Books I have read over the last month or so...

Last edited by Eddie on Sat Sep 12, 2009 3:22 pm; edited 1 time in total

Re: Clausewitz.

I'm re-reading military historian John Keegan's "A History of Warfare" to set myself straight on whether warfare derives essentially from Politics- as Clausewitz held- or from Culture, as Keegan maintains. It's a fascinating debate, in which Keegan references the Easter Island Polynesians, the Zulus, the Samurai and the Mamelukes to support his case.

Keegan wrote the book in the aftermath of the first Gulf War and the apparent return to a style of warfare based on near-primitive tribal hatreds in the most recent Balkans conflict.

I'd be interested to see a revised edition updated to include 9/11, Iraq and Afghanistan. Perhaps such an updated edition already exists?

Head Wankee Gender: Number of posts: 1609 Registration date: 2008-06-09

Doesn't appear to be. If it were, whose culture do you think Kegan would find more central to the renewed state of war? And do you think there would be any built-in, "cultural" limitations on the warfare, in his view?

Number of posts: 63 Registration date: 2008-08-16

Candide (one of many readings) and Ibsen's Doll's House (first reading).

Head Librarian Gender: Number of posts: 2394 Registration date: 2008-07-30

John McLaughlin wrote:

Doesn't appear to be. If it were, whose culture do you think Kegan would find more central to the renewed state of war? And do you think there would be any built-in, "cultural" limitations on the warfare, in his view?

Very good questions.

I don't have a full answer to the first, although my suspicion is that Keegan- the Defence Correspondent of the Daily Torygraph, after all- would be inclined to support the US/UK. I base this impression on Keegan's frequent references to:

1. The Islamic concept of "The House of Submission".
2. The Prophet as warrior.

As to the second, Keegan devotes a whole chapter of his book to limitations on Warfare, amongst which he lists Climate, Weather, Terrain and Vegetation. And one other, which he gets completely wrong: Gender. He wrote the book when it was comparatively uncommon for women to become career soldiers. These days, that's no longer the case.

The latter excepted, most of these can't really be said to be "cultural" limitations, of course, but practical ones.

As I say above, I'd like to read a revised edition of "A History of Warfare" which addresses more recent conflicts. Here, I've only speculated as to what Keegan's views might be.

_________________
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas

Head Wankee Gender: Number of posts: 1609 Registration date: 2008-06-09

Cultural limitations on war might include such concepts as chivalry and honor.... Of course, the nation which countenanced nuclear warfare might have a hard time coming up with cultural limitations on war, huh?

Head Librarian Gender: Number of posts: 2394 Registration date: 2008-07-30

John McLaughlin wrote:

Cultural limitations on war might include such concepts as chivalry and honor....

Yes, indeed.

And warfare amongst certain primitive tribes described by anthropologists is often a matter of ritualised insult and a display of 'manliness' with few casualties.

_________________
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas

Head Wankee Gender: Number of posts: 1609 Registration date: 2008-06-09

I'm thinking of the frequent truces in medieval warfare to honor saints' days, for example. And I think of the song by John McCutcheon, "Christmas in the Trenches," about the WWi incident in which both sides join in singing "Stille Nacht" - and then resume the slaughter on the following day. (It was I think intended to be a general anti-war song, in the context of Vietnam).

Head Librarian Gender: Number of posts: 2394 Registration date: 2008-07-30

You should give John Keegan a read, John.

The best tribute I can pay to his work is there in black-and-white on one of the endorsements on the back-cover blurb of "The Face of Battle", his first and one of his best books: a comparative-historical study of the experience of the ordinary foot-soldier at Agincourt, Waterloo and the Somme. It goes something like:

"In reading Keegan, we learn as much about human nature as we do about warfare..."

_________________
The salmon-falls, the mackerel-crowded seas

Head Wankee Gender: Number of posts: 1609 Registration date: 2008-06-09

Looks enticing, Eddie. So many books, so little time.... Hell, I'll check him out. Thank you for the recommendation.

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The Metamorphosis(Die Verwandlung) and other short stories - Franz Kafka
Le Grant Testament - Francois Villon

Just started reading The Authorized King James Version of The Bible. Finished Genesis and Exodus on to Leviticus.

Number of posts: 63 Registration date: 2008-08-16

Leopardi wrote:

The Metamorphosis(Die Verwandlung) and other short stories - Franz Kafka

Ha! im re-reading The Metamorphosis for my World Lit class this week. What a coinkydink!

Gender: Number of posts: 162 Registration date: 2009-08-23

JBWilkes wrote:

Leopardi wrote:

The Metamorphosis(Die Verwandlung) and other short stories - Franz Kafka

Ha! im re-reading The Metamorphosis for my World Lit class this week. What a coinkydink!

Did you write an essay or talk about a particular aspect?

The Town and the City - Jack Kerouac
Le Petit Prince - Antoine de Saint-Exupéry

Head Wankee Gender: Number of posts: 1609 Registration date: 2008-06-09

What a nice pairing! I've always loved the king who found out first what his subjects wanted to do, then ordered them to do it.

Head Wankee Gender: Number of posts: 1609 Registration date: 2008-06-09

Does half-read because you've got half-a-dozen others on the go count? I just started Barbaa Bradley Hagerty's Fingerprints of God: The Search for the Science of Spritiuality, may well abandon a couple of others to get further into it. First person account (she's NPR's Religion Correspondent), of her own search as well as that of others, including scientific researchers, for the "evidence" of God. She was a guest speaker at the National Cathedral's Sunday forum in-between services, and you always find yourself automatically lining up to buy the book they're peddling, the speakers are so well-chosen and interviewed so well by Rev Sam Lloyd, Dean of the Cathedral. You could go to the cathedral website, www.nationalcathedral.org for video of the discussions.

Gender: Number of posts: 162 Registration date: 2009-08-23

John McLaughlin wrote:

What a nice pairing! I've always loved the king who found out first what his subjects wanted to do, then ordered them to do it.

I like the King too, especially the part where he grants the little prince's request to order the sun to set but only in accordance with scientific goverment, until conditions are favourable. I read that book at least once every year.

I enjoyed The Town and the City, it was distinctively different to the other books I have read by Kerouac but possessed some of the writing qualities he exhibited again in the later works I've read. It was enough to inspire me to look for something by Thomas Wolfe - since he was mentioned in most things I read related to The Town and the City- but he doesn't seem all that popular in the book shops of Glasgow.