The Soul of Battle : From Ancient Times to the Present Day, How Three Great Liberators Vanquished Tyranny

by Victor Davis Hanson (Author)

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Product details

ASIN : B000062UIW
Publisher : Free Press (October 1, 1999)
Hardcover : 544 pages

Best Sellers Rank: #14,412,714 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #66,178 in World War II History (Books)
- #139,771 in Deals in Books
- #2,042,413 in Textbooks

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If you never really understood Patton's value to WWII, read this book.

Reviewed in the United States on December 21, 2018

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Hanson puts into clear and eloquent words what I have known for a long time. Patton was the key element in WWII in the fight against the Nazis. What few have understood is made poignantly clear, that Patton could easily have ended WWII six to 12 months earlier and saved millions of lives.

19 people found this helpful

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"The Great Danger of the Present Age"

Reviewed in the United States on October 19, 2019

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The title of this review is taken from the first sentence of the penultimate paragraph in this book. Like so many historians, Victor Davis Hanson knows best what he loves best. C. S. Lewis probably would say Hanson would make a good Dualist, he is so committed to good rising up to destroy evil.

That is unambiguously what happened in the three wars "The Soul of Battle" is about -- the Peloponnessian rebellion against the Spartans with Thebes' help in 370-369 BC, the American Civil War and the Second World War. Hanson is able to tell almost the whole story of the first of these fights because his central character, Epaminondas (how do you pronounce that?) was in overall command. Epaminondas' achievement, based on the percentage of Greek society directly mobilized or liberated by his campaign, was probably the most impressive of the three, and Montaigne called him the greatest Greek ever. It was also the one I knew the least about. Fourth-century Greece prior to Philip was a black hole to me before I read this book, so I owe Hanson.

With the American Civil War and World War II, Hanson is focused on a single general (William T. Sherman and George S. Patton respectively) and his argument that they were the most influential of any of their peers, at least on the latter stages of their respective conflicts. Both generals sought deep penetrations around the enemy to cut him off and to demoralize the enemy society, instead of smashing into the enemy army head-on. With Patton, the idea that the army is NOT the enemy's center of gravity in any conflict, which Hanson clearly had been promoting with his chronicles of Epaminondas and Sherman, sort of breaks down as it was not up to Patton to destroy German infrastructure and elite property, at least while he was fighting in France (most of the duration of his march).

The section on Patton will probably be the most controversial, but Hanson is actually building on the arguments of previous historians of World War II when he argues that the 11 months of fighting necessary to bring Germany down after D-Day are not so much the result of Wehrmacht excellence as of incompetent American leadership that failed to reinforce Patton's success. At the time he and a few others devised the invasion of northwest Europe, Eisenhower would have been reasonably sure that only the atomic bomb would end German resistance as the plan was not to take western Germany until 1946!

One can't help but think as one reads Hanson's account of Patton's march that perhaps Eisenhower and Bradley forgot the dictum, "No plan survives first contact with the enemy." Eisenhower comes across in this narrative as a better President than a general (and had Patton lived to write his memoirs even that might have been taken away). His crucial (though far from his only) mistake was gambling on Montgomery rather than Patton to end the war in September 1944.

So why am I deducting one star from my review? Go back to the first paragraph (or in Hanson's book, the epilogue). Hanson sees war as the best, if not the only, corrective to evil in the world. Just before the quote I have made the title of my review, he argues that failing to destroy Saddam Hussein's Iraq in 1991 was an unforgivable moral (more than strategic) lapse. (The book was written in 1999, one year after the neoconservatives first began to ramp up their campaign for the destruction of Iraq.) The entire book is written to frustrate and belittle modern pacifists and liberals, much like his "Carnage and Culture" that I read 18 years ago. I could never give such a philosophy my unrestrained support. Only when it's absolutely necessary, like war itself.

9 people found this helpful

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DrJohn

Exceptional Generals Who Shared Reasons For Success In War

Reviewed in the United States on August 13, 2019

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Victor Davis Hanson offers a profound explanation of the character, passion, creativity, and love for "freedom" that three exceptional generals shared, at different points of history, that lead to the defeat of oppressive opponents in war.
It is more an examination of the importance of a general's character and psychological make-up than the details of what took place within each battle.
Victor Davis Hanson is a scholar with a perspective of war that most writers neglect. I highly recommend this book and all of Victor Davis Hanson's other books (I've read four thus far.).

8 people found this helpful

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Handymancan

Never take counsel of your fears, pursue the enemy with the utmost audacity.

Reviewed in the United States on November 13, 2019

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"This tradition of democracy's mustering quickly huge armies, to be led by eccentric fighters, on a moral trek into the heart of slavery, is not the stuff of romance and is not a fantasy from our past, but rather a rare and hallowed tradition as old as the beginning of the West itself. In the West epic marches for freedom across time and space have liberated us from our own worst enemies. Armies of liberation are the precious dividends of democracy, and we abandon the memory of Epaminondas, Sherman, and Patton and what their hoplites, Westerners, and GIs did only at our great peril."

6 people found this helpful

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Double P

Freedom marches on

Reviewed in the United States on November 25, 2020

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This is an amazing book. Well-written, expert analysis and a deep understanding of multiple time periods in history. While I've read quite a bit on Sherman and Patton, I must admit that I only had the most basic knowledge of Epaminondas and what he accomplished before I read this book.

One of the things I enjoyed most about this work was how the author compared and contrasted the three marches of liberation. How the three generals shared some very similar obstacles, and very different ones, as well. And how they accomplished their missions. For me, it gave me a deeper understanding and appreciation of what they did.

If it wasn't for these three men, world history would have been changed to the worse. On a personal note, if it wasn't for one of them, Patton, my sisters and I might not even exist. My father, when he was a child, along with his parents and brother, were Slavic "guests" on the Nazis in a few of their concentration camps. They were among those many liberated by Patton and his 3rd Army.

2 people found this helpful

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Jeff Kaminski

Interesting and insightful

Reviewed in the United States on July 1, 2020

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I thoroughly enjoyed this book. The discussions of the individuals, their battles, and the larger issues of the day were very interesting and very well done. More important, the insightful comparison of the three "marches" and their similarities and implications was compelling. The only possible drawback was that the book, which has approximately 410 pages of content, possibly could have been just as good with perhaps 360 pages of content. Some points were made multiple times, making some passages feel slightly repetitive. But the writing is excellent, the content is excellent, and again, the perspective and comparison are well worth the read. I really enjoyed it; highly recommended.

2 people found this helpful

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irishpropheticart

Good book, very deep study of the 3 Generals

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 10, 2018

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Good book,very deep study of the 3 Generals.

Sean Mcknight

lively book

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 10, 2012

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The brilliant if slightly cracked writing's of Victor Davis Hansen were worth acquiring at this excellent price - thank you.

Emile

It is not the central theme that is interesting

Reviewed in Germany on October 16, 2020

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The title of the book needs to be explained. The title is "The Soul of Battle" and it refers to the capacity of the generals mentioned in the book to instill their men with a drive to march against evil. It is told that Patton took out his pistols and told his men that he would shoot Adolf Hitler when he arrived in Berlin. Going to Berlin and shooting Hitler would be the fastest way to end the war.
The book is about non-conformist generals who were able to convince their men, coming from a democratic and free society, to march against an enemy consisting of slaveholders in order to free the slaves.
The theme of the book doesn't convince me. I am not a moralist. I find it difficult to assign the moral high ground to one side the conflict. The history is written by those who are victorious. To compare these three generals and their marches can be done but I think it is a bit farfetched.
I found the real value of the book not lying in the central theme of the book, but in the details of the descriptions and explanations. At one point he describes why the hoplite way of fighting was a very efficient way of waging war. At another point he describes the military tactics of Patton. These details are the reason why I kept on reading. No battles are described. What can be read are the political realities the generals had to deal with. The reasoning behind the actions of the generals. Lots and lots of details.
I enjoyed reading the book and after reading the book I had become a bit more knowledgeable. That is all what can be asked from a book that is written to inform.

Amazon Kunde

Leadership at its best.

Reviewed in Germany on June 3, 2020

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This book reveals the power of leadership of three of the greatest generals in history: Theban General Epaminondas, William Tecumseh Sherman, and George S.Patton. I personally was particularly attracted by the comprehensive and fair presentation of Patton’s character, personality, dynamic leadership style, strategic and tactical genius. I find it inspiring that Victor Davis Hanson compares Patton to Ajax (“the American Ajax”), the Greek mythological hero who played a decisive role in the Trojan War. In Homer’
Ilias Ajax is presented as fearless, powerful, combative, loyal, loved by his soldiers, and self-sacrificing. When Achilles died, Agamemnon, the King of the Greeks, is uncertain whether to give Achilles’ armour to Ajax or to Odysseus, as recognition for heroic war efforts. Odysseus is the tricky, unstable, illoyal, opportunistic inventor of the Wooden Horse. Being a better communicator, Odysseus finally gets the trophy. The question refers to what is of higher value: Hard-work or cleverness? Self-sacrifice or opportunistic behaviour? Loyalty or inventiveness? Role model or personal ambition? The question is important because the leadership values of an organisation can be recognised by those who get the recognition for outstanding achievements. Victor Davis Hanson gives George S.Patton the merits he deserves in crushing the Nazis and winning World War II.
Hans H.Hinterhuber

Filius Rheni

Generäle als Befreier

Reviewed in Germany on June 1, 2018

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Wer mit den Büchern von Victor David Hanson vertraut ist, wird auch dieses Buch schätzen. Eine von Hansons Hauptthesen, die er auch in anderen Werken vertritt, lautet, dass die Bürgeraufgebote demokratisch verfasster Gesellschaften in entscheidenden Situationen den Aufgeboten autoritärer, militaristisch verfasster Staaten nicht nur ebenbürtig, sondern in vielen Fällen auf dem Schlachtfeld sogar überlegen sind.

In "Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise to Western Power" hat er dies am Beispiel ausgewählter Schlachten zu belegen versucht, in diesem Buch geht es nun um drei ausgewählte Heerführer, die ihre Truppen nicht nur zum Sieg geführt, sondern dabei auch noch einen moralischen Triumph über das Böse erfochten haben. Bei den drei Generälen handelt es sich um den Thebaner Epaminondas, der die Hegemonie Spartas endgültig brach und dabei die seit Jahrhunderten als Staats-Sklaven unterdrückten Heloten befreite, William T. Sherman, der im amerikanischen Bürgerkrieg durch seinen Marsch in das Herz der Konföderation den Kampfeswillen des Südens brach sowie George Patton, dessen Truppen entscheidend zum Sieg der Allierten über Nazi-Deutschland im Westen beitrugen.

Wer Hansons Stil mag (ich gehöre zu dieser Gruppe), wird auch dieses Buch schätzen. Der Autor macht kein Geheimnis daraus, dass er alle drei Generäle für bedeutender als ihre zeitgenössischen Kontrahenten oder Mitstreiter hält, wahrt ihnen gegenüber aber kritische Distanz und verheimlicht auch nicht die fragwürdigen Charaktereigenschaften. Besonders der heute fast vergessene demokratische Heerführer Epaminondas erfährt hier die verdiente Gerechtigkeit. Ein sehr lesenswertes Buch.

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