First published 2021
Margaret MacMillan examines warfare as a fundamental force in human development. She argues that fighting represents an inherent human instinct while peace remains history's exception. MacMillan explores how combat has molded our institutions, governments, values, and cultural expressions. Our language, public monuments, personal recollections, and artistic achievements all bear warfare's imprint, reflecting both its horror and honor. The historian investigates how conflict has transformed human civilization and how shifts in political structures, technology, and belief systems have altered our methods and motivations for fighting. She tackles contentious questions about warfare's origins, whether human nature condemns us to perpetual conflict, and why combat ranks among humanity's most systematic activities. MacMillan examines how societies create warriors and why men predominantly fill these roles. She also considers attempts to regulate and limit warfare. Using examples spanning global history, MacMillan demonstrates warfare's multiple dimensions and its influence on our past, future, worldview, and self-understanding.
Genres: history, 20th-century, non-fiction, 21st-century, military-history, academic
Vibes: intimate, suspenseful, thought-provoking
Tropes: historical-non-fiction
Period: 20th-Century, 21st-Century
336 pages · Paperback · Penguin Canada
Content warnings: violence, war