Carnage and Culture

Carnage and Culture
Author :
Publisher : Anchor
Total Pages : 546
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780307425188
ISBN-13 : 0307425185
Rating : 4/5 (88 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Carnage and Culture by : Victor Davis Hanson

Download or read book Carnage and Culture written by Victor Davis Hanson and published by Anchor. This book was released on 2007-12-18 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Examining nine landmark battles from ancient to modern times--from Salamis, where outnumbered Greeks devastated the slave army of Xerxes, to Cortes’s conquest of Mexico to the Tet offensive--Victor Davis Hanson explains why the armies of the West have been the most lethal and effective of any fighting forces in the world. Looking beyond popular explanations such as geography or superior technology, Hanson argues that it is in fact Western culture and values–the tradition of dissent, the value placed on inventiveness and adaptation, the concept of citizenship–which have consistently produced superior arms and soldiers. Offering riveting battle narratives and a balanced perspective that avoids simple triumphalism, Carnage and Culture demonstrates how armies cannot be separated from the cultures that produce them and explains why an army produced by a free culture will always have the advantage.

Carnage and Culture

Carnage and Culture
Author :
Publisher :
Total Pages : 546
Release :
ISBN-10 : OCLC:781643895
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (95 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Carnage and Culture by : Victor Davis Hanson

Download or read book Carnage and Culture written by Victor Davis Hanson and published by . This book was released on 2007 with total page 546 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

The Rise of Western Power

The Rise of Western Power
Author :
Publisher : A&C Black
Total Pages : 657
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9781441144751
ISBN-13 : 1441144757
Rating : 4/5 (51 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Rise of Western Power by : Jonathan Daly

Download or read book The Rise of Western Power written by Jonathan Daly and published by A&C Black. This book was released on 2013-12-19 with total page 657 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The West's history is one of extraordinary success; no other region, empire, culture, or civilization has left so powerful a mark upon the world. The Rise of Western Power charts the West's achievements-representative government, the free enterprise system, modern science, and the rule of law-as well as its misdeeds-two frighteningly destructive World Wars, the Holocaust, imperialistic domination, and the Atlantic slave trade. Adopting a global perspective, Jonathan Daly explores the contributions of other cultures and civilizations to the West's emergence. Historical, geographical, and cultural factors all unfold in the narrative. Adopting a thematic structure, the book traces the rise of Western power through a series of revolutions-social, political, technological, military, commercial, and industrial, among others. The result is a clear and engaging introduction to the history of Western civilization.

Strategic Instincts

Strategic Instincts
Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Total Pages : 392
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780691210605
ISBN-13 : 0691210608
Rating : 4/5 (05 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Strategic Instincts by : Dominic D. P. Johnson

Download or read book Strategic Instincts written by Dominic D. P. Johnson and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2022-08-30 with total page 392 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "A very timely book."—Anne-Marie Slaughter, CEO of New America How cognitive biases can guide good decision making in politics and international relations A widespread assumption in political science and international relations is that cognitive biases—quirks of the brain we all share as human beings—are detrimental and responsible for policy failures, disasters, and wars. In Strategic Instincts, Dominic Johnson challenges this assumption, explaining that these nonrational behaviors can actually support favorable results in international politics and contribute to political and strategic success. By studying past examples, he considers the ways that cognitive biases act as “strategic instincts,” lending a competitive edge in policy decisions, especially under conditions of unpredictability and imperfect information. Drawing from evolutionary theory and behavioral sciences, Johnson looks at three influential cognitive biases—overconfidence, the fundamental attribution error, and in-group/out-group bias. He then examines the advantageous as well as the detrimental effects of these biases through historical case studies of the American Revolution, the Munich Crisis, and the Pacific campaign in World War II. He acknowledges the dark side of biases—when confidence becomes hubris, when attribution errors become paranoia, and when group bias becomes prejudice. Ultimately, Johnson makes a case for a more nuanced understanding of the causes and consequences of cognitive biases and argues that in the complex world of international relations, strategic instincts can, in the right context, guide better performance. Strategic Instincts shows how an evolutionary perspective can offer the crucial next step in bringing psychological insights to bear on foundational questions in international politics.

Imperial Grunts

Imperial Grunts
Author :
Publisher : Vintage
Total Pages : 443
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780307278500
ISBN-13 : 0307278506
Rating : 4/5 (00 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Imperial Grunts by : Robert D. Kaplan

Download or read book Imperial Grunts written by Robert D. Kaplan and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2006-09-12 with total page 443 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: A fascinating, unprecedented first-hand look at the soldiers on the front lines on the Global War on Terror. Plunging deep into midst of some of the hottest conflicts on the globe, Robert D. Kaplan takes us through mud and jungle, desert and dirt to the men and women on the ground who are leading the charge against threats to American security. These soldiers, fighting in thick Colombian jungles or on dusty Afghani plains, are the forefront of the new American foreign policy, a policy being implemented one soldier at a time. As Kaplan brings us inside their thoughts, feelings, and operations, these modern grunts provide insight and understanding into the War on Terror, bringing the war, which sometimes seems so distant, vividly to life.

War and the Cultural Turn

War and the Cultural Turn
Author :
Publisher : John Wiley & Sons
Total Pages : 202
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780745656380
ISBN-13 : 0745656382
Rating : 4/5 (80 Downloads)

Book Synopsis War and the Cultural Turn by : Jeremy Black

Download or read book War and the Cultural Turn written by Jeremy Black and published by John Wiley & Sons. This book was released on 2013-05-08 with total page 202 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this stimulating new text, renowned military historian Jeremy Black unpacks the concept of culture as a descriptive and analytical approach to the history of warfare. Black takes the reader through the limits and prospects of culture as a tool for analyzing war, while also demonstrating the necessity of maintaining the context of alternative analytical matrices, such as technology. Black sets out his unique approach to culture and warfare without making his paradigm into a straightjacket. He goes on to demonstrate the flexibility of his argument through a series of case studies which include the contexts of rationale (Gloire), strategy (early modern Britaisn), organizations (the modern West), and ideologies (the Cold War). These case studies drive home the point at the core of the book: culture is not a bumper sticker; it is a survival mechanism. Culture is not immutable; it is adaptable. Wide-ranging, international and always provocative, War and the Cultural Turn will be required reading for all students of military history and security studies.

The Sea in World History [2 volumes]

The Sea in World History [2 volumes]
Author :
Publisher : Bloomsbury Publishing USA
Total Pages : 856
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9798216142713
ISBN-13 :
Rating : 4/5 (13 Downloads)

Book Synopsis The Sea in World History [2 volumes] by : Stephen K. Stein

Download or read book The Sea in World History [2 volumes] written by Stephen K. Stein and published by Bloomsbury Publishing USA. This book was released on 2017-04-24 with total page 856 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This two-volume set documents the essential role of the sea and maritime activity across history, from travel and food production to commerce and conquest. In all eras, water transport has served as the cheapest and most efficient means of moving cargo and people over any significant distance. Only relatively recently have railroads and aircraft provided an alternative. Most of the world's bulk goods continue to travel primarily by ship over water. Even today, 95 percent of the cargo that enters and leaves the United States does so by ship. Similarly, people around the world rely on the sea for food, and in recent years, the sea has become an important source of oil and other resources, with the longterm effects of our continuing efforts to extract resources from the sea further highlighting environmental concerns that range from pollution to the exhaustion of fish stocks. This chronologically organized two-volume reference addresses the history of the sea, beginning with ancient civilizations (4000 to 1000 BCE) and ending with the modern era (1945 to the present day). Each of the eight chapters is further broken down into sections that focus on specific nations or regions, offering detailed descriptions of that area of the world and shorter entries on specific topics, individuals, and events. The book spans maritime history, covering major seafaring peoples and nations; famous explorers, travelers, and commanders; events, battles, and wars; key technologies, including famous ships; important processes and ongoing events, such as piracy and the slave trade; and more. Readers will benefit from dozens of primary source documents—ranging from ancient Egyptian tales of seafaring to texts by renowned travelers like Marco Polo, Zheng He, and Ibn Battuta—that provide firsthand accounts from the age of discovery as well as accounts of battle from World War I and II and more modern accounts of the sea.