Michael Walsh

path to becoming a concert pianist but uh i had that as a model as my father served in korea he's a veteran of the chosen reservoir he's 99 years old in two weeks i had that as a model and i wanted to write last dance was about why do men fight when all's lost why don't they give up and run away but they don't they sit and fight and they die to the last man and they're proud to do it

path to becoming a concert pianist but uh i had that as a model as my father served in korea he's a veteran of the chosen reservoir he's 99 years old in two weeks i had that as a model and i wanted to write last dance was about why do men fight when all's lost why don't they give up and run away but they don't they sit and fight and they die to the last man and they're proud to do it

It's not a question because it is who a man is. And in A Rage to Conquer, I take 12 battles throughout history and the commanders who led them and say, what characteristics do they share in person as men, as thinkers, as warriors?

It's not a question because it is who a man is. And in A Rage to Conquer, I take 12 battles throughout history and the commanders who led them and say, what characteristics do they share in person as men, as thinkers, as warriors?

So I start with Achilles and then Alexander the Great and Caesar and some generals most people haven't heard of, such as Aetius, the last of the Roman generals who fought Attila the Hun. Napoleon gets a big chapter. And then the third book, which I'm writing now, is called The Wrath of God. Give me one of the traits that they share. Give us a taste. Yes, I'll give you a taste.

So I start with Achilles and then Alexander the Great and Caesar and some generals most people haven't heard of, such as Aetius, the last of the Roman generals who fought Attila the Hun. Napoleon gets a big chapter. And then the third book, which I'm writing now, is called The Wrath of God. Give me one of the traits that they share. Give us a taste. Yes, I'll give you a taste.

They know when they're in a battlefield situation what the other guy did a thousand years before. That they have a kinetic sense of the battlefield. This is really the important thing. Alexander had it. Napoleon had it. Which is, they know as they look at a battlefield,

They know when they're in a battlefield situation what the other guy did a thousand years before. That they have a kinetic sense of the battlefield. This is really the important thing. Alexander had it. Napoleon had it. Which is, they know as they look at a battlefield,

that what's going to happen 10 minutes from now they know where the enemy is going to be and they're there and they nail him and alexander did it to darius three times in a row in his conquest of the persian empire napoleon did it most famously at austerlitz against the russians and the austrians um

that what's going to happen 10 minutes from now they know where the enemy is going to be and they're there and they nail him and alexander did it to darius three times in a row in his conquest of the persian empire napoleon did it most famously at austerlitz against the russians and the austrians um

Caesar, what he did during the siege of Alesia, Beaumont of Toronto in the First Crusade does the same thing to the Turks and the Egyptian Fatimids during the siege of Antioch. So you find these common characteristics. They take command. They're not afraid.

Caesar, what he did during the siege of Alesia, Beaumont of Toronto in the First Crusade does the same thing to the Turks and the Egyptian Fatimids during the siege of Antioch. So you find these common characteristics. They take command. They're not afraid.

and they fight to the end sometimes they lose napoleon eventually lost but you know you've been to paris you know where he is he's right on display for the entire city to see at the uh so i found it very illuminating and now the third book's about religious warfare and how the most brutal fighting we have is over god

and they fight to the end sometimes they lose napoleon eventually lost but you know you've been to paris you know where he is he's right on display for the entire city to see at the uh so i found it very illuminating and now the third book's about religious warfare and how the most brutal fighting we have is over god

um it's not i'm not going to argue that religion is the cause of war which is not the truth uh one might equally argue that war is the cause of religion when you start with the greeks and the ancient hebrews and from our common shared from 800 bc on but they are battles that are very very nasty because they are civil in a way civil wars uh among sex

um it's not i'm not going to argue that religion is the cause of war which is not the truth uh one might equally argue that war is the cause of religion when you start with the greeks and the ancient hebrews and from our common shared from 800 bc on but they are battles that are very very nasty because they are civil in a way civil wars uh among sex

of either the abrahamic faiths uh even i'm going to include the taiping rebellion in china because it was led by a chinese man who thought he was the brother of jesus christ and was fighting for christianity in china when general gordon who later died at khartoum was hired by the chinese government put this rebellion down so you find all these common thrills and you link them up and

of either the abrahamic faiths uh even i'm going to include the taiping rebellion in china because it was led by a chinese man who thought he was the brother of jesus christ and was fighting for christianity in china when general gordon who later died at khartoum was hired by the chinese government put this rebellion down so you find all these common thrills and you link them up and

And here you impose a narrative. I mean, as a writer, you're allowed to do that with these big books because you have to have a framework. Why am I talking about this? But once it gets going, it's hard work, but it's a lot of fun. And the readers have responded very well, I'm happy to say.

And here you impose a narrative. I mean, as a writer, you're allowed to do that with these big books because you have to have a framework. Why am I talking about this? But once it gets going, it's hard work, but it's a lot of fun. And the readers have responded very well, I'm happy to say.