| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 109.3

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| Book Review | The American Historical Review, 109.3 | The History Cooperative

John A. Lynn. Battle: A History of Combat and Culture. Boulder, Colo.: Westview. 2003. Pp. xxv, 398. $27.50.
John A. Lynn raises serious questions about the standard explanation of warfare and offers a significant alternative concept of how people wage war. Lynn then proposes a common denominator that can be applied to battles in any historical period without falling into the trap of simplistic explanations. Americans, for example, are fascinated by technology. Many in the military are convinced that wars may be won with precision-guided munitions delivered from high altitude. Victory, therefore, would be virtually casualty free, at least for the attackers. Modern armor and supporting artillery, coupled with advanced communications, promise swift decisive victory, especially against demoralized enemies equipped with outmoded hardware. Modern ships, many of them nuclear powered, can sweep the seas clear of enemy vessels, particularly when an enemy has no navy.	1
Among military historians, a major school of thought posits the existence of a Western way of war with roots dating back to classical antiquity. The democratic citizen soldier of ancient Greece established a military tradition unmatched even today by other styles of war.	. . .

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