Western civilization, which was born and developed in Greece, survived the fall of the Roman Empire, spread to Western and Northern Europe and later expanded, from the 15th to the 19th century, to the American continent, Australia, and other regions of the planet. Today, it exerts a universal influence of all kinds to a much greater extent than we would assume by examining its geographical and population sizes.
In its 25 centuries of history, with all the changes it has experienced in terms of its fundamental structures and practices, and despite its internal differences, this civilization has maintained a set of stable elements in its evolution - social and political, moral and cultural, economic and military - which constitute the essence of what we call the West and together make up its distinguishing differences from the East.
The book "Carnage and Culture" examines and analyzes these differences specifically in the military field, demonstrating and interpreting the unique effectiveness of Western civilization in war compared to other traditions that developed in Asia, Africa, or America.
Studying nine landmark military conflicts (starting from the Battle of Salamis in 480 BC and ending with the Vietnam War in 1968) and addressing broader issues of politics, culture, religion, and economy, Professor Victor Davis Hanson, author of the widely read "Who Killed Homer?", dissects the phenomenon of Western military power and explains the reasons that, according to his analysis, have made the Western man the most lethal warrior in history.