Victor Davis Hanson

An excellently readable account of ancient military histories, it almost reads like a narrative and pulls you in - so from this perspective: a great book. However, I have to admit, the author did not deliver on the implied thesis - how victim states of war end up completely annihilated by the victors. The majority of the discussion is about military strategy/tactics and political attitudes, even the end discussion gives reasons for military loss, which don't speak to annihilation. What show more reference is made feels a bit like victim-blaming - each case is somehow an example of naïveté (a word that's way overused in the text), or overconfidence, etc. Despite passing references to extremely similar cases which did not end in annihilation, we're not really given a core reason for what made these cases different, I feel. I mean, we get that maybe they made a decision not to capitulate, but again, that seems to be victim-blaming. The strangest explanation is that somehow foot soldiers went out of control, but I'm sorry, paving over the streets is a command decision. It makes little sense. In the end, we get analogies to present-day situations, Ukraine makes some sense (but, it's not over), other cases, less so. It also doesn't seem to dawn on the author that, if anything, we resemble Alexander, Rome, and Cortez more than Thebes, Carthage, or the Aztecs. So, thought provoking but less satisfying as a thesis, but great fun reading about ancient history. show less

This is dated now, by several decades. But it's also an interesting time capsule of the last shudders of classical education in the US system, and an indictment of the dead rot in academia the battle over which we're still participating in a quarter of a century later.
The book is at its strongest when it's defending the classics themselves, at its worst when it melds conservative US politics with said defense. For anyone outside of the US many of these themes will be familiar, including the show more watering down of the discipline with increasingly inane cross pollination from other disciplines in a desperate search for relevancy. The last part of the book tries to envision a complete restructuring of the (US) educational system, where the classics are not just a required part, but integral in a more holistic and cross-disciplinary education. While entirely utopian in vision it's a fairly interesting vision of alternative education in its own right. show less

If you care about history but hate Trump, this book is a well-written counter-argument for how maybe we might all be wrong. Written by a thoughtful academic, this is no hagiography, but rather portrays the arguments for how the times were ripe for such an unlikely President. Trump, the author concludes, is a “tragic hero”, a necessary purgative, an outsider whose role is to shake up a situation that had become too comfortable for too many people. If you think Trump will be remembered as show more the worst president in history, you may be repeating the mistake made by those who similarly ridiculed Churchill, Lincoln, Patton, and innumerable other historical figures whose many political enemies went to their graves loathing the man, while missing the historic changes they thought they understood. show less

World War II--its causes, costs, horrors, victories, mistakes, and defeats--is still the subject of fresh scholarship and new insight. V.D. Hanson has added richly to that body of research. He writes with the analytical mind of a proven academic and military historian.

The Second World Wars (plural, which is an interesting concept itself), is not a typical chronological recounting of the global conflict but rather is organized according to major themes, such as ideas (or causes), air show more warfare, naval warfare, land warfare, and the people of the war, including its leaders, soldiers, civilians, and Holocaust victims.

Sometimes Hanson's erudition and facility with words can be off-putting to someone looking for a quick-and-easy read for summer vacation. But if you're willing to take your time and think through the material with the author, it will yield a valuable reward. If asked to recommend histories of the Second World War, I would put this one at the top of the list. show less