THE WILL TO WIN

In The Importance of Winning, I outlined the necessity of prevailing in combat. The will to win is often distilled to morale. Morale: the courage of the individual infectiously emboldening the spirit of his fellow comrades in arms. For not by numbers of men nor by measure of body, but by valour of soul, isContinue reading “THE WILL TO WIN”

HOPLITES and PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS

I have just finished Victor Hanson’s The Western Way of War (1989). It provides a visceral depiction of what it was like to be a hoplite. It is a very unromantic portrayal that emphasizes the communal aspects of ancient warfare; the necessity of group action where doing your role in the phalanx was far moreContinue reading “HOPLITES and PHYSICAL LIMITATIONS”

Dracula as Historian

I admit to being a fan of the vampire genre: books and movies. Most recently, the BBC produced Dracula released in 2020 on Netflix.[1] It starts as a smart retelling of Bram Stoker’s novel with visual homages to classic movies along the way, but quickly takes new narrative turns. Unfortunately the series had a veryContinue reading “Dracula as Historian”