Armchairs, Coffee, and Authority: Eye-witnesses and Flesh-witnesses Speak about War, 1100-2000(1)

Is it necessary to understand the experience of war in order to understand war? And is it possible to understand the experience of war at second hand? This article surveys how soldiers, scholars, and the general public approached and answered these questions from the eleventh century to the twentiet...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:The Journal of military history 2010-01, Vol.74 (1), p.53
Main Author: Harari, Yuval Noah
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Armed forces
Historians
Middle Ages
Military history
Military strategy
War
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Is it necessary to understand the experience of war in order to understand war? And is it possible to understand the experience of war at second hand? This article surveys how soldiers, scholars, and the general public approached and answered these questions from the eleventh century to the twentieth century. The article thereby offers a long-term history of war-witnessing, and of the authority it carried. It argues that the Middle Ages and early modern era were dominated by the eye-witness, who drew authority from the observation of objective facts. The late modern era is dominated by the flesh-witness, who draws authority from undergoing subjective experiences. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
ISSN:0899-3718
1543-7795