A Collection of Unmitigated Pedantry
A look at history and popular culture
In a special treat this week, Michael Taylor, Associate Professor of History at SUNY Albany is back (he has written here once before). This time Michael is taking a look back at what is probably "he most influential book on any aspect of military history in the last fifty years" and I'd argue probably the … Continue reading Michael Taylor on John Keegan’s The Face of Battle: A Retrospective
This week we're going to start a three-part (I, II, IIIa, IIIb, IIIc) look at the role of the pre-modern general or army commander, particularly in the context of a pitched battle. This is of course a vast topic, but we are going to focus not on tactical or strategic questions but on a lot … Continue reading Collections: Total Generalship: Commanding Pre-Modern Armies, Part I: Reports
This is the continuation of the second part of a three part ( I, IIa, IIb , III) discussion of the notion that there is a 'universal warrior' - a transcendent sameness about either the experience of war or 'warrior values' which might provide some sort of useful blueprint for life generally or some sort … Continue reading Collections: The Universal Warrior, Part IIb: A Soldier’s Lot
This is the second part of a three part (I, IIa, IIb , III) discussion of the idea of a 'universal warrior' - the assumption that there is a transcendent sameness about either the experience of war or 'warrior values' which might provide some sort of fundamental truth for understanding war, either in the past … Continue reading Collections: The Universal Warrior, Part IIa: The Many Faces of Battle