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Primitive war, its practice and concepts.
Primitive war;: Its practice and concepts [Hardcover] Harry Holbert Turney-High (Author)
- GenresHistory
Paperback
First published January 1, 1949
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July 8, 2017
I have been wanting to read this book for a while as it was referenced in two other books - A History of Warfare and On Killing: The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society - that I really enjoyed, and so I thought it would have more in-depth discussion of the points referenced in the others.
There were a great deal of excellent points in Primitive War. The concept of the 'military horizon' that Turney-High defines is a fascinating way of studying societies. Turney-High spends a great deal of time studying different cultures and their existential challenges to provide the reader with ways of comparing say the Zulus and the Iroquois within context side by side. The reader sees the similarities and the differences in cultures below the military horizon, and how they differ from those above it.
That said, there were a number of things that left me disappointed. This book has aged pretty badly. Much of the language and attitude of Turney-High is out of favour today. While language to a certain point I can understand, the attitudes of the author can be condescending rather than a product of his time. For example, I can understand that notions of primitivity and savagery were used as definitions, yet it would help a reader if Turney-High actually explained, just as he explained the concept of a military horizon, exactly what constituted a primitive culture, and a savage, for in many cases it felt that when he used the terms primitive or savage, it was said with an air of disdain. It seems that despite his subject being worthy enough of writing a book on they weren't worthy of resisting a few choice sneers.
I felt that there were many omissions that I was curious about. Not much is made of Asia outside the Mongols and a few other references, which leaves a great deal of cultures ignored. I would have liked more on ancient China or Japanese, for instance. And I found that Turney-High preferred to spend much more of his time talking about the various ways tribes would - for example - scalp or preserve heads rather than go a step above and talk more about the overarching purpose of these actions.
That said, this is a well-written study that is only available through Turney-High's range of interests, studies and life experiences, and despite my disappointment, I still found it deeply interesting.
There were a great deal of excellent points in Primitive War. The concept of the 'military horizon' that Turney-High defines is a fascinating way of studying societies. Turney-High spends a great deal of time studying different cultures and their existential challenges to provide the reader with ways of comparing say the Zulus and the Iroquois within context side by side. The reader sees the similarities and the differences in cultures below the military horizon, and how they differ from those above it.
That said, there were a number of things that left me disappointed. This book has aged pretty badly. Much of the language and attitude of Turney-High is out of favour today. While language to a certain point I can understand, the attitudes of the author can be condescending rather than a product of his time. For example, I can understand that notions of primitivity and savagery were used as definitions, yet it would help a reader if Turney-High actually explained, just as he explained the concept of a military horizon, exactly what constituted a primitive culture, and a savage, for in many cases it felt that when he used the terms primitive or savage, it was said with an air of disdain. It seems that despite his subject being worthy enough of writing a book on they weren't worthy of resisting a few choice sneers.
I felt that there were many omissions that I was curious about. Not much is made of Asia outside the Mongols and a few other references, which leaves a great deal of cultures ignored. I would have liked more on ancient China or Japanese, for instance. And I found that Turney-High preferred to spend much more of his time talking about the various ways tribes would - for example - scalp or preserve heads rather than go a step above and talk more about the overarching purpose of these actions.
That said, this is a well-written study that is only available through Turney-High's range of interests, studies and life experiences, and despite my disappointment, I still found it deeply interesting.
Displaying 1 of 1 review