"Go Tell the Spartans" The Battle of Thermopylae (480 B.c.) -- "Varus, Give Me Back My Legions" Cannae (216. B.c.) and the Teutoburg Forest (9 a.d.) -- "We Have It in Our Power to Die Honorably As Free Men" Masada (73/74 a.d.) and Warsaw (1943) -- "We Have Come to Rue Your Prowess, Roland!" The Battle of Roncevaux Pass and the Chanson De Roland (778 / 1115) -- "Look at Me. I Am Still Alive" The Battle of Hastings (1066) -- "I Must Perform Some Action Worthy of a Man" The Last Stand of the Swiss Guards (1527) -- "Today We Bring Dignity Upon Our Names" The Siege of Szigetvar (1566) -- "These Aren't Men, They Are Devils!" The Alamo (1836) and CamaroĢn (1863) -- "Lick 'em Tomorrow, Though" Grant at Shiloh (1862) -- "Big Village" Custer at the Little Bighorn (1876) -- "Each Individual Soldier Did His Work And Duty Well. Ay, and Right Well" Rorke's Draft (1879) and Khartoum (1885) -- "Not One Step Back" The Battle of Pavlov's House: Stalingrad -- Epilogue: "Iron Mike" The Chosin Reservoir.
Summary:
"Walsh does a service to patriots everywhere. His must-read book allows the reader to work 'the why' around in his mind-and come to an understanding of real heroism." -Steve Bannon What are we willing to die for? Michael Walsh restores the dignity of lost concepts like honor, duty, sacrifice and patriotism for our unheroic age. What is heroism? What are its moral components-altruism, love, self-sacrifice? Why was it once celebrated, and now often dismissed as anachronistic? In this dramatic and readable account of last stands in history-famous or otherwise-Walsh explores the stakes that led men at very different times and places to face overwhelming odds and certain death for the sake of family, home and country. In Last Stands, Walsh writes about battles in which a small group faced overwhelming odds, and all too often died to the last man-battles like Thermopylae, the Ronceveaux Pass, the Alamo, the siege of Malta, Little Big Horn, Stalingrad, Rorke's Drift, and the Warsaw Ghetto-explaining why they were fought, what their ultimate outcome was, and their afterlife in history, myth and culture"-- Provided by publisher.
This resource is supported by the Institute of Museum and Library Services under the provisions of the Library Services and Technology Act as administered by State Library of Iowa.