The Soul Of Battle: From Ancient Times To the Present Day, How Three Great Liberators Vanquished Tyranny by Victor Davis Hanson - 1999

Free Press, 1999. Hardback. Collectible: Like New. 1st Edition / 1st Printing - LIKE NEW, Gently read if at all, GIFT QUALITY. Like New Unclipped dust jacket is in protective mylar. . . . . . . . VDH makes the case that American generals Sherman and Patton, as well as Athenian general Epaminondas, were the greatest military leaders in history. . . . . TABLE OF CONTENTS: * PART I: YEOMEN OF THEBES: EPAMINONDAS'S DESCENT INTO THE PELOPONNESE, WINTER-SPRING, 370-369 B.C.: 1.) The Dancing Floor of War -- 2.) The Boeotian Pig -- 3.) The Fairest and Most Level Ground -- 4.) The Thebans Are Mightier In War -- 5.) Princeps Graeciae -- 6.) An Altogether Cruel and Bitter Condition -- 7.) An Unravaged and Inviolate Land -- 8.) Nature Has Made No Man A Slave -- 9.) And All of Greece Became Independent and Free ------- * PART II: THE ARMY OF THE WEST: SHERMAN'S MARCH TO THE SEA, NOVEMBER 16-DECEMBER 21, 1864: 1.) The Python's Parade: Washington, D.C., May 24, 1865 -- 2.) The Idea: Atlanta, Georgia, November 16, 1864 -- 3.) The Soul of An Army: Madison, Georgia, November 20, 1864 -- 4.) Where Is the Enemy?: Griswoldville, Georgia, November 22, 1864 -- 5.) An Apartheid Society: Milledgeville, Georgia, November 24, 1864 -- 6.) Uncle Billy: Millen, Georgia, Ecember 3, 1864 ------- 7.) The End And the Beginning: Savannah, Georgia, December 21, 1864 -- * PART III: THE THIRD ARMY: PATTON'S RACE INTO GERMANY, AUGUST 1, 1944-MAY 8, 1945: 1.) American Ajax: Heidelberg, Germany, December 11, 1945 -- 2.) The Patton Way Of War: The Rhine River, Germany, March 22, 1945 -- 3.) A Deadly Enemy: The Ardennes, Belgium, December 22, 1944 -- 4.) A Cog In The Wheel?: The Lorraine, France, August 29, 1944 -- 5.) Ideological Warriors: The Seine River, France, August 19, 1944 -- 6.) The Labyrinth Of Slavery: Argentan, France, August 12, 1944 -- 7.) A Different Idea: Knutsford, England, February 3, 1944 ------- * EPILOGUE: The End Of The Democratic Marches? --------- * LIST OF MAPS AND ILLUSTRATIONS: 1.) Epaminondas?s Boeotia -- 2.) Fourth Century Greece -- 3.) Epaminondas?s Invasion of Laconia and Messenia -- 4.) The Swath Through Georgia -- 5.) Sherman?s Order of Advance -- 6.) Sherman?s March Through Georgia and the Carolinas -- 7.) The liberation of France -- 8.) Battle of the Bulge -- 9.) Structure of Command -- 10.) Patton?s 1,000-Mile Drive Eastward -- 11.) The Falaise Gap -- 12.) Plan versus Performance