History of war (vanity)

Hugh Hewitt ^

[Valin]

Excuse the vanity. Tomorrow Hugh Hewitt will have Victor Davis Hanson on for the 3hrs. Subject: The History Of War. For those who don't get his show live please click on source to listen over the net.

[Chgogal]

Thanks for the heads-up. Do you know what time???

[Valin]

Sorry. It comes on at 5:00pm cdt.

[gortklattu]

There never is any vanity associated with promoting a VDH broadcast. Thanks for the reminder!!!

Click Here For Hugh's site

The internet link is not working now, but is Here

[Chgogal]

Thanks. Victor is great. My niece is only twelve, but I'm going to have her start reading his essays. You just can't start them too young. Once again thanks for the heads-up.

[Seydlitz]

It's good to get a child to read Victor Davis Hanson, because his work is not fit for adults.

Don't get me wrong, I love his editorials. He's even a pretty good classicist. However, as a military historian, he sucks. If he did not write what people want to hear, he would justly remain in obscurity. It is the Stephen Ambrose school of shamelessly kissing your reader's ass in order to sell books.

[Mike Fieschko]

as a military historian, he sucks.

Not being anything like an expert myself in military history, whom would you recommend, or, whom do you consider a miltary historian for a noob?

[Seydlitz]

Keegan isn't bad for a beginner. The problem with Hanson is that he has the false idea of some innate Western military superiority. As a result, Hanson uses evidence in a highly selective manner; he only uses stuff that agrees with him, and ignores the mountain of evidence to the contrary. As the saying goes, Hanson never lets the facts get in the way of a good theory. Keegan isn't exactly full of deep insight, but nor is he slave to some silly theory.

Frankly, if you want to read a really good book that was written specifically in opposition to Hanson, read John Lynn's "Battle". Lynn is one of the best military historians out there. He doesn't write as well as Hanson, but the intellectual content and academic integrity of his work is of a far higher standard.

[Mike Fieschko]

Thanks. I only know Keegan from occasionally seeing articles in the Daily Telegraph. I don't recall reading anything of Lynn's. I started reading Hanson's Ripples of Battle, and didn't finish it (got most of the way through it, up to half-way through his discussion of Delium), and that's the only 'military history' of his I've read.

[Chgogal]

Your sir are entitled to your opinion. It is a shame that you lack the ability to communicate your ideas in beautiful prose. Example - "shamelessly kissing your kissing your reader's ass". Don't you think a person of your level of education and insight could come up with something more prosaic?