Ripples of Battle (Electronic book text)

"Like any good classicist, Victor Davis Hanson accepts the primacy of military history in human affairs. In 'Ripples of Battle, ' a sequel of sorts to his masterful 'Carnage and Culture, ' he shows the fascinating repercussions of three lesser-known battles. You cannot fully understand Hiroshima, the bitterness of the Old South, or the Golden Age of Athens without reading this gem of a book."
--Robert D. Kaplan

"Victor Davis Hanson is one of our leading military historians, and in 'Ripples of Battle' he does not disappoint. A far-reaching story of man, war, and history, it is, by turns, iconoclastic, touching, deeply learned, and endlessly fascinating. This slim book is a grand study."
--Jay Winik, author of "April 1865: The Month That Saved America
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"Victor Davis Hanson has earned a well-deserved reputation as one of the most interesting and innovative military historians in the world. In 'Ripples of Battle, ' he shows once again why he's the best. He ranges far and wide, from World War II to the wars of ancient Greece. Along the way he combines a born storyteller's gift for rip-roaring battle narrative with a scholar's attention to the deeper meaning of conflict. Once again he manages to take what may seem familiar and to show it in an utterly new light. The "ripples" that he identifies-which include characters as disparate as Socrates and the author of Ben Hur-astonish and delight. This book is not only deeply enlightening but also a sheer pleasure to read. It is, in short, vintage Victor."
--Max Boot, Olin senior fellow at the Council on Foreign Relations and author of "The Savage Wars of Peace: Small Wars and the Rise of American Power"

"From the Hardcover edition."