Listmania!

Thanks to Amazon.com's Listmania! I've been finding great books to read. Listmania! allows Amazon.com users the ability to create lists of books they recommend categorized around a theme or topic. For each book on the list, you also have access to all of the Amazon users' reviews too. Once you find someone who likes the kind of books you like, you have a good chance of finding books you haven't read that you would enjoy. For example, I have enjoyed every book I have read on this user's list.

The Killer Angels

Book number 10 this year.

Rating: Good Read.

The Killer Angels tells the story of the battle of Gettysburg from the perspective of a number of prominent characters on both sides. Shaara does a great job with the characters and you easily find yourself immersed in their worldview, their struggle, and their emotions. It is a interesting story to read, and it reads quite easily. It is strange to think that this event took place only 150 years ago. A number of Civil War generals actually lived into the early 1900s. At times it seems that the Civil War was a long, long time ago--it really wasn't.

The Western Way of War

Book number 9 this year.

Rating: Good Read

After listening to a thought-provoking interview with Victor Davis Hansen, I was determined to read one of his books.


In The Western Way of War, Hansen describes, in detail, what infantry battle was like in classical Greece (~500-323 BC). Fighting was a brutal affair and the Greeks' chose the direct approach of pitched battle to settle any grievances. The phalanx was the Greeks' preferred fighting formation, and men in a phalanx faced the enemy surrounded by their male family members (it was common for men up to the age of 70 to fight as a part of the phalanx) and neighbors. They fought as one, interlocking their shields and presenting their spears as a unit. As a testament to the phalanx's effectiveness, Alexander the Great used this battle strategy to conquer the known world in the 4th century BC.


As I thought through this book, I realized that so much of battle is just controlling human emotion--controlling fear. Even men 5 rows back in a phalanx couldn't see the enemy. You simply read the mood and attitude of the men surrounding you. Fear spreads very quickly. Your side could have completely flanked the enemy and be handily winning, but if your phalanx is taking heavy losses and begins routing, this mood could quickly spread to the other phalanxes and create mass hysteria.The greatest benefit of veteran troops is not that they know how to use a weapon more effectively, but that they know how to manage fear a little better. Veterans have been in this place before, fighting the enemy face to face and completely scared out of their minds. Being able to create contagious fear in your enemies is the greatest battle advantage. The antithesis works as well, if a phalanx feels that it is invincible this feeling is contagious. Both sides of this equation explain the primary reason why, throughout history, smaller armies have been able to beat much larger ones (sure, there are other factors--e.g. leadership, tactics, quality of weapons, etc.).


Another concept resonated with me as I read this book, the simple function of battlefield communication is unfathomable in that age. How do you communicate to a large army spread out over a battle field and coordinate an effective attack on the enemy? The sound of 10,000 men each wearing 70 pounds of armor combined with a 1000 horses' hooves is deafening, and all of this spread out over a battle line a half-mile long. Now try to yell an order. It is no small task to provide timely communication in the battle field, even with all of the advance technology we have today armies still struggle with communication.


There is much more to this book, and I hope to read more of Hansen's work in the future.

You can read it online too.