Hanson, Victor Davis (Belisarius; Petraeus, David; Ridgway, Matthew; Sherman, William T.; Themistocles)

The Savior Generals: How Five Great Commanders Saved Wars that were Lost- From Ancient Greece to Iraq

New York, NY: Bloomsbury Press, 2013. First Edition. Hardcover. “War was always here. Before man was, war waited for him. The ultimate trade awaiting its ultimate practitioner.”-- Cormac McCarthy (1933–2023), “Blood Meridian: Or The Evening Redness In The West”. Historian, academic, author, and editor, Victor Davis Hanson is a writer whose scholarly bonafides need no bolstering. Hanson has written, or edited over twenty-six books covering a vast swath of historical occurrences, and a legion of articles and academic journals. “The Savior Generals” is a set of excellent pocket biographies of five generals (Themistocles, Belisarius, William Techumseh Sherman, Matthew Ridgway, and David Petraeus) who saved their nations from defeat in war. Hanson’s prose is often vivid, and clinical, providing in-depth and insightful looks into these five personages. At times, Hanson’s enthusiasm and admiration for these figures can seem almost jingoistic and an over fetishization of “western civilization”, that being said, however, Hanson does a very good job of portraying these figures with an admirable amount of clarity and sincerity, if being a little ahistorical at times while doing so. All that to say that, while at times Hanson indulges himself in some “great man theory” adjacent navel-gazing and at times U.S.-foreign policy-apologia, the pros of this book as a historical accounting far outweigh the cons. Overall, “The Savior Generals”, is a historical text that dissects events and decisions that have, in no small part, shaped modern history and geopolitical landscapes in a relatively concise and easily parse-able way. From the collection of George V. Buehler (1933-2020), who was a prominent real estate developer & collector in Massachusetts & Arizona. We found & have retained, between blank rear endpaper & pastedown, printed-out documentation relating to Buehler's purchase of this item during 2015, two of three folded & all in extremely fine condition. Hardcover in unclipped dust-jacket. First edition as stated on copyright page, first printing as indicated by number sequence thereon. Book is in very fine condition with minute wear to fine edges; dust-jacket in very fine condition with minor smudging to front and back covers, and light bending/wear to upper fine edges. Very Fine / Very Fine. [Item #5714]

Price: $30.00