TY - BOOK ID - 16296541 TI - Soldiers and Civilization : How the Profession of Arms Thought and Fought the Modern World into Existence PY - 2017 SN - 9781682470671 PB - Annapolis, MD : Naval Institute Press, DB - UniCat KW - ARMIES--HISTORY KW - SOLDIERS--HISTORY KW - MILITARY ART AND SCIENCE--HISTORY UR - https://www.unicat.be/uniCat?func=search&query=sysid:16296541 AB - Drawing from military history, sociology, and other disciplines, this book covers the history of the military profession in the Western world from the ancient Greeks to the present day and shows how both soldiers and their civilizations have helped mold each other over time. The author goes beyond traditional insights to locate the military profession in the context of both literary and cultural history, maintaining 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. Throughout history soldiers have sought instruction and inspiration from the past to gain insight into modern conflicts. Military professionals of today must know, heed, and apply the examples and narrative of the most successful and exemplary of their predecessors to help advance a civilization into its future. However, this process can succeed only when it includes critical self-examination and a discourse with the larger society it serves. The book argues that the military profession, in its broadest consideration, might be viewed as an interdisciplinary branch of the humanities, a repository of important practical and abstract knowledge on armed conflict, ethics, community, and human nature. By representing and upholding the values on which civilization is founded, true military professionals provide the stability for it to thrive and create new ideas, thereby ensuring an existential symbiosis that serves and preserves both. ER -