Victor Davis Hanson, Carnage and Culture: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power (New York: Anchor Books, 2001), 21. 2 Hanson, Preface to Carnage and Culture, XV. In his book Carnage and Culture, Victor Davis Hanson seems to be trying to answer the following question, what is the relationship between the culture of a nation and the outcome? CARNAGE AND CULTURE: Landmark Battles in the Rise of Western Power Victor Davis Hanson, Author. Doubleday $29.95 (512p) ISBN 978-0-385-50052-4. More By and About This Author.
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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 geograph...more
Looking beyond popular explanations such as geograph...more
Published August 27th 2002 by Anchor (first published 2001)
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Mar 14, 2016Matt rated it did not like it
West is best!
East is least!
Culturally speaking, of course. Rather, that is the premise of Victor Davis Hanson’s interesting Carnage and Culture. Before I go on, let me stress the interesting, for I mean that in the very Confucian sense of the word. Hanson apes John Keegan’s Face of Battle in using a case study approach of selected battles to prove a larger point. Here, Hanson argues that the nine randomly selected martial encounters he highlights proves that “Western culture and values” consiste...more
East is least!
Culturally speaking, of course. Rather, that is the premise of Victor Davis Hanson’s interesting Carnage and Culture. Before I go on, let me stress the interesting, for I mean that in the very Confucian sense of the word. Hanson apes John Keegan’s Face of Battle in using a case study approach of selected battles to prove a larger point. Here, Hanson argues that the nine randomly selected martial encounters he highlights proves that “Western culture and values” consiste...more
This book is drivel, plain and simple. Hanson selects nine battles from history and pairs them with what he imagines to be the characteristics of Western civilization that, when combined in a test tube, have proved to be an elixir of invincibility, carrying the world before them.
The Greeks defeated the Persians in 480 B.C. The lesson? A free citizenry was decisive in the conflict. Unfortunately, the slave laborers and women who were considered little more than property and who underpinned the an...more
Jul 23, 2008Rob Shurmer rated it really liked itThe Greeks defeated the Persians in 480 B.C. The lesson? A free citizenry was decisive in the conflict. Unfortunately, the slave laborers and women who were considered little more than property and who underpinned the an...more
Shelves: western-history-and-philosophy, military-history
Brave indeed is the academic prepared to take on the cultural relativists in today's academy, but Hanson, like the Westerner he is, suits up here for a massive ground assault straight up the gut. He will surely piss off the fashionably PC crowd who have been reared to despise just about anything Western with his first chapter heading alone, 'Why the West Won.' Based upon his observation that for over 2500 years, the chief military worry of Western armies has been other Western armies, Hanson goe...more
'Carnage and Culture' is, in my eyes, an example of essentialist history done badly.
So, first I'll just briefly address what I mean by 'essentialist': That is when the historian claims to have discovered some essence that define and explain whatever is being discussed. This is clearly both a legitimate and an extremely useful approach - but only if actually true.
When done badly, the historian cherry picks only the empirical evidence which fits the essentialist thesis and discards all countervail...more
Mar 30, 2019Silvana rated it did not like it · review of another editionSo, first I'll just briefly address what I mean by 'essentialist': That is when the historian claims to have discovered some essence that define and explain whatever is being discussed. This is clearly both a legitimate and an extremely useful approach - but only if actually true.
When done badly, the historian cherry picks only the empirical evidence which fits the essentialist thesis and discards all countervail...more
Shelves: kindle-google, the-olden-days, military-history, nonfiction, disappointing, mine-mine-mine, nonfic-2019-challenge
I've been warned about this book by my buddies at the NFBC group. After reading some reviews, I became wary but still determined to read it After all, this is the oldest book I have unread in my shelf and I got it for just $3.17 from a sale.
I want that $3.17 back now, please.
The author is not just racist and xenophobic, but worse, his writing is messy and repetitive.
This is NOT a book about battle history that I thought it was. Sure there are several historical battles like Salamis, Cannae, Mid...more
I want that $3.17 back now, please.
The author is not just racist and xenophobic, but worse, his writing is messy and repetitive.
This is NOT a book about battle history that I thought it was. Sure there are several historical battles like Salamis, Cannae, Mid...more
At Delphi, the ancient Greeks used two words to inscribe a profound thought: Know Thyself.
Socrates made the same point with blunter words: The unexamined life is not worth living.
In current parlance, the questions are: Who are we? What are we?
If you’re serious about answering these questions, you need to know something about where you
came from, which means where it all began for you, which means your cradle. If you are a
member of Western civilization, your cradle is ancient Greece. Bottom line:...more
Sep 13, 2007GavinSocrates made the same point with blunter words: The unexamined life is not worth living.
In current parlance, the questions are: Who are we? What are we?
If you’re serious about answering these questions, you need to know something about where you
came from, which means where it all began for you, which means your cradle. If you are a
member of Western civilization, your cradle is ancient Greece. Bottom line:...more
rated it really liked it Shelves: war
Written as a rebuttal of Mr Jared Diamond's book Guns, germs and Steel. Mr. Hanson is trained as a Classicist, though he only started academic work after his Californian raisin farm failed. It is well written. Diamond's (I have not read it) thesis is that cultures become superior through accidental circumstances like, Europe and Asia being mostly along similar latitudes, so farming tech can be transferred East-West, but because the Americas are not, it is harder to transfer tech North-South beca...more
Oct 17, 2009Christopher rated it liked it
This was a very thought-provoking book. At first, I was expecting more of a historical survey '12 Greatest Battles of World History' and there was an homage to those sorts of volumes dating back to Gibbon and beyond.
Instead, this book is a rebuttal to Jared Diamond's Guns Germs and Steel and the larger geographical argument to historical analysis. Hanson's thesis is that a collection of complimentary memes (though he never uses the term)in military, political, and economic practice that together...more
Instead, this book is a rebuttal to Jared Diamond's Guns Germs and Steel and the larger geographical argument to historical analysis. Hanson's thesis is that a collection of complimentary memes (though he never uses the term)in military, political, and economic practice that together...more
Aug 06, 2011Jack added it
Hanson Carnage And Culture Pdf
Hanson argues for a distinct western strategic culture through the retelling of 9 historical battles. The Greek naval victory against Persia at Salamis demonstrates the efficacy of 'free' soldiers against 'slave' eastern soldiers, Alexander's victory against the Achaemenids at Gaugamela demonstrates a Western preference for decisive battle, the Roman recovery after the defeat to Hannibal at Cannae shows the unique resilience of a Western army of citizen soldiers, Charles Martel's stand against t...more
A brutally convincing rebuttal to Jared Diamond's excellent, imaginative, and deeply incorrect (though not obviously so) Guns, Germs, and Steel.
If you already know a lot of history, this is great. If you do not, you will want to by the time you are done, because the author can make what is interesting remain so, and he does - in spades.
If you already know a lot of history, this is great. If you do not, you will want to by the time you are done, because the author can make what is interesting remain so, and he does - in spades.
Jun 28, 2013Ryan rated it did not like it
This book would be decent if it was simply an introduction to some of these battles, but every time Hanson makes an argument it is either poorly supported by evidence or comes across as some absurd nonsense about continuity between ancient Athens and Frankish warriors in the 8th century AD. This has got to be one of the most bizarre cases of torturing history to make your thesis work. I can barely get through a few pages without stopping to think about how harebrained and poorly contextualized t...more
Jul 19, 2012Rob rated it it was ok
At first I thought I did not like this book because to put it bluntly I don't like the inherent right wing politics of the book. In the end though it is just a really badly structured and I suspect edited book that often repeats itself in flabby prose that makes me not like it.
The format of the book is too look at 7 battles that best distinguishes the peculiar nature and superiority of Western warfare. The West won, not because of necessarily superior weaponry, but a spectacularly effective war...more
The format of the book is too look at 7 battles that best distinguishes the peculiar nature and superiority of Western warfare. The West won, not because of necessarily superior weaponry, but a spectacularly effective war...more
Aug 02, 2013S. rated it really liked it
international socialism can never triumph over nationalism because nationalism is sexy
or at least, that's what some famous historian said. here in CARNAGE AND CULTURE by VICTOR DAVIS HANSON, professor emeritus at CalState, Fresno and Fellow at Stanford's right-wing Hoover Institute, isn't accurate. he isn't correct in his conclusions. his judgments aren't global, well-informed, or multi-perspective. the text, however, is just sexy.
what is meant by 'sexy,' is that Hanson is arguing, repeatedly, a...more
Jul 30, 2008Kaan rated it really liked itor at least, that's what some famous historian said. here in CARNAGE AND CULTURE by VICTOR DAVIS HANSON, professor emeritus at CalState, Fresno and Fellow at Stanford's right-wing Hoover Institute, isn't accurate. he isn't correct in his conclusions. his judgments aren't global, well-informed, or multi-perspective. the text, however, is just sexy.
what is meant by 'sexy,' is that Hanson is arguing, repeatedly, a...more
Recommends it for: everyone who thinks the West is the greatest
Like all proper historians of war, Hanson never spares the reader the horrible gore, pain, and loss from combat. Indeed, I believe war historians, like Stephen Ambrose, have a duty to convey the experience of war such that the regular civilian will never see--that there may be no illusions about what war actually does. It spills the blood of the innocents and combatants alike; it maims countless others; it leads to rape, famine, and disease; it stimulates the economy, but only until it evaporate...more
Jun 07, 2013Tim rated it really liked it
The very interesting verse with a very controversial premise - exploring 'why the west has won' - militarily.
Other books have been written which try to attribute their success to geography or natural resources or disease or technology. But this author makes a bold claim that Western military success can be attributed to their culture.
He gives full credit to the bravery, genius, heroism, and physical strength of the armies that lost in battle to dominant Western powers over the last 2500 years....more
Other books have been written which try to attribute their success to geography or natural resources or disease or technology. But this author makes a bold claim that Western military success can be attributed to their culture.
He gives full credit to the bravery, genius, heroism, and physical strength of the armies that lost in battle to dominant Western powers over the last 2500 years....more
Carnage And Culture Summary
Jan 15, 2009Mark rated it really liked it
Hanson hits a homerun here!
His premise that all cultures are not created equal is startling considering the orthodox 'I'm OK, you're OK' line on comparative cultural thinking these days. I think reading this book marked a milepost for me in that it helped convince me that I'm not exactly on board with the multiculturist point of view that all cultures are more or less equal. While I love to consider diverse cultural viewpoints and I love the celebration of many cultures from a moral perspective,...more
His premise that all cultures are not created equal is startling considering the orthodox 'I'm OK, you're OK' line on comparative cultural thinking these days. I think reading this book marked a milepost for me in that it helped convince me that I'm not exactly on board with the multiculturist point of view that all cultures are more or less equal. While I love to consider diverse cultural viewpoints and I love the celebration of many cultures from a moral perspective,...more
Readable and full of interesting details, but the author failed to convince me that Western culture is inherently superior at mustering and supporting armies, and at military strategy than all other cultures which it has encountered. I'm not enough of a military historian of ancient battles to know how accurate his portrayals of those conflicts were, but I am an historian of the Vietnam war and his account of the Tet Offensive and his embrace of the 'stab in the back' theory, in which civilian l...more
Jul 07, 2013Erick Stonefield rated it it was amazing
Victor Davis Hanson injects a fresh stream of truth into the stale, feelings filled debate over history and western culture.
Carnage and Culture says right from the beginning, it does not intend to deal in the morality of decisions, but rather in their results. It is not meant for those who are constantly looking to be offended over things that doesn't fit with their overblown, self-professed compassion, because it contains alien ideas like the notion that cultures are different from each other,...more
Carnage and Culture says right from the beginning, it does not intend to deal in the morality of decisions, but rather in their results. It is not meant for those who are constantly looking to be offended over things that doesn't fit with their overblown, self-professed compassion, because it contains alien ideas like the notion that cultures are different from each other,...more
Aug 21, 2014J.W. Vohs rated it it was amazing
I periodically re-read this book, and just finished the fourth reading a few days ago. Hanson, in my opinion, is America's best historical author when it comes to explaining how Democracy and lethal war-making go hand-in-hand. He explains the development of western civilization in a way that makes sense, and is easily understood. I do NOT agree with his politics, which I feel the need to say because I've read plenty of his columns in periodicals. But I don't believe his current political views a...more
Mar 14, 2012Miroku Nemeth is currently reading it
Hanson's book, like much of his work, is a sad commentary on a fictionalized and narrow view of America and the 'West' that is maddening to read for it's contorted logic and myopic view of history. Yet, sometimes, it seems that such drivel passed off for the nationalist or ideologue as true scholarship should be read and critiqued.
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Sep 27, 2008Old-Barbarossa rated it it was ok · review of another edition
Interesting in bits but I'm not sure about the conclusions he draws.
Based on a western idea of 'victory' though he's right, unfortunately as Afraqistan is showing not everyone plays by the same rules.
Based on a western idea of 'victory' though he's right, unfortunately as Afraqistan is showing not everyone plays by the same rules.
Mar 01, 2019Jonathon Laudinsky rated it it was amazing
6 Stars! Review will follow.
Apr 29, 2012Ensiform rated it really liked it
“Why has the West won” – why did Europe dominate Asia, Africa and the New World, and America dominate them in turn – is the question of this book. Focusing specifically on military power rather than the nature of Western civilization in general and avoiding the question of whether a civilization is more “moral” than another, military historian Victor Hanson uses nine landmark battles to illustrate his point that the Greco-Roman creation of enlightened economic, moral, and political systems – an...more
Jun 09, 2017Evan rated it it was ok · review of another edition
Most of this book was repetitive and tedious, although Hanson has a real flair for describing combat. It was almost worth it just for the brilliant depiction of Parmenio's desperate stand at Gaugemala or the opening salvo of the Galleases at Lepanto. Unfortunately, he avoids the most interesting questions about Western superiority in arms. We all already know that the combination of capitalism and science has been deadly. Of course a Martini-Henry is a more dangerous weapon than an assegai. You...more
Mar 19, 2014Caroline rated it did not like it
Beyond any problems with Hanson's thesis (any all encompassing historical thesis is guilty of cherry picking), this book is too poorly written to slog through! I made it through the first three of the nine battles and barely, at that. There is very little narrative logic, either in the chapter organization or even in individual sentences. The battles are not discussed linearly, but are often introduced from the middle (or near end) of the battle and then at some point later in the chapter the ac...more
Victor Davis Hanson does a fine job of describing in narrative detail the battles he focuses on in Carnage and Culture. Where he falls short is his attempt to delineate European warfare from other warfare practices in other parts of the world. Warfare as I have concluded from my readings, while adorned with certain ceremonies and rituals specific to one group or another, ultimately is a blunt instrument used for gaining or maintaining power. While strategy and tactics may vary, wars throughout w...more
Mar 24, 2019Bill Berg rated it really liked it · review of another edition
I regularly have blogged on articles by Dr Hanson who writes regularly for National Review, where I find his thinking always of merit and with whom I am typically in agreement with. The depth and scholarship of this work of 455 pages is amazing, even more so when I look at the giant list of books by Dr Hanson -- although an avid reader, I could spend years just catching up with Hanson's writings, let alone a sampling of the classic writers that he often references.
My lack of any training in Gree...more
My lack of any training in Gree...more
Fantastic! A modern view of the most important battles in history and how they affect modern life. From Lepanto to the Zulu wars to Ancient Greece, Hanson skillfully presents the facts and then expounds on how each event controls us still today. Definitely on my list of rereadbales.
A precise rebuttal to Guns Germs and Steel. One of the three books I tell people to read that will reshape their worldview.
Dec 13, 2007Don rated it really liked it · review of another edition
Fascinating tour of history with details of some epic conflicts from B.C. to the '70's; presents some VERY interesting observations on democracy and freedoms (of choice, the press, etc.).
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Hanson was educated at the University of California, Santa Cruz (BA, Classics, 1975), the American School of Classical Studies (1978-79) and received his Ph.D. in Classics from Stanford University in 1980. He lives and works with his family on their forty-acre tree and vine farm near Selma, California, where he was born in 1953.
“The great hatred of capitalism in the hearts of the oppressed, ancient and modern, I think, stems not merely from the ensuing vast inequality in wealth, and the often unfair and arbitrary nature of who profits and who suffers, but from the silent acknowledgement that under a free market economy the many victims of the greed of the few are still better off than those under the utopian socialism of the well-intended. It is a hard thing for the poor to acknowledge benefits from their rich moral inferiors who never so intended it. (p.272)” — 8 likes
“This revolutionary idea of Western citizenship—replete with ever more rights and responsibilities—would provide superb manpower for growing legions and a legal framework that would guarantee that the men who fought felt that they themselves in a formal and contractual sense had ratified the conditions of their own battle service. The ancient Western world would soon come to define itself by culture rather than by race, skin color, or language. That idea alone would eventually bring enormous advantages to its armies on the battlefield. (p. 122)” — 4 likes
More quotes…From the Preface...
Carnage And Culture Pdf
... I have deliberately concentrated on those West-East fault lines that emphasize the singular lethality of Western culture at war in comparison to other traditions that grew up in Asia, Africa, and the Americas. These valid generalizations should not imply that at times there were not real differences among particular European states themselves or that Western and non-Western cultures were either monolithic or always at odds with each other. And while I discuss larger issues of government, religion, and economy, my primary aim is to explain Western military power, not the general nature and evolution of Western civilization at large.
This is not a book, then, written for academic specialists. Instead, I have tried to offer a synthesis of Western society at war for the general reader across some 2,500 years of history that concentrates on general trends, rather than an original work of primary research within a defined historical period. I have used formal scholarly citations in parentheses in the text only for the longer direct quotations—although detailed information concerning factual material is derived from primary sources and secondary books and articles discussed at the conclusion of the book.
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Military History, In library, Battles, Protected DAISY, Military history