Soldiers and Civilization - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Soldiers and Civilization write by Reed R. Bonadonna. This book was released on 2017. Soldiers and Civilization available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. When Kipling says in "The Young British Soldier," "I'll sing you a soldier as fair as I may," he reminds us that a soldier is made of the words of poetry, history, and the laws and language of his calling. The complete solider is not only a contributor to the civilization that he or she serves. Drawing from military history, sociology, and other disciplines, Solidiers and Civilization covers the history of the military profession in the Western world from the ancient Greeks to the present day and shows how both soldiers and their civilizations have helped mold each other over time. Reed Bonadonna goes beyond traditional insights to locate the military profession in the context of both literary and cultural history, maintaining that soldiers have made an unacknowledged contribution to the theory and practice of civilization, and that they will again be called upon to do so in important ways. Throughout history soldiers have sought instruction and inspiration from the past to gain insight into modern conflicts. Military professionals of today must know, heed, and apply the examples and narrative of the most successful and exemplary of their predecessors to help advance a civilization into its future. However, this process can succeed only when it includes critical self-examination and a discourse with the larger society it serves. Soldiers and Civilization argues that the military profession, in its broadest consideration, might be viewed as an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities, a repository of important practical and abstract knowledge on armed conflict, ethics, community, and human nature. By representing and upholding the values on which civilization is founded, true military professionals provide the stability for it to thrive and create new ideas, thereby ensuring an existential symbiosis that serves and preserves both. -- from dust jacket.
Rites of Retaliation
Rites of Retaliation - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Rites of Retaliation write by Lorien Foote. This book was released on 2021-10-07. Rites of Retaliation available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. During the Civil War, Union and Confederate politicians, military commanders, everyday soldiers, and civilians claimed their approach to the conflict was civilized, in keeping with centuries of military tradition meant to restrain violence and preserve national honor. One hallmark of civilized warfare was a highly ritualized approach to retaliation. This ritual provided a forum to accuse the enemy of excessive behavior, to negotiate redress according to the laws of war, and to appeal to the judgment of other civilized nations. As the war progressed, Northerners and Southerners feared they were losing their essential identity as civilized, and the attention to retaliation grew more intense. When Black soldiers joined the Union army in campaigns in South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, raiding plantations and liberating enslaved people, Confederates argued the war had become a servile insurrection. And when Confederates massacred Black troops after battle, killed white Union foragers after capture, and used prisoners of war as human shields, Federals thought their enemy raised the black flag and embraced savagery. Blending military and cultural history, Lorien Foote's rich and insightful book sheds light on how Americans fought over what it meant to be civilized and who should be extended the protections of a civilized world.
War Before Civilization
War Before Civilization - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook War Before Civilization write by Lawrence H. Keeley. This book was released on 1997-12-18. War Before Civilization available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. The myth of the peace-loving "noble savage" is persistent and pernicious. Indeed, for the last fifty years, most popular and scholarly works have agreed that prehistoric warfare was rare, harmless, unimportant, and, like smallpox, a disease of civilized societies alone. Prehistoric warfare, according to this view, was little more than a ritualized game, where casualties were limited and the effects of aggression relatively mild. Lawrence Keeley's groundbreaking War Before Civilization offers a devastating rebuttal to such comfortable myths and debunks the notion that warfare was introduced to primitive societies through contact with civilization (an idea he denounces as "the pacification of the past"). Building on much fascinating archeological and historical research and offering an astute comparison of warfare in civilized and prehistoric societies, from modern European states to the Plains Indians of North America, War Before Civilization convincingly demonstrates that prehistoric warfare was in fact more deadly, more frequent, and more ruthless than modern war. To support this point, Keeley provides a wide-ranging look at warfare and brutality in the prehistoric world. He reveals, for instance, that prehistorical tactics favoring raids and ambushes, as opposed to formal battles, often yielded a high death-rate; that adult males falling into the hands of their enemies were almost universally killed; and that surprise raids seldom spared even women and children. Keeley cites evidence of ancient massacres in many areas of the world, including the discovery in South Dakota of a prehistoric mass grave containing the remains of over 500 scalped and mutilated men, women, and children (a slaughter that took place a century and a half before the arrival of Columbus). In addition, Keeley surveys the prevalence of looting, destruction, and trophy-taking in all kinds of warfare and again finds little moral distinction between ancient warriors and civilized armies. Finally, and perhaps most controversially, he examines the evidence of cannibalism among some preliterate peoples. Keeley is a seasoned writer and his book is packed with vivid, eye-opening details (for instance, that the homicide rate of prehistoric Illinois villagers may have exceeded that of the modern United States by some 70 times). But he also goes beyond grisly facts to address the larger moral and philosophical issues raised by his work. What are the causes of war? Are human beings inherently violent? How can we ensure peace in our own time? Challenging some of our most dearly held beliefs, Keeley's conclusions are bound to stir controversy.
War in Human Civilization
War in Human Civilization - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook War in Human Civilization write by Azar Gat. This book was released on 2006-10-12. War in Human Civilization available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Why do people go to war? Is it rooted in human nature or is it a late cultural invention? How does war relate to the other fundamental developments in the history of human civilization? And what of war today - is it a declining phenomenon or simply changing its shape? In this truly global study of war and civilization, Azar Gat sets out to find definitive answers to these questions in an attempt to unravel the 'riddle of war' throughout human history, from the early hunter-gatherers right through to the unconventional terrorism of the twenty-first century. In the process, the book generates an astonishing wealth of original and fascinating insights on all major aspects of humankind's remarkable journey through the ages, engaging a wide range of disciplines, from anthropology and evolutionary psychology to sociology and political science. Written with remarkable verve and clarity and wholly free from jargon, it will be of interest to anyone who has ever pondered the puzzle of war.
Soldiers and Civilization
Soldiers and Civilization - read free eBook in online reader or directly download on the web page. Select files or add your book in reader. Download and read online ebook Soldiers and Civilization write by Reed R Bonadonna. This book was released on 2017-05-15. Soldiers and Civilization available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Soldiers and Civilization covers the history of the military profession in the Western World from the ancient Greeks to the present day. Drawing from military history, sociology, and other disciplines, it goes beyond traditional insights to locate the military profession in the context of both literary and cultural history. Reed Bonadonna maintains that soldiers have made an unacknowledged contribution to the theory and practice of civilization, and that they will again be called upon to do so in important ways. The comprehensive nature of the book and the extent to which Bonadonna draws on the disciplines of the humanities to make his points set this volume apart from others on the subject. The military profession, in its broadest consideration, might be viewed as an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities. A soldier is made of the words of history, poetry, and the laws and language of his calling. With each new conflict, the military may be called upon to preserve the values of civilization. To fulfill its future role, the military professionals of today must know, heed, and apply the examples and narratives of the most successful and exemplary military professionals of the past at their best.
