Last Stands: Why Men Fight When All Is Lost

A philosophical and spiritual defense of the premodern world, of the tragic view, of physical courage, and of masculinity and self-sacrifice in an age when those ancient virtues are too often caricatured and dismissed.
--Victor Davis Hanson

Award-winning author Michael Walsh celebrates the masculine attributes of heroism that forged American civilization and Western culture by exploring historical battles in which soldiers chose death over dishonor in Last Stands: Why Men Fight When All Is Lost.

In our contemporary era, men are increasingly denied their heritage as warriors. A survival instinct that's part of the human condition, the drive to wage war is natural. Without war, the United States would not exist. The technology that has eased manual labor, extended lifespans, and become an integral part of our lives and culture has often evolved from wartime scientific advancements. War is necessary to defend the social and political principles that define the virtues and freedoms of America and other Western nations. We should not be ashamed of the heroes who sacrificed their lives to build a better world. We should be honoring them.

The son of a Korean War veteran of the Inchon landing and the battle of the Chosin Reservoir with the U.S. Marine Corps, Michael Walsh knows all about heroism, valor, and the call of duty that requires men to fight for something greater than themselves to protect their families, fellow countrymen, and most of all their fellow soldiers. In Last Stands, Walsh reveals the causes and outcomes of more than a dozen battles in which a small fighting force refused to surrender to a far larger force, often dying to the last man.

From the Spartans' defiance at Thermopylae and Roland's epic defense of Charlemagne's rear guard at Ronceveaux Pass, through Santa Anna's siege of the Alamo defended by Davy Crockett and Jim Bowie to the skirmish at Little Big Horn between Crazy Horse's Sioux nation and George Armstrong Custer's Seventh Calvary, to the Soviets' titanic struggle against the German Wehrmacht at Stalingrad, and more, Walsh reminds us all of the debt we owe to heroes willing to risk their lives against overwhelming odds--and how these sacrifices and battles are not only a part of military history but our common civilizational heritage.

Author: Michael Walsh
Publisher: St. Martin's Press
Published: 12/01/2020
Pages: 368
Binding Type: Hardcover
Weight: 1.40lbs
Size: 9.30h x 6.10w x 1.30d
ISBN: 9781250217080


Review Citation(s):
Publishers Weekly 10/12/2020

About the Author
The author of more than fifteen novels and non-fiction books, MICHAEL WALSH was the classical music critic for Time Magazine and received the 2004 American Book Awards prize for fiction for his gangster novel, And All the Saints in 2004. His popular columns for National Review written under the pseudonym David Kahane were developed into the book, Rules for Radical Conservatives. His books The Devil's Pleasure Palace and The Fiery Angel, examine the enemies, heroes, triumphs and struggles of Western Civilization from the ancient past to the present time. He divides his time between Connecticut and Ireland.