War! What's it good for?
According to Hassig, many things. So much has been written of the Aztec "flower war" to get sacrificial captives. Ross Hassig brings a breath of fresh air in. His explanations of the "other war" often called "dart war," is concise and intelligeble. He makes many points about the purpose of war in this book.
Not anything grandiloquent like the philosophical musing of war in an esoteric ivory tower kind of way. Hassig is a very down-to-earth writer. He wants to know WHY, and he works on finding the WHY and conveying it to his readers.
This book is quite scholarly, not for the casual reader unless they've a good grounding and interest in Meso America and the so-called "Aztecs," Mexica-Tenochca to be more accurate.
Hassig traces all the wars and battles fouth by the Mexica over a century and more, finding reason why they fought, reasons for where they fought and reasons for what they accomplished.
Heavily detailed, annotated and cross referenced, this book is a gem on the shelf of anybody interested in pre-industrial warfare.
