Acts of War

Contemporary Review, April, 2004

Acts of War. Richard Holmes. Weidenfeld & Nicolson. [pounds sterling]20.00. xii 436 pages. ISBN 0-297-84668-X. Because of his successful television series Prof. Holmes has emerged as everyman's guide to warfare. In this re-issue of a title first published as Firing Line in 1985, he reasserts that man remains 'the central weapon of war ...

individuals really do make a difference'. This title is concerned not with the leaders but the led, with the 'moral qualities' in the fighting man, and in those with whom one fights. Even the most advanced weapon systems have their limits and 'low level combat' remains essentially the same. The need for discipline and the value of beliefs, including religious beliefs, are as important now as ever. Armies still have a 'duty to be different' from civilian organisations. Undermining everything in military life are the values held by soldiers and this is one of the aspects discussed in this study of battlefield behaviour.