Description:
An Economist Best Book of 2024
Why has war been such a consistent presence throughout the human past? A leading historian explains, drawing on rich examples and keen insight.
Brief description: Richard Overy is the author of many outstanding histories of World War II, including Rain of Ruin: Tokyo, Hiroshima, and the Surrender of Japan. His study of Hitler and Stalin, The Dictators, won the Wolfson History Prize. He lives in England and Italy.
Review Quotes: Richard Overy [is] one of the world's finest military historians and probably the best historian of World War II writing in English today. His new work tackles the ever-elusive question of why humans have engaged in warfare since the dawn of history. It is a simply worded question but one that is extraordinarily complex to answer, as Overy demonstrates in chapter after chapter....The world is returning to great-power competition with increased risk of great-power war as the international system of rules that was put in place in 1945 comes under increased stress for a variety of reasons. Overy's book is timely for those interested in preventing war and maintaining the nearly 80-year stretch of great-power peace the world has enjoyed since World War II ended.--Gen. Mark Milley, U.S. Army retired "Army Magazine"