Heroes and Cowards: The Social Face of War (2008), the new book co-authored by Matthew Kahn '88 and his wife Dora L. Costa, recently received high praise in a review in The Wall Street Journal (1/12/09). The book examines possible factors and causes that led to nearly 200,000 Union soldiers deserting their positions during the Civil War. It provides a look into military sociology and the social costs of diversity, and the authors note the contemporary implications of their historical study.
To understand why about 10 percent of the Northern army deserted, the authors analyzed the life histories of 41,000 Union soldiers (35,000 white and 6,000 black). While age, marital status, their hometown's amount of support for the war's cause, and the recent successes or failures of the army effected many soldiers' decisions to stay, the most important predictor of desertion was socioeconomic and demographic diversity. Companies made up of volunteers of similar age and occupation who were born in the same areas were the least likely to produce deserters. To explain this finding, the authors quote Ardant du Picq, a 19th-century French colonel and military theorist: "Four brave men who do not know each other will not dare to attack a lion. Four less brave, but knowing each other well, sure of their reliability and consequently of mutual aid, will attack resolutely."
Social cohesion improved a soldiers' likelihood of staying in the war, and consequently his chances of being killed, wounded, or captured. Social cohesion of soldiers also increased their chances of survival in Confederate prison camps because they would have loyal comrades to look out for and take care of them. Kahn and Costa note that this was also the case in Nazi and Soviet camps.
Through the analysis of Civil War soldiers, Costa and Kahn emphasize the advantages of trust and mutual sacrifice that come from social similarity. When people consider helping others, whether through volunteer organizations or welfare-state transfers, they are less likely to assist (and more likely to neglect) those who are unlike themselves.
Kahn is also the author of Green Cities: Urban Growth and the Environment (2006).
-- by Molly Kane '09
To understand why about 10 percent of the Northern army deserted, the authors analyzed the life histories of 41,000 Union soldiers (35,000 white and 6,000 black). While age, marital status, their hometown's amount of support for the war's cause, and the recent successes or failures of the army effected many soldiers' decisions to stay, the most important predictor of desertion was socioeconomic and demographic diversity. Companies made up of volunteers of similar age and occupation who were born in the same areas were the least likely to produce deserters. To explain this finding, the authors quote Ardant du Picq, a 19th-century French colonel and military theorist: "Four brave men who do not know each other will not dare to attack a lion. Four less brave, but knowing each other well, sure of their reliability and consequently of mutual aid, will attack resolutely."
Social cohesion improved a soldiers' likelihood of staying in the war, and consequently his chances of being killed, wounded, or captured. Social cohesion of soldiers also increased their chances of survival in Confederate prison camps because they would have loyal comrades to look out for and take care of them. Kahn and Costa note that this was also the case in Nazi and Soviet camps.
Through the analysis of Civil War soldiers, Costa and Kahn emphasize the advantages of trust and mutual sacrifice that come from social similarity. When people consider helping others, whether through volunteer organizations or welfare-state transfers, they are less likely to assist (and more likely to neglect) those who are unlike themselves.
Kahn is also the author of Green Cities: Urban Growth and the Environment (2006).
-- by Molly Kane '09
