Ripples of Battle by Victor Davis Hanson

School is apparently out for summer, and I’ve been able to use a few spare hours to finish off Ripples of Battle by Victor Davis Hanson.

For those stridently unwilling to look at the above image, the book’s subtitle is “How Wars of the Past Still Determine How We Fight, How We Live, and How We Think” – basically, Hanson takes three notable battles (Okinawa, Shiloh, and Delium) and traces their cultural impact across history. It’s a good formula for some grim battle accounts mixed with fun counterfactual supposition and broad historical theory. Hanson has crafted a lively, brisk read that I highly recommend to anyone interested in the field of military history, novice or otherwise. It isn’t close to the heavy lifting of Hanson’s more recent A War Like No Other (which I reviewed here).

As always, here are some interesting notes from the text:

-The Battle of Okinawa (1945) was America’s first encounter with organized suicide attacks, and these particular “ripples of battle” are clearly seen in today’s world. Hanson chillingly recounts the strategies of Japan’s military clique in sending out thousands of its men on missions of no return against foreign devils. More significantly, he charts the noteworthy failure of these attacks to achieve their intended goals. Rather than terrify the U.S. army into a queasy submission, the attacks dehumanized the Japanese soldiers in the eyes of American servicemen. Moreover, their attacks were increasingly met with the full might and fury of the Western, industrial way of war. Now, rather than attempt to ferret out Japanese soldiers from the caves of Okinawa, Americans simply blowtorched the caves and asked questions later. Now, rather than engage in a prolonged, blood-soaked invasion of the island of Japan itself, Truman gave the go-ahead to use the A-bomb. Hanson argues that even thousands of suicide attackers are no match at all for Western warfare; instead, suicide attacks only serve the purpose of worsening the inevitable defeat.

-Mr. Miyagi fought in the 442nd Regimental Combat Team comprised of Japanese-Americans fighting for the U.S. against Nazi Germany. In an equally plausible development, as a 60-year old man, simultaneously beat up 5 teenagers in the mid-1980s.

-The Battle of Delium (424 BC) marked perhaps the first use of military tactics like massed columns, reserves, & elite mounted attack units. It also marked the first use of the tactic known as “using sharp things to harm one’s opponent”. (Prior to Delium, most battles were fought by snapping towels at people.)

-Socrates himself fought at Delium, and fought well. At the conclusion of the battle, he is said to have exclaimed, “Spring break ’99!”.

-In his study of the Battle of Shiloh (1862), Hanson focuses on the actions of two Confederate notables – General Albert Sydney Johnston and Col. Nathan Bedford Forrest. Johnston, at the time the preeminent military leader in the South (more acclaimed even than Lee), died in peculiar fashion after leading a charge. Forrest established his reputation as a feared, courageous maverick with his defiant, astounding behavior. Hanson argues that the legacy of these two men, forged at Shiloh, would do much to create the Myth of the Lost Cause, where the ultimate loss of the Confederacy came down to the mysterious path of a stray bullet or two, or the inability of stubborn leaders to earlier recognize the brilliance of Forrest. This myth gave tremendous power in the Southern minds to the words, “If only…”, and “What if…”, allowing them to cling to their claim that theirs were the better men, theirs was the better cause, and theirs was the proper victory. This belief would make far worse the bitter, acrimonious years of Reconstruction. Hanson demonstrates instead that the South had simply (and poorly) fought an incredibly unwise war against a far stronger, wealthier nation to protect the interests of its wealthy landowners.

-William Tecumseh Sherman made a name for himself with his swift, effective leadership at Shiloh. This was vindication after having lost to George McClellan on America’s Next Top Union General in 1861 on BTN (the Barley Thresher Network).

-Sherman’s beard was not full-bodied, like Santa Claus or Rasputin. Instead, his was neatly-trimmed, like Commander Riker from Star Trek: The Next Generation. Unlike Commander Riker, however, Sherman killed a whole bunch of Indians.

-Hanson ends the book with a vigorous epilogue on the terrible, often arbitrary nature of battle itself. In 1986, a UN panel decreed that war was an aberration in human history. Hanson argues instead that the classical understanding of war as a tragic, propelling, necessary force in human culture and progress is more apt and accurate in understanding today’s world. As the New York Times noted in its review, Hanson’s philosophy is not for the faint-hearted, but it is utterly compelling.

-On one hand, freedom isn’t free; but on the other hand, no blood for oil. Think about it.

-To this day, people still lay flowers at the many monuments to Confederate General Nathan Bedford Forrest across the South. In an unrelated development, Paul Blart: Mall Cop is the 4th highest-grossing film of 2009 thus far.