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Victor Davis Hanson

The Father of Us All: War and History, Ancient and Modern Hardcover – April 27, 2010

by Victor Davis Hanson (Author)

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Victor Davis Hanson has long been acclaimed as one of our leading scholars of ancient history. In recent years he has also become a trenchant voice on current affairs, bringing a historian's deep knowledge of past conflicts to bear on the crises of the present, from 9/11 to Iran. "War," he writes, "is an entirely human enterprise." Ideologies change, technologies develop, new strategies are invented?but human nature is constant across time and space. The dynamics of warfare in the present age still remain comprehensible to us through careful study of the past. Though many have called the War on Terror unprecedented, its contours would have been quite familiar to Themistocles of Athens or William Tecumseh Sherman. And as we face the menace of a bin Laden or a Kim Jong-Il, we can prepare ourselves with knowledge of how such challenges have been met before.The Father of Us All brings together much of Hanson's finest writing on war and society, both ancien

Print length

272 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Bloomsbury Press
Publication date

April 27, 2010
Dimensions

6.48 x 1.07 x 9.57 inches
ISBN-10

1608191656
ISBN-13

978-1608191659
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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Since 9/11, Davis, director of the Hoover Institution's group on military history and contemporary conflict, has emerged as a major commentator on war making and politics. This anthology brings together 13 of Hanson's essays and reviews, revised and re-edited. They have appeared over the past decade in periodicals from the American Spectator to the New York Times. Hanson's introductory generalization that war is a human enterprise that seems inseparable from the human condition structures such subjects as an eloquent answer to the question Why Study War? a defense of the historicity of the film 300, about the Persian Wars, in a masterpiece of envelope pushing, and a comprehensive and dazzling analysis of why America fights as she does. He explains why, though a lesser historian than Thucydides, Xenophon retains a timeless attraction and analyzes war and democracy in light of America's decreasing willingness to intervene in places like Rwanda or Darfur. The pieces are well written, sometimes elegantly so, and closely reasoned. They address familiar material from original and stimulating perspectives. Hanson's arguments may not convince everyone, but cannot be dismissed. His critics and admirers will be pleased to have these pieces available under one cover. (May)
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

From Booklist

Folksinger Pete Seeger ain’t gonna study war no more, but classicist Hanson warns against skipping class in this set of essays reworked from his recent articles, book reviews, and book introductions. In Hanson’s estimation, amnesia about military history permeates America’s media, political, and intellectual leadership: out of fashion in the academy, military history was the specialty of just 1.9 percent of American history professors as of 2007. As he suggests reasons for this state of neglect, Hanson expatiates within specific essays, such as his preface to Donald Kagan’s The Peloponnesian War (2003), on the effects of historical forgetfulness. Hanson sees examples abounding in American leaders’ negative reactions to the Iraq War, responses that the author witheringly critiques for poor historical aptitude and poor understanding about the military and military operations. At bottom, Hanson argues that recoiling from learning about warfare ignores what he insists is its tragic nature: that war, inherent in human nature, can only be struggled against and not be wished away. Not a happy message to peace-studies idealists but one a balanced current-events collection should include. --Gilbert Taylor

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Bloomsbury Press; 1st edition (April 27, 2010)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 272 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1608191656
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1608191659
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 1 pounds
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.48 x 1.07 x 9.57 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #830,006 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #1,428 in History of Civilization & Culture
- #15,935 in Engineering (Books)
- #19,919 in Military History (Books)

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Victor Davis Hanson

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Victor Davis Hanson is Professor of Greek and Director of the Classics Program at California State University, Fresno. He is the author or editor of many books, including Who Killed Homer? The Demise of Classical Education and the Recovery of Greek Wisdom (with John Heath, Free Press, 1998), and The Soul of Battle (Free Press, 1999). In 1992 he was named the most outstanding undergraduate teacher of classics in the nation.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5

338 global ratings

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Andy in Washington

An Enjoyable Read

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on June 16, 2013

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Victor Davis Hanson treats us to a series of essays, mostly aimed at understanding the relationship between warfare, government and politics. As with all essays, by definition there is no single "correct" answer, but rather various positions to be put forward and argued. Hanson approaches just about everything from what would be considered the conservative position, although I found him to be realistic and pragmatic. His opinions are certainly more balanced, and intelligently argued, than the typical cable-TV nonsense.

=== The Good Stuff ===

* Hanson has an excellent command of history, and is capable of making references to the ancient Greeks and Persians, Napoleon and George Patton, all within a single sentence. I found his opinions to be mostly supportable, although I ended up doing quite a bit of memory refreshing on commanders such as Darius and Xerxes.

* Some of Hanson's best points are those that tie modern civilization to modern warfare, and contrast that with historical examples. For example, he makes a great point by describing the typical GI of WWII. He probably grew up around motorized vehicles, either his Dad's old Ford, or a farm tractor. He lived through the Great Depression, and knew poverty and hardship. So when turned loose in the European campaign, with balky tanks and living off the land, it wasn't a great stretch for him.

Compare that to a more modern youth- who may never have opened the hood on his parents SUV, and certainly never knew hunger or soup lines. What will be the result if the current generation is ever drafted into a large conflict?

* Hanson also makes some excellent comments on the similarities of military action through the ages, as well as the differences in modern armies. Again, a brief example. He points out numerous times in history, from the Peloponnesian Wars to Desert Storm, of where tradition and hierarchy in armies ended up blinding them to innovation, often with disastrous consequences.

=== The Not-So-Good Stuff ===

* If you are a novice about military history, much of this book will sail over your head. Without explaining the details, Hanson bounces between most of recorded history to make his points. He thinks nothing of comparing MacArthur at Inchon with Thucydides at Mantinea. If you don't know, or look up, this battle, you will miss a good deal of Hanson's arguments.

* The first essay is pretty much a throw-away. It makes some valid points on the unwillingness of American students and Universities to concentrate on military history. But anyone who has picked up this book is unlikely to disagree with Hanson that this is an important concept. A definite case of singing to the choir.

* The essays are reprints from a variety of sources. As a result, they are not really tied together, and there is information repeated numerous times. Also, some of the essays are not consistent with arguments in other essays.

=== Summary ===

Hanson has some strong opinions on the motivations, abilities and limitations of modern nations in making war, either with other nations or with "stateless" organizations such as Al Qaeda. He makes his points logically, and with historical justification for his arguments. I very much enjoyed the book, and would recommend it to anyone with an interest in military history and current events. If you are not reasonably versed in military history, it will be a long read.

16 people found this helpful

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Gary E. Albers

Erudite, but highly biased

Reviewed in the United States 🇺🇸 on July 9, 2010

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I think this book is a valuable read, not so much because of its historical detail, but because it represents, better than anything I've yet encountered, the mindset of an educated political conservative, and how to render a revisionist view of history credible. As Hayden White has demonstrated (cf. "Tropics of Discourse: Essays in Cultural Criticism"), no account of history is devoid of bias. Mr. Hanson's bias is artfully obscured by his undeniable familiarity with a wealth of historical data which he presents in the erudite manner of an academician lecturing to a lay audience.

As others have mentioned, the book is not a consistent narrative, but rather a selection of essays and reviews he has penned over the last decade. His bias is reflected in the original target audiences for his epistles; e.g., the National Review, the Hoover Institution, the Heritage Foundation, the "Margaret Thatcher Lecture," etc.

Of course, there's nothing wrong with having a bias. In fact, we all do; it's unavoidable. But any credible professional historian has, I believe, a responsibility to his audience to acknowledge his biases and recognize that there are other views and opposing opinions that might be worthy of serious consideration. Hanson falls short in that area.

Since his book begins with his deploring the incredible lack of knowledge about the history of war among the American people--a statement of fact with which I agree 100% (consider the recent 4th of July poll revealing that about 25% of Americans didn't even know from what country we declared our independence in 1776!)--he has that much greater an obligation to strive for some modicum of objectivity and provide a balanced treatment of his subject. I'll illustrate his shortcomings with a few examples.

Although for several millennia philosophers have struggled to determine just what "human nature" is, if it exists at all, Hanson does not hesitate to assure us that "[t]he peril is not in accepting that the innate nature of war lies in the dark hearts of us all, but rather in denying it."

This is nothing more than asserting the well-heeled "conservative" emphasis on "nature" dominating "nurture." While admitting that recent research by neuroscientists seems to indicate that humans may, indeed, be exceptionally aggressive animals by default, it fails to account for the Martin Luther Kings, Mother Teresas, Gandhis, etc., who seem to reappear with each new generation. Hanson, like all conservatives, looks only to the past, where he easily finds ample evidence to support his concept of a "dog eat dog," Hobbesian world. He then projects that same past into the future. Liberals, in contrast, tend to believe that human nature is malleable and, under the right circumstances and influences, we might be able to create a more peaceful world in the future.

I disagree with another reviewer who applauded Hanson for not criticizing his opposition; i.e., democrats, liberals, pacifists, etc. I discerned many such criticisms, albeit cloaked in much more subtle language than that used by Rush Limbaugh, Glenn Beck, Ann Coulter, Fox News talking-heads, and other main stream hate-mongers. For example, is it any less vindictive to say, instead of hurling epithets like "communist, socialist, evil,..."), that Jimmy Carter and Noam Chomsky are on Osama Bin Laden's list of recommended reading for Americans? Or to group a legitimately elected populist president like Hugo Chavez (I recently spent six months in Venezuela) with mass murderers like Milosevic, Saddam Hussein and the Taliban?

Hanson states that most of our wars were only hesitantly waged by Democratic presidents, who then usually failed to be aggressive enough to both win a victory and thoroughly "humiliate" the enemy. He virtually ignores the fact that it was Republican presidents who sought to continue and illegally expand the Vietnam War into Cambodia and Laos (Nixon), who invaded Grenada and subsidized death squads in Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras and other parts of Central and South America (Reagan), who launched the first gulf war and a unilateral invasion of Panama (Bush I)and launched two wars, in Iraq and Afghanistan (Bush II), all in the last half-century. It is correct, I believe, that Democratic presidents are, by nature, rather reluctant to resort to war, whereas Republican presidents have shown a strong inclination to resort to a "big stick" approach to international relations, eager to apply violent means even if it must be done clandestinely, without the support or knowledge of the American people.

Finally, I think the most serious case of historic revisionism in Hanson's book is his attempt to justify G.W. Bush's invasion of Iraq. Almost nothing is said of the deliberate manufacturing and misreading of intelligence reports, the bold fabrication of blatant lies about the existence of weapons of mass destruction, the existence of immense oil reserves in Iraq and the influence of Cheney, the ex-CEO of Halliburton, or Bush's irrational hatred of Saddam. Despite the fact that the first thing U.S. troops did following the successful invasion was to secure the Iraqi oil fields, Hanson flatly denies that the war had anything to do with Iraqi oil. No, according to Hanson, Bush's objective was nothing more than a purely humanitarian desire to rid the world of a murderous dictator and assure the Iraqi people of a future under a democratic government. If these were Bush's goals, despite his denial of any interest in being a "nation-builder" during his first presidential campaign, the plans for implementing any semblance of a working democracy in Iraq following the military victory must have been lost somewhere along the way.

Hanson's book, if somewhat disorganized and redundant here and there, is still an interesting read. However, the reader who approaches it without a rather good background in world history, should do so with caution. There are many fascinating historical facts, sagas and anecdotes. Unfortunately, the opposing facts, of which there are many, are missing; there is almost nothing to mitigate Hanson's right-wing, conservative, and largely depressing, account of "human nature," the history of war, and the future of human relations.

60 people found this helpful

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Top reviews from other countries

Brian Wood

I suspect that he holds Napoleon in higher regard than would a British historian but it is no bad thing to force the latter to r

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on November 24, 2014

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The Author's points about the need to teach military history are very valid and his criticisms of the mindset that confuses understanding it with militarism is most valid. My principal reason for giving four rather than five stars is an over-reliance on the American experience. He does use some examples from other countries and wars, in particular he has valid points about the Falklands War and he obviously finds Napoleon a fascinating study, clearly distinguishing between his invasion of Russia and why it failed (for which many thanks) and that by Hitler, with the latter's inability to appreciate the lessons that History offers; had Hitler understood why Napoleon, despite his superb skills as a military leader, failed to conquer Russia, then the outcome of Hitler's evil assault on an apparent ally might have been different. Clearly we are all most grateful that Hitler did not understand (or even regard) History's lessons, but this Author gives a deep historical context for all this. I suspect that he holds Napoleon in higher regard than would a British historian but it is no bad thing to force the latter to re-evaluate Napoleon's qualities, while still remaining grateful that at the last Napoleon's dream for European hegemony failed just as surely as Hitler's. However, I do feel that there is a presumption that the American view is the only valid one, particularly in such historical cases as the overthrow of a legitimate (in the context of that time) British governance for the 13 colonies; I fully accept that it was almost bound to happen, and that in general the outcome has been good for both the world and what now constitutes the USA, but I think that he could ask if a solution like that found in Canada might have offered an alternative way forward, avoided debacles like the American torching of an innocent Canadian city and the retaliation that led to a conflagration in Washington and America's subsequent cavalier attitude to Spanish and Mexican claims on California and other territories in the south west of what is now the USA.. On the other hand his take on the war in Vietnam, while not now a popular one, is still valid; the regime in South Vietnam had multiple defects, but so did that in South Korea, and the latter has, as the Author recognises, evolved into a decent democracy; he validly infers that there is no good reason to suppose that the fledgling South Vietnam's tentative attempt to find a democratic path would not have enjoyed similar success, and he clearly and properly dislikes the authoritarian regime that stifles today's Vietnam. The book is giving me much to think about and is forcing me to revalue some old assumptions.

4 people found this helpful

Christian Rosello Fjell-Weiseth

A book for a more comprehensive perspective on the present, past and future

Reviewed in the United Kingdom 🇬🇧 on May 20, 2012

Verified Purchase

My review is not meant to comment/argue on the empirical facts and arguments made by the author, but more a final touch to the average conservative who is deciding on whether or not to buy this book.

This book is a great read, entertaining, informative and challenging your preconceptions in a way that leaves you smirking when hearing political commentators on television or reading the newspapers.

I read through this book in about 3 days while on holiday in Spain and it one of the more memorable aspects of my vacations(and it was a great vacation really). Victor Davis Hanson has a great mind for analogies, and it's a mindblowing delight having the realization that the human faults that plague us today are timeless. And for all the external cultural, educational and sociological stimulus we are not really more intelligent today and that the most celebrated intellects of today are more immature and naive than great public figures 3000 years ago.

If you are looking for new perspective and more mature comprehension of history and present, while relaxing in your house or reading on a plane then this is a excellent addition to your personal library.

6 people found this helpful

Thorwald Franke

Understanding the Logic of War on the basis of our Ancient Heritage

Reviewed in Germany 🇩🇪 on February 24, 2013

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Victor Davis Hanson's book "The Father of Us All" is one of those books explaining an important aspect of our present world in a timeless and groundbreaking manner, so that this book can be recommeded to everybody. On the basis of our ancient heritage he examines the development of war and discovers basic insights into the logic of war. With these insights it is much easier to understand what is really going on in this world concerning all those troubling wars and conflicts instead of following mainstream media opinions or weird conspiracy theories.

Especially everybody who tries to oppose the "logic of war" should learn first how this logic works before deciding to oppose it. Because: Logic cannot be overturned - you only can use it in the right or wrong way. If you try to overturn something that cannot be overturned the result will be unpredictable and mostly unwanted. So first, you have to understand how the "logic of war" works. Then you will know how to make and keep peace. Victor Davis Hanson supports you in this.

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