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In
The Merciful Warrior, author Cathal J. Nolan compiles and analyzes acts of mercy and decency in war, drawing upon centuries of military history and dozens of wars to challenge nationalist myths, the usual heroic fabrications, and all claims to exclusive or unilateral moral virtue.
List of contents
- Prologue
- Part I Culture
- Decency
- Heroes
- Movies
- Killers
- Part II Combat
- Trenches
- Forests
- Dissent
- Truces
- Part III Protected
- Medics
- Prisoners
- Civilians
- Part IV Technology
- Wood and Sail
- Steel and Stealth
- War in the Air
- Conclusion
- Works Cited
About the author
Cathal J. Nolan is the author of The Allure of Battle: A History of How Wars Have Been Won and Lost, for which he received both the Gilder Lehrman Prize in Military History and the first Distinguished Book Award from War on the Rocks. Nolan's other works include a two-volume Concise History of World War II; Wars of the Age of Louis XIV; a two-volume study of The Age of the Wars of Religion; a study of Principled Diplomacy, and several edited books in ethics in international affairs and international and military history. He is Professor of History at Boston University, a Progress Fellow at the Mercatus Center at George Mason University, and a Fellow of the Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.
Summary
In The Merciful Warrior, author Cathal J. Nolan compiles and analyzes acts of mercy and decency in war, drawing upon centuries of military history and dozens of wars to challenge nationalist myths, the usual heroic fabrications, and all claims to exclusive or unilateral moral virtue.
Additional text
Most histories of war write of—even revel in— its detached cruelty and violence. This brilliant book does just the opposite: focusing on those men and women who treated their adversaries as people. Mercy is a one-of-kind journey out of the heart of darkness and into the realm of the human soul at its most sublime. Be forewarned, though: reading this book is an emotional experience. I cried more than a few times.
