A RAGE TO CONQUER

Into the breach once more.

Shelves groan with “famous battles” accounts, and journalist and author Walsh has written another. Although no soldier, he has done his homework, and some military buffs will likely not object to his low opinion of the “politically correct” claim that war “never solves anything” and is shameful and destructive and marks a failure in national leadership. The reality, he maintains, is that war provides a “temporary, and often quite long-lasting, solution to most of the world’s most intractable conflicts.” He adds that war is foundational to every society throughout history. It will “never be abolished, and never lose its attraction for young and virile men.” He emphasizes that war remains a male obsession and that—in a claim that will raise more than a few eyebrows—“any culture that is forced to rely on women in combat is destined to lose.” (He assures female readers that women experience their own epiphany in childbirth.) Walsh then delivers 300 pages on wars from Troy to the present day, showing great admiration for (little surprise) the military tactician Napoleon. His epilogue—“Of the Battle of 9/11”—delivers a summing-up that many readers will suspect is coming. Throughout history, he writes, great nations and great commanders fought to destroy an opponent. There was never a concept of “limited” war, but that has been American policy since 1945, and he loathes it. He points out that since then the U.S. has never won a significant war but has lost several, including the war on terror, and we show no signs of confronting today’s bad actors.

Great battles and strong opinions.