One advantage it does have is it is lacking in cant. Crevald never states that he really, really hates war even though he makes a living off of it and writes about it with an obvious relish. In fact he gives a rather Pattonesque feeling which some might find irritating but is at least a change of pace. In any case his point is taken, that war has it's own culture and aspects of it cross through time and space.
- Hardcover: 512 pages
- Publisher: Presidio Press (September 30, 2008)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 0345505409
- ISBN-13: 978-0345505408
- Product Dimensions: 6.5 x 1.4 x 9.6 inches
- Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
- Average Customer Review: 9 customer reviews
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Amazon Best Sellers Rank:
#1,064,988 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1406 in Military History Pictorials
- #2472 in Military Strategy History (Books)
- #7221 in Cultural Anthropology (Books)
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