Battle: A History of Combat and Culture spans the globe and the centuries to explore the way ideas shape the conduct of warfare. Drawing its examples from Europe; the Middle East; South Asia; East Asia; and America; John A. Lynn challenges the belief that technology has been the dominant influence on combat from ancient times to the present day. In battle; ideas can be more far more important than bullets or bombs. Carl von Clausewitz proclaimed that war is politics; but even more basically; war is culture. The hard reality of armed conflict is formed by - and; in turn; forms - a culture's values; assumptions; and expectations about fighting. The author examines the relationship between the real and the ideal; arguing that feedback between the two follows certain discernable paths. Battle rejects the currently fashionable notion of a "Western way of warfare" and replaces it with more nuanced concepts of varied and evolving cultural patterns of combat. After considering history; Lynn finally asks how the knowledge gained might illuminate our understanding of the war on terrorism.
#2151597 in Books Emanuel Sakal 2014-09-16Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 9.25 x 6.25 x 2.00l; .0 #File Name: 0813150809592 pagesSoldier in the Sinai A General s Account of the Yom Kippur War Foreign Military Studies
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