Michael Walsh's Last Stands: Why Men Fight When All Is Lost is a spellbinding study of male courage in the face of likely or certain death, from the "Three Hundred" Spartans at Thermopylae in 480 BC to "Pavlov's House" during the murderous slugfest in Stalingrad in 1943. He follows that with an epilog about his father, a Marine lieutenant at "Frozen Chosin" in November 1950. It's read a great read, though some are less illuminating than others -- especially the Last Stands in which no one survives, as with the Jewish defenders of Masada in 74-75 BC, and the Swiss Guards who defended Pope Clement VII in 1527. (Well, the Pope survived, but he left no information about the men who died getting him safe to Castel Sant' Angelo.) >Mr Walsh goofs when he writes of the hazards of the Korean war, when a Mama-san might reach under her skirt and spray the Americans with an AK-47. The shooting stopped along the 38th parallel in 1953, three years before China adoptd an AK-47 variant, and five years before North Korea adopted it. Mr Walsh also commits the customary but annoying mistake of using Wehrmacht to mean the German army, which actually was (and still is), the Heer, which like the Kriegsmarine and the Luftwaffe was just one branch of the Wehrmacht.

I thank NetGalley for sharing a copy of this unique book with me. Here is my fondest hope regarding “Last Stands” by Michael Walsh: that Mr Walsh became so fascinated with the idea of a ‘last stand’ that he decided, quite deliberately, to write his book as a last stand. By that I mean, he chose to stake out a position and to fight all opposition and critiques until the bitter end ---knowing full well that this position was, ultimately indefensible and that (noble) defeat inevitable.
Let me back up a bit before returning to Mr Walsh’s last stand. This book is an interesting collection of stories of men (yes men, not people and certainly not women) engaged in valiant struggles against overwhelming odds. Mr Walsh includes a fascinating range of battles: some of which I knew about (Shiloh, the Alamo, Thermopylae) while others were completely obscure (Szigetvar). For every battle there is impressive amount of detail and an interpretation of events, their causes and effects that are often breath-taking in their certainty. The shear obscurity of these events and their details however, meant that I had no basis to evaluate Mr Walsh’s interpretations and/ conclusions. In the end all history is interpretation and while I appreciate the confidence that Mr Walsh’s expresses in his interpretations, I cannot escape the conclusion that things are not quite as clear and final as he would have us believe.
Impossible to write a book with “last stand” in the title and not include an analysis of Custer’s. Ironically, I found this chapter one of the weakest and not only not compelling, but inconsistent with the very concept of ‘last stands”. Events like the Alamo and Thermopylae share at their core a small group of men trying, valiantly, to maintain a defensive position against overwhelming odds. Custer’s last stand, on the other hand, was an offensive action. Mr Walsh has great respect for Custer’s military history. True enough, but there seems ample evidence to recognize that these traits that served him so well in previous battles, contributed directly to the outcome of his last stand. Furthermore, the length of time of this ‘stand” also stands at odds with these other examples. Again, we can discuss and debate many features of what happened and why, but it seems clear that this stand was over in minutes or hours and certainly not days.
So, in the end where are we? For me, Mr Walsh lost his last stand.. There are just too many questionable interpretations, too many inconvenient facts, too many questions. Battle lost, yet what a stand! All hail this effort, this book. Let us carry this book off – on its shield – and celebrate the warrior spirit it kindles in all of us.

A very thoughtful and enjoyable read for any military historian or history buff, especially those fascinated by the heroic and often literal "fight to the death" of warriors throughout the history of western civilization.

The author’s Introduction should neither be skipped nor skimmed, as it outlines the purpose of the book. I will warn you that the author does not hold back in presenting his ideas, and it is a certainty he will ruffle some feathers while others will nod their heads in fervent agreement. This book talks about the ancient values that men held dear, values that are caught in a push-pull situation in today’s world. To quote the author, “…the natural state of man is war. Our most fundamental myths and legends concern war, not peace.” No matter what one thinks, controversy is good and spurs growth. Or, at the very least, scintillating conversation.

Author Michael Walsh has assembled a book of “Last Stands,” and goes into depth on each of the selected battles explaining why, even though there is no hope of winning, men continue to fight. True, this has been done before, and multiple times on some of these stories. Where Mr. Wash’s book stands apart is his attention to detail and doing everything he can to inject a humanism into each chapter. He does this through numerous footnotes, giving the reader additional information that, while it may not pertain to furthering the current point, it does provide side information about the combatants. In other words, rather than reduce the people to nothing more than pieces on a chessboard, the author allows us to see different facets of their personalities and traits and thus gain greater insight into their actions.

Personally, I was happy to see some of the very early battles. While I knew the basic stories, it was interesting to flesh out my knowledge of these events in history, especially since each had (or missed out on having) an effect on the world going forward. Mr. Walsh takes the time to point out the possibilities. Some of them (Custer’s Last Stand, for instance) had much greater implications than I had ever considered before. The author also visits the much-repeated truism, that history repeats itself. For instance, when discussing the end of the Roman Empire, he states it “…illustrated the folly of a declining native birth rate and generous immigration from inimical lands and peoples.” Ruffling feathers, indeed.

Overall, very interesting and chockful of knowledge and informative trivia. Five stars.

My thanks to NetGalley and St. Martin’s Press for a complimentary electronic copy of this book.

I found the book to be an ok read. Parts were interesting, however I wish he author had spent more time discussing the actual last stands rather than providing what at times seemed to be a bias view of the events from a social or political viewpoint. It was interesting to see some of the impacts the last stands had, but overall, I was disappointed.
Thank you to #NetGalley for the ARC in exchange for my honest review.

I started this book and had high hopes. I was enjoying it and then all of the sudden it went south [at 5%] and made me realize I need to vet the authors of the nonfiction books I request better.
This man is anti-feminism, anti-trans [calls them a socio-Marxist community trying to take over the world] and extremely misogynistic [women only belong at home, have never been drawn to battle, should be taking care of the family and nothing else blah blah blah], and is seemingly a supporter of the current administration and I am NOT reading the crap he writes. The idea that women have never been drawn into battle is just ludicrous [see Deborah in the Bible, Joan of Arc, Elizabeth the 1st and the list goes on and on] and even tries to bring mythology into it [ahem...ATHENA anyone?? Diana, who descends from Artemis? Sigh]. And the whole idea that trans people are less than because they think differently than other people and that they are Marxist is beyond ludicrous - it is wrong and rude. IF Mr. Walsh wanted to write a biography/memoir or essays and include all these ridiculous notions, then that is one thing, but to write a book that is supposedly about last stands in war and other things [and here is the perfect way to include the Trans community and women and all the battles that they have and continue to fight], this is not the place to voice his personal views on things he clearly knows very little about. Thankfully, all of this knowledge comes very early on in the book and I was spared reading more of his drivel.
What a huge disappointment. I would never recommend this to anyone.

Thank you to NetGalley and St. Martin Press for providing this ARC in exchange for an honest review.

Last Stands: Why Men Fight When All Is Lost tells some interesting parts of history. I give it five stars.

This book is an interesting read. It takes a slightly different approach from what you would expect with a title of Last Stands. While there is some narrative in each chapter about the battle, the majority is about what motivated the individuals to proceed knowing that there was little to no hope for success in either the short or long run. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for more that just the detail on the battles described in the book.

I received a free Kindle copy of this book courtesy of NetGalley and the publisher with the understanding that I would post a review on Net Galley, Goodreads, Amazon and my nonfiction book review blog.

Free ARC from Net Galley

This is not a rehash of facts, but a drill down into the why men fight when all is lost.

This will be a strange book to most in a world of phones, tweets, and 3 mins of fame. This is an in depth study of honor and of seeing the true event horizon that one can have often thru belief and sheer will.

I recently finished reading an advance examination copy of Michael Walsh's "Last Stands: Why Men Fight When All Is Lost," soon to be published by St. Martin's Press. It is an intriguing and unexpected approach to its subject matter. Anyone approaching the text should carefully examine the second part of the title, for this is no detailed attempt to reexamine the events of particular battles, and it is in no sense comprehensive. Instead, it examines several of the best known "last stands" (as well as a couple of truly obscure ones) and carefully places them in their cultural contexts. This is accomplished by a basic description of the battle embedded in a contextual discussion of its short and long term consequences. The basic question that informs these cultural speculations is the second part of the title. In some sense the author is a sort of contextual translator, trying to explain how these events, profoundly rooted in our past, make little sense to us because of the cultural changes that have occurred in Western Civilization over the past few centuries. The author makes a compelling case for his thesis although it will not find favor with many of those who will find it profoundly politically incorrect. There is much discussion of masculinity as well honor, duty, patriotism and other virtues traditionally associated with military culture. Notably, the author relies heavily on literary artifacts to demonstrate how these kinds of military actions, which can seem so alien to modern consciousness, can be interpreted in a more sympathetic fashion leading to greater understanding by trying to get past our modern biases. In each case examined, and they have significant differences between them, It quickly becomes apparent that we must suspend some of our modern prejudices to truly understand how actions which are easily dismissed as suicidal or foolish can (and frequently do) lead to the creation of important myths and legends which shape our societies. What is more, the arguments made suggest that this is obvious to the soldiers or warriors involved even as they sacrifice their lives fully understanding that their sacrifice will have consequences that will reflect well on them. Read it and think about it. You may not agree with all of it, but you will surely find your interest piqued.