Looking beyond popular explanations such as geography or advanced technology, Hanson argues that it is in fact Western culture and values–the tradition of dissent, the importance placed on inventiveness and adaptation, the concept of citizenship-which have consistently produced superior arms and soldiers. Offering riveting battle narratives and a balanced perspective that avoids simple triumphalism, Carnage and Culture demonstrates how armies cannot be separated from the cultures that produce them and explains why an army produced by a free culture will always have the advantage.