Soldiers and civilization : how the profession of arms thought and fought the modern world into existence

Soldiers and Civilization covers the history of the military profession in the Western World from the ancient Greeks to the present day. Drawing from military history, sociology, and other disciplines, it goes beyond traditional insights to locate the military profession in the context of both literary and cultural history. Reed Bonadonna maintains that soldiers have made an unacknowledged contribution to the theory and practice of civilization, and that they will again be called upon to do so in important ways. The comprehensive nature of the book and the extent to which Bonadonna draws on the disciplines of the humanities to make his points set this volume apart from others on the subject. The military profession, in its broadest consideration, might be viewed as an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities. A soldier is made of the words of history, poetry, and the laws and language of his calling. With each new conflict, the military may be called upon to preserve the values of civilization. To fulfill its future role, the military professionals of today must know, heed, and apply the examples and narratives of the most successful and exemplary military professionals of the past at their best.

• List of Illustrations p. viii
• Acknowledgments p. ix
• Introduction. History and Military Professionalism p. 1
• 1 Greeks and Macedonians: Poetry, Philosophy, and the Phalanx p. 22
• 2 Romans: Legis et Legio p. 41
• 3 Late Antiquity: Pagan Warriors and Barbaric Christians p. 67
• 4 The Middle Ages: Chivalry and Christianity p. 79
• 5 The Early Modern Period: The Army and the State p. 107
• 6 The Eighteenth Century: Soldiers of the Enlightenment p. 131
• 7 Napoleon and the Nineteenth Century: Revolution, Reaction, and Expansion p. 168
• 8 The Twentieth Century: A World of Conflict p. 215
• Conclusion. The Twenty-First Century: A Century of the Soldier? p. 266
• Notes p. 281
• Bibliography p. 315
• Index p. 331