Acts of War: The Behaviour of Men in Battle - Hardcover

9780297846680: Acts of War: The Behaviour of Men in Battle
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This ambitious, wide-ranging, exhaustively researched book is a compelling attempt to grasp the very nature of war. It takes us through the soldier's experience in its entirety - from the humiliation of basic training and the intense comradeship of army life, to the terror, isolation and exhaustion of battle. What does it feel like to be in the firing line? How does killing change a man? And what do the extreme conditions of war reveal about a man's basic instincts, his courage or his fear, his urge for self-preservation or self-sacrifice?

Covering several centuries of warfare, and including the personal recollections of veterans from two World Wars, from Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands and the Arab-Israeli conflicts, Richard Holmes gives us a powerful picture of what motivates the soldier and enables him to maintain the struggle in conditions of extreme degradation and danger.

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Review:
... a powerful, thought-provoking picture of how the conditions of war affect a man. His sources are several centuries of warfare and the personal recollections of veterans of conflicts across the world. Holmes presents the results of his ambitious and exhaustive research in a very readable form, carefully balancing fact and emotion, detachment and compassion which adds considerable depth to the wisdom expressed. (ARMOUR (Nov/Dec '03))

Mr Holmes makes a convincing case that the human being remains the central weapon of military conflict, technology notwithstanding. What emerges is a compelling and very human portrait of war. (THE ECONOMIST (21/2/04))
Book Description:
The reality of what it is to be a soldier, by Britain's foremost military historian

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  • PublisherOrion
  • Publication date2003
  • ISBN 10 029784668X
  • ISBN 13 9780297846680
  • BindingHardcover
  • Number of pages448
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9780304367009: Acts of War: The Behaviour of Men in Battle (W&N Military)

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Book Description Hardcover. Condition: Very Good. Dust Jacket Condition: Very Good. Photographic (illustrator). Reprint. Introduction to the 2003 edition acknowledgements, notes, select bibliography and index. Dark red coloured end pages. Between pages 212 and 213 there are 16 pages of predominantly black-and-white photographs with the occasional illustration throughout there is the very occasional illustration in the text. Black coloured boards with silver coloured titles to the back strip. Photographic dustwrapper with dark red, blue and grey coloured titles to the front panel and red and black coloured titles of the back strip. Covering several centuries of warfare across the world, this is a study of men in the crucible of war and how they behave and why they behave in the manner that they do. Rubbing of the book corners and softening of the back strip edges. Very light age toning of the text block edges with a few handling marks to the text block edges. Rubbing of the dustwrapper edges and panels with a few handling marks also present. Size: 8vo - over 7¾" - 9¾" tall. [4], V - XII, 436 pages, Please refer to accompanying picture (s). Illustrator: Photographic. Quantity Available: 1. Shipped Weight: Under 1 kilo. Category: Psychology & Psychiatry; ISBN: 029784668X. ISBN/EAN: 9780297846680. Inventory No: 0289532. Seller Inventory # 0289532

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Book Description Paperback. Condition: Very Good. This ambitious, wide-ranging, exhaustively researched book is a compelling attempt to grasp the very nature of war. It takes us through the soldier's experience in its entirety - from the humiliation of basic training and the intense comradeship of army life, to the terror, isolation and exhaustion of battle. What does it feel like to be in the firing line? How does killing change a man? And what do the extreme conditions of war reveal about a man's basic instincts, his courage or his fear, his urge for self-preservation or self-sacrifice? Covering several centuries of warfare, and including the personal recollections of veterans from two World Wars, from Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands and the Arab-Israeli conflicts, Richard Holmes gives us a powerful picture of what motivates the soldier and enables him to maintain the struggle in conditions of extreme degradation and danger. The book has been read, but is in excellent condition. Pages are intact and not marred by notes or highlighting. The spine remains undamaged. Seller Inventory # GOR003643650

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Book Description Cloth. Condition: Fine. Dust Jacket Condition: Near Fine. Reprint. Hardback Acts of War: The Behaviour of Men in Battle illustrated with black and white plates 436pp The Peloponnesian War. The Hundred Years' War. The Napoleonic Wars. The Sino-Japanese War. World Wars I and II. Korea, and Vietnam. For centuries, men have waged war among themselves, filling history with accounts of armies and battles, victories and defeats. From General William T. Sherman, we know that "war is hell;' but just what does war feel like to the men who fight it? How does it change them? And what do its extreme conditions reveal about men's basic instincts, their courage and fear, aggression and flight, self-sacrifice and self-preservation? In this brilliantly documented volume, military historian Richard Holmes examines these questions and others to present a detailed portrait of the men on the firing line. Drawing both on written accounts of war over the past two centuries, and on spoken recollections of veterans from two World Wars, Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands, and the Arab-Israeli conflicts, Holmes searches for clues to understand combat psychology and its postwar emotional legacy. He also brings together a unique range of war memoirs, histories, anecdotes ~and battlefront news reports. Acts of War builds a compelling picture of the elements that motivate soldiers and keep them going in the face of fatigue, fear, and death. With poignant insight, Holmes deals with the humiliation of basic training, the influence of religion and background, the critical effect of personal leadership, the soldier's attitude toward fear, the constant threat of death or disfiguration, the intense bonds forged with comrades, and the breakdown of a man's will to go on with the fight. He also casts doubts on some widely held beliefs concerning the soldier's conduct under stress. We carry a wide selection of titles in The Arts, Theology, History, Politics, Social and Physical Sciences. academic and scholarly books and Modern First Editions, Reference books ,and all types of Academic Literature.). Seller Inventory # 095016

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