The Abuse of Military History
The Abuse of Military History by LTC Bob Bateman at SWJ Blog.
Quote:
The Abuse of Military History: An Introduction to the Problems of Victor Davis Hanson
By Bob Bateman
I am a soldier, first and foremost, and this is as it should be. But I am also an academic historian.
As a member of two cultures, I find that they have much in common, at least in theory. Foremost among those is an inclination to distrust the first report, and to privilege the written word. In my historical writing, however, I seek to create a thesis for the reader which accurately represents a synthesis of facts and ideas that come from sometimes quite disparate sources. In developing that thesis, I am bound by the facts. This, also, is as it should be. But there is something else my two professions share. In short, members of both professions hate liars and those who twist the truth around.
My book on the events at No Gun Ri in 1950 devotes fully half of the text to understanding how lies worked their way into the historical record and people's understanding of what took place near that small South Korean village more than 50 years ago. The bottom line is that I have a strong sentiment against people putting falsehoods into the record...
Much more at the link.
