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The Soul of Battle

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The Soul of Battle

From Ancient Times to the Present Day, How Three Great Liberators Vanquished Tyranny

Free Press,

15 min read
10 take-aways
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What's inside?

Is God on the side of the strongest artillery, or the strongest ideals? Three historic generals show how democratic principles make armies stronger, as souls and as soldiers.

Editorial Rating

8

Qualities

  • Innovative

Recommendation

While Napoleon declared that God favors the side with the most battalions, author Victor Davis Hanson suggests otherwise. Hanson reasons that the side marching to preserve a great moral cause - e.g., the defense of individual freedoms against the agents of human oppression - possesses the true soul of battle. Seen in this light, war becomes far more than a duel of logistics, technology and strategy. Hanson believes that victory’s first seeds are sown in the human spirit, and the terrible battlefield harvest is collected later. He provides three historic examples: Theban general Epaminondas’ destruction of Sparta, Union General William Sherman’s march through Georgia and U.S. General George Patton’s demolition of the Third Reich. In this well researched and almost poetically written volume, Hanson reveals the basis of democratic countries’ military dominance. getabstract.com recommends this book to military professionals, students of military history and those who seek a deeper understanding of the strength of democratic societies.

Summary

In Defense of Democracy

Writer D.H. Lawrence described Americans as "natural-born killers." The outcomes of the major 20th-century conflicts seem to support him, but they reflect a democratic phenomenon, not an American one. Armies defending democratic peoples have repeatedly demonstrated their ability to impose horrific levels of military violence when threatened, perhaps because they nurture a moral cause that provides the soul of battle. Consider three examples: Theban general Epaminondas destroyed Spartan hegemony. Union army General William Sherman liberated more than 50,000 slaves. General George Patton demolished the Third Reich. These leaders from different eras shared several common characteristics:

  • Each followed an arcane code of honor and was unsuited for peace.
  • Each was a closet intellectual, widely read in literature and in the scholarship of war.
  • Each put his life in danger by stalking along on the front lines to encourage his men.
  • Each transformed armies of peace-loving amateurs into effective fighting forces of deadly precision, ultimately more dangerous than the armies of militaristic societies.
  • Each proved that...

About the Author

The son of a U.S. Army Air Corps Sergeant who served under General LeMay in the devastating firebombing of Japan, author Victor Davis Hanson is a professor of classics at California State University in Fresno. He has written or edited several books, and is a frequent contributor to The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal and Military History Quarterly. He and his family live in Selma, California, on the family farm where he was born.

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