About the Author:
James H. McRandle, who served as an infantry rifleman in World War II, holds a Ph.D. in history from the University of Minnesota. He has taught European and recent German history at Purdue University and UCLA. His previous publications on National Socialism and German military history led him to the study of the two world wars and the memoirs of veterans, and later to work with prominent ecologists and ethologists on issues of war. He lives now in Bellingham, Washington.
From Library Journal:
McRandle, who has written previously on German military history, portrays modern war as the continuation of a tradition of ritual that has been practiced since the earliest ages of humanity. Mythmaking psychological techniques, social forces, intensive responses to fear, and aggressiveness are all martialed and manipulated through ritual to serve war's purposes. This provocative consideration of the sources of war traces the continuity of such aspects as unit size, tactics, and the function of uniforms. Firsthand accounts of battle from various periods of history give a sense of immediacy to the narrative. Some of McRandle's conclusions will be controversial, particularly his arguments that warfare served to promote gene flow between isolated groups of Homo erectus and Homo sapiens. Recommended for military history collections.
Michael Coleman, Alabama Regional Lib. for the Blind & Physically Handicapped, Montgomery
Copyright 1994 Reed Business Information, Inc.
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