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Book Review: The Medal of Honor: The Evolution of America’s Highest Military Decoration
War in History ( IF 0.171 ) Pub Date : 2020-11-01 , DOI: 10.1177/0968344520961930a
Matthew J. Lord 1
Affiliation  

1 These include C. Holmes, ‘Byzantine Political Culture and Compilation Literature in the Tenth and Eleventh Centuries: Some Preliminary Enquiries’, Dumbarton Oaks Papers, 64 (2010), pp. 55–80; L. Hoffmann, ‘Geschichtsschreibung oder Rhetorik? Zum logos parakletikos von Leon Diakonos’, in M. Grünbart, ed., Theatron. Rhetorische Kultur in Spätantike und Mittelalter (Berlin and New York, 2007), pp. 105–40; A. Kaldellis, Streams of Gold, Rivers of Blood. The Rise and Fall of Byzantium, 955 AD to the First Crusade (New York, 2017); A. Kaldellis, ‘The Manufacture of History in the Later Tenth and Eleventh Centuries: Rhetorical Templates and Narrative Ontologies’, Proceedings of the 23rd International Congress of Byzantine Studies (Belgrade, 22–27 August 2016): Plenary Papers (Belgrade, 2016), pp. 293–306; A. Markopoulos, ‘From Narrative Historiography to Historical Biography. New Trends in Byzantine Historical Writing in the 10th/11th Centuries’, Byzantinische Zeitschrift, 102 (2009), pp. 697–715. relevant studies, notably by Catherine Holmes, Lars Hoffmann, Anthony Kaldellis, and Athanasios Markopoulos, are altogether absent from the author’s work.1 Theotokis argues that some sources were eye witnesses and experienced officers, and thus scholars should refrain from perceiving them as ‘dependent on rhetorical devices or having the tendency to reduce battles to a series of conventional images’ (p. 250). As it stands, however, this argument is not very convincing. While, Theotokis himself notes that a military historian ought to ‘know the background, life and specific context in which they [medieval historians] wrote’ and ‘become cognisant of how they understood battle and what the literary models that underscored their writing were’ (p. 250), he does not take into account that rhetorical education, even at an elementary level, instructed the Byzantines how to draft plausible battle and urban descriptions by imitating older sources. Thus, an experienced officer could have written his history being influenced simultaneously by literary conventions and education as well as by his military knowledge. Theotokis’ observations about armament, marching, and battle formations go into great detail and attempt to demonstrate how the advice of the manuals was applied on the battlefield. His argument, however, is mostly speculative due to the fact that the sources preserve very little relevant information, while sometimes they clearly report that the instructions of the manuals were not employed word for word. Although this book has some weak points, it is a very welcome contribution to the field. It contains much fresh argument about Byzantine and Arab warfare and evidence from Muslim and Latin sources previously neglected. Last but not least, its comparative approach will stimulate more discussion in the future and will encourage further dialogue between disciplines.

中文翻译:

书评:荣誉勋章:美国最高军事装饰的演变

1 其中包括 C. Holmes,“十世纪和十一世纪的拜占庭政治文化和汇编文学:一些初步调查”,敦巴顿橡树园论文,64(2010),第 55-80 页;L. Hoffmann, 'Geschichtsschreibung oder Rhetorik?Zum logos parakletikos von Leon Diakonos', M. Grünbart, ed., Theatron。《Spätantike und Mittelalter》中的修辞文化(柏林和纽约,2007 年),第 105-40 页;A. Kaldellis,黄金之流,血之河。拜占庭的兴衰,公元 955 年至第一次十字军东征(纽约,2017 年);A. Kaldellis,“10 世纪后期和 11 世纪的历史制造:修辞模板和叙事本体论”,第 23 届拜占庭研究国际大会论文集(贝尔格莱德,2016 年 8 月 22-27 日):全体会议论文(贝尔格莱德,2016 年) ,第 293-306 页;A. 马可普洛斯,'从叙事史学到历史传记。10 世纪/11 世纪拜占庭历史写作的新趋势,拜占庭时代杂志,102(2009 年),第 697-715 页。相关研究,特别是凯瑟琳·霍姆斯、拉尔斯·霍夫曼、安东尼·卡尔德利斯和阿萨纳西斯·马科普洛斯的研究,完全没有出现在作者的作品中。 1 Theotokis 认为一些来源是目击者和经验丰富的官员,因此学者们应该避免将他们视为“依赖在修辞手法上或倾向于将战斗简化为一系列传统图像”(第 250 页)。然而,就目前而言,这个论点并不是很有说服力。虽然,西奥托基斯本人指出,军事历史学家应该“了解背景,生活和他们[中世纪历史学家]写作的具体背景”和“认识到他们如何理解战斗以及强调他们写作的文学模型是什么”(第250页),他没有考虑到修辞教育,甚至在初级阶段,指导拜占庭人如何通过模仿旧资料来起草合理的战斗和城市描述。因此,一位经验丰富的军官可以在同时受到文学惯例和教育以及他的军事知识的影响的情况下书写他的历史。Theotokis 对武器、行军和战斗编队的观察非常详细,并试图证明手册中的建议如何应用于战场。然而,他的论点,主要是推测性的,因为来源保留的相关信息很少,而有时他们清楚地报告说,手册的说明没有逐字逐句地使用。虽然这本书有一些弱点,但它是对该领域非常受欢迎的贡献。它包含许多关于拜占庭和阿拉伯战争的新论点,以及之前被忽视的穆斯林和拉丁语来源的证据。最后但并非最不重要的是,它的比较方法将在未来激发更多讨论,并鼓励学科之间的进一步对话。它包含许多关于拜占庭和阿拉伯战争的新论点,以及之前被忽视的穆斯林和拉丁语来源的证据。最后但并非最不重要的是,它的比较方法将在未来激发更多讨论,并鼓励学科之间的进一步对话。它包含许多关于拜占庭和阿拉伯战争的新论点,以及之前被忽视的穆斯林和拉丁语来源的证据。最后但并非最不重要的是,它的比较方法将在未来激发更多讨论,并鼓励学科之间的进一步对话。
更新日期:2020-11-01
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