Thanks to NetGalley for the ARC of this!

This is further proof that the best historians are women! This was a sparkling read. I learned so much from this book and I am a very avid reader of world history. Definitely recommend this one highly for students of history, war, politics.

Thank you to NetGalley for this ARC.

This was well written and researched. It had some information that I had not heard of before, but it tended to wander from one topic to the next and felt disjointed. Each topic could have been a book in itself. If you’re interested in war it’s a book you should read.

Have you ever wonder how we have been shaped by war? Have you ever wondered about when war started? These and many other questions are answered by Margaret MacMillian in this very interesting book. This book answered questions that I didn't even know I had about war, it was full of interesting facts.

This book was a very interesting and thought provoking read and I really enjoyed reading it. This book itself it easy to read and flows well.

So this is a really interesting book that gives more information about the history of war than I thought was possible. From analysis of ancient conflicts to social movements that parallel or encourage wars, each section could probably be expanded into a book by itself. If there is any criticism perhaps it is that there is so much information that topics are breezed through and transitioned very quickly. This is a relatively short novel, so there is just not enough space to cover things as in depth as they may deserve. Nevertheless, I found the book full of lots of interesting facts.given the topic I can see how this may not fall into every person’s wheelhouse, but you are likely to come across something that you never knew . Thank you to Netgalley for the copy in exchange for an honest review.

An excellent piece of work! I found this a thought-provoking and surprisingly enjoyable read. The subject matter is potentially overwhelming because there is so much source material (after all, people have always been fighting), but the author succeeds in containing it by interesting categorisation. Great work!

I admired PARIS 1919, this author's book on the negotiations to end World War I. This book, however, struck me as less engaging despite its far greater scope.

Margaret MacMillan has written a readable well explained history of War: How Conflict Shaped Us. Well worth reading and it status on the top of the New York Times book list is well earned. Appropriate length. Good pandemic reading on a serious topic.

A sweeping historical survey, Margaret MacMillan’s “War: How Conflict Shaped Us” details just how integral war has been to human history — raising the question of whether we can truly eliminate it, even as the stakes continue to rise.

Thank you Random House for the free e-book.

I recieved a free xopy from netgalley in exchange fornan honest review.
The idea behind the book really resonated with me as both a teacher and my past academic work. I have been curious about war for a long time as someone who can't wrap their head around how people choose to be soldiers while also acknowledging the fact that war and use of violence is a big part of what shapes our world.
I think the writer does a good job in breaking down the major ideas behind war and explaining why understanding war is so critical im understanding society and humanity itself.
The author admits her own lack of knowledge on war outside the western realm and pulls from a wide range of western conflicts when making her points. While I appreciate the authors attempt to provide examples the book feels harder to read because the examples used appear at random and the make the overall book seem unorganized. I think their needs to be a clearer layout within the chapters that focus the point the author is trying to make.
Overall the book is an interesting look at the concept of war and provide a good introduction into the study for people who have forgotten the impact of war and feel far removed for the costs of it.

War by Margaret MacMillan is about the cause of war. Why, as humans, are we drawn to war and conflict? It's a well researched and well written examination of the topic. Some readers may find the writing style a little academic, but they will be engaged by the author's approach. Though not necessarily recommended for fans of military histories, readers who are curious about how war fits into the broad human experience will enjoy this title.

The Many Facets of War

Certainly, war involves bloodshed and tragedy, but there are positive aspects that are often overlooked when the focus is on how horrible the battles are. Humans have always waged war. Sometimes it is for territory, sometimes for revenge, and sometimes for ideals. Like the many reasons for conflict there are many ways war is waged from primitive societies with spears to advanced technological warfare in the present day.

In addition to the question of why we fight wars, there is the question of who fights. It is primarily men and many of them, particularly in the past fought not only for country, but also for glory. The economic advantages of war are not often dwelt on, but war encourages production, enlarges the workforce often including women as in WWI and WWII, and brings cohesion to a country.

These and many other aspects of war are discussed in this book. It’s not an easy read being more scholarly than for the general public, but the arguments are cogent and the examples used to illustrate the concepts are well described.

I enjoyed the book. It provided a framework for much of my reading of history. Many books are written about wars: Napoleonic Wars, the Civil War, WWI and WWII among others. This book presents a more comprehensive look at the impact on civilization. I particularly enjoyed the way MacMillan brought in the economic and psychological factors. If you enjoy history, I highly recommend this book.

I received this book from Net Galley for this review.

This is a comprehensive collection of scholarly essays on the topic of war and its effect on the world and the people who inhabit it. The essays are derived from the author's 2018 series of lectures entitled "The Mark of Cain", presented by the BBC. The book is meant for a general audience.

The message: War is simply a part of human nature.

The history of war is presented from early times, brought forward to the present day , e.g. the current conflicts in Iraq and Libya are in the narrative. Each of the book's chapters is more or less a standalone essay, some of which are more analytical than others. I was expecting a survey of selected battles in history and discussion of the place of war on the continuum of conflict as portrayed in dispute resolution literature. I was therefore pleased to see instead an analytical and thoughtful approach to such things as the role of civilians in war, preparing soldiers for war and the public perceptions of war.

For Professor Macmillan, it is essential to study war in order to make sense of the past. This reminded me of the saying "War is the locomotive of history" which is attributed to Trotsky. In this book the approach taken is that war is "not an aberration" and it is more than the absence of peace. Its study is necessary to develop an understanding of our world and how we have reached this point in history.

What stands out is that each of the essays is presented as a story, not written in an academic lecture-like style. While I read the eBook and enjoyed it, I think an audio version would be fantastic, especially if it were to be read by Professor MacMillan.

I requested and received a complementary eBook from the publisher via Netgalley. The comments are my own.

Thank you for the advance copy Net Galley

Funny, I was prepared to dislike Margaret MacMillan and her book. I expected a diatribe against all war with fits of man bashing in every other chapter.

This is a great book on the WHY of war and the reverberations to all of us. Excellent, not a light read, don;t try to read it between commercials, but if you are looking for some excellent research and thought on what makes war and keeps it; this is it you have found it.

First and foremost, a large thank you to NetGalley, Margaret MacMillan, and Random House for providing me with a copy of this publication, which allows me to provide you with an unbiased review.

War gets a bad rap, according to historian Margaret MacMillan. In this piece, she effectively argues that war is about more than bloodshed and body counts, but serves as a significant influence on society. This quasi-academic piece presents arguments in a clear and somewhat concise manner, permitting the reader to see substantiation of her thesis before coming to a conclusion for themselves. Perusing many blatant, but oft forgotten, aspects of war, MacMillan is able to tie things all together in a riveting conclusion at a time when the next great battle seems only a tweet away!

While MacMillan does concede that wars can be horrific events where large losses of life negatively impact families, she offers the flip side and explores how this spurs the economic engine to begin production. With war comes the need for more supplies and additional armaments, production ramps up, and money flows freely. This includes the development of new weapons and technologies, which may not have been available during past battles. MacMillan explores this at length and shares how some technology is better suited to certain regions than others. Tied to the economy is the addition to the labour market, which means more work for citizens. Unemployment numbers fall and people find themselves more productive, which can also lead to a stronger citizen core. With higher employment comes less gender disparity in the workforce, at least when MacMillan looks to past conflicts. The Great War (and Second World War) opened the workforce up to women, permitting them to play a significant role in adding to the burgeoning economy.

Financial benefits are but one richness that people feel when it comes to war. There is a stronger sense of nationalism during wartime, no matter which country a person calls home. MacMillan explores the strong sense of connection that war brought to people around the world. While not entirely positive, German sentiment during the Second World War was high as the Nazis espoused their form of nationalism. Many of the Western countries went into the Great War with a strong sense of nationalism and sought to strengthen that as they fought to bring about the glory from past victories. MacMillan presents countless examples of this, both on the battlefield and at home. Newspapers sought to drum up support for ‘the boys’ as families waited at home. There is no doubt that nationalism comes into play when war rages on. This may be a temporary bump, but it serves as something to unite people around a common cause. Tied to nationalism is the boost that artistic expression gets with war. MacMillan dedicates an entire chapter on this, but it is worth noting not only that a country’s victories can be exemplified through the arts, but that there is open interpretation when it comes to war, as with many pieces of art in any medium.

MacMillan offers an interesting perspective about how wars are seen through the eyes of the soldier—on the battlefield with bullets sailing all around them—and the individual at home. While there are countless examples, one might best focus on the Vietnam War for this topic, where MacMillan hints that the sentiment of soldiers who were fighting for freedom felt strongly in the jungles of Asia, while general sentiment at home was completely opposite. The distance from the frontline and the synthesising of truths through media representation changes things quite substantially. MacMillan offers this up in two contrasting chapters, almost begging the reader to draw their own conclusions.

Perhaps one of the most interesting chapters in the book is the discussion surrounding rules of war. MacMillan looks at how there have long been ‘agreed sentiments’ when in battle, but these gentleman’s agreements began not to be enough. Around the early part of the American Civil War, documented rules for how prisoners ought to be treated and negotiated ceasefires came into place. This led to a number of key agreements into the 20th century, which were finalised in the Geneva Convention after the Second World War. While these agreements hold no real punitive countermeasure in the moment, there are strong and strict parameters that most nation-states will follow. Into the 21st century, the world has seen that grey area when enemy combatants are not aligned with a recognised nation, though MacMillan and the courts have begun addressing these at some length.

While this is only a small segment of MacMillan’s entire argument, the book is full of so many perspectives sure to pique the interest of the curious reader. MacMillan has used much of her academic life exploring war and the history surrounding regions in conflict, with a number of well-documented books. Her arguments are made in a clear and effective manner, providing proof to support what she presents to the reader. While war is generally seen as a battle of blood and gore, MacMillan tries to show the other perspectives that may be evident, but receive little mention during the most heated moments. In a book broken down into nine chapters, MacMillan is able to effectively prove her thesis and educate the reader at the same time, providing the reader with the most information possible, without inundating them at any point. The book is fairly digestible, though there is no doubt that it has an academic flavour to it. This provides much needed mental stimulation for those who are tired of reading newspaper articles or pieces aimed at the general public. I found this more than refreshing and cannot wait to see what else Margaret MacMillan has to say in the years to come!

Kudos, Madam MacMillan, for another stunning tome. You make Canada proud and are surely one of the best when it comes to war history.

This is an interesting look at mankind's history of warfare and how it shapes our societies. MacMillan covers a wide variety of topics from our reasons to the way it has been conducted; from the role of warriors in society to they way they fought to civilians and other non-combatants; from the role of government to the attempts to ban war. This is not a light history, although it seldom dives deep into any particular war or battle. Nor does it seem biased one way or the other; while MacMillan rightly abhors war, she seems to take a middle road in acknowledging that war is a complex subject and that judgments are fraught with personal perspectives.

<i>"We should be careful about condescending to those who lived in the past. The dead had ideas and beliefs just as we do. We may not agree with them, but we should respect them. Those who went off to the First World War did think they were fighting for something worthwhile, more usually their loved ones than abstractions such as democracy or empire."</i>

MacMillan largely avoids the simplistic trap of blaming all wars (at least older ones) on religion. Instead, she acknowledges that the causes and justifications for war are complex and rarely straight-forward. She does, however, highlight the rise in nationalism and the Industrial Revolution as making wars more destructive - at least in total numbers and the number of nations involved, if not always percentages of total population.

To be completely honest, my enthusiasm for this book quickly evaporated after I started, and reading it became an unpleasant chore - I constantly looked for anything else to read. And I'm not sure why that was so, but what little reading I did was sporadic and only a few pages at a time. Probably it was because the chapters and paragraphs are lengthy to extremes, with little structure beyond the chapter heading. Also, it seemed to mention battles only as anecdotes, jumping from one historical example to another at the change of each sentence, the overall topic meandering as the pages pass. But when I committed myself to finishing it a few days ago - often reading entire chapters at a time (which sometimes took an hour) - suddenly what had seemed chaotic and unorganized began to gel together and make complete sense. More than that, even: it became a pleasure to read.

If you're looking for a deep look at war as a general topic, I highly recommend this book. (I rec'd an advance electronic copy of this book from NetGalley.)

War: How Conflict Shaped Us by renowned historian Margaret MacMillan is an ambitious attempt to characterize the nature of organized human violence throughout history. Due to its scope, this book reads differently than what most readers of military history have probably engaged with, even those who have read Dr. MacMillan’s other works. Most readers may be accustomed to reading books about specific military endeavors that occur within a finite time-period whether that be a specific battle, campaign, world war, theatre of war, multi-generational conflict, or even poorly defined abstractions such as the War on Terror. This book is different in that it interrogates war as a concept; it explores how the making of and the motivations for war have changed over the centuries and offers insight into how wars effect the societies that prosecute them as well as the individuals who participate.

The book contains numerous interesting and sometimes colorful accounts from a broad variety of sources, from emperors to commanders to camp followers. However, this feature provides the book’s two primary shortcomings: 1) the heavy reliance on these historical snippets and anecdotes imparts an overall feeling of subjectivity to the work; and 2) the frantic way the stories are arranged results in a narrative style that borders on incoherent at times. Having a central principle of, say, military preparedness be championed through the selected quotes of Thucydides, Sunzi, Wellington, and Sherman in the same six-sentence paragraph was not an uncommon experience in reading this book.

I recommend this book to those interested in the topic with the caveat that readers engage with it not as they would a “conventional” military history book. I think readers will find many aspects of the book enjoyable and may gain appreciation for some of the less-considered consequences of our species’ warlike manner.

I was very pleased when those nice people at Netgalley and Random House made an electronic copy of this book available to me for free because I had previously read and enjoyed the author's fascinating Paris 1919: Six Months that Changed the World.

I didn't enjoy this book quite as much as Paris 1919, but that's mostly because I prefer histories about events rather than histories about ideas. However, the two books shared many excellent qualities: they were both good reads with lots of interesting anecdotes and a wide breadth of learning, and the author has a great gift for clear expression.

The book caused me to think some thoughts. If some of my thoughts imply a criticism of the author, please be assured that I know the author is a scholar of great reputation and impressive learning. I'm sure she could, using only the force of intellect, pound me into the ground like a nail.

– thesis statement. Location 30: “I hope to persuade you of one thing, however. War is not an aberration, best forgotten as quickly as possible.” Although I am not a published author myself, I have tried to teach young people how to write, and we have wrestled with the thesis statement, which is always problematic. In this case, it is a negative statement that means… what? War is not an aberration, then it must be …. what? War is normal? A normal state of events? There is always war? It's a big world, and there's always war somewhere, I guess, but there's not war everywhere at all times, literally, although God knows it sometimes feels that way. If war is not an aberration, then, maybe, it's a normal state of affairs, and does that mean … for example … that attempts to eliminate or at least lessen war are doomed to failure? I think that some attempts to delay and/or lessen war have actually been successful, at least partially.

After thinking and reading some more, I think what the author means that the forces of political correctness on university campuses these day are treating war as something shameful and worthy only of the dustbin of history, shunning those who study it as hopelessly old-fashioned. Perhaps the study of military history is not receiving the funding it should as queer theory and gender studies vacuum up the discretionary budget. While it is undeniable that university campuses are often hotbeds of anti-military feeling, there are loads of military educational institutions, both government-backed and not, still in existence today. While the study of war may not have the fashionable cache that it once had, I don't think that the field is likely to lack scholarship any time soon. Maybe even a short period outside the charmed circle of most prestigious topics of study might do the subject of war some good, weeding out the intellectual lightweights and causing the mere attention-seekers to light out to a different area of study.

– This paragraph is about rape. I'm afraid that I will be accused of treating the subject with insufficient seriousness. It is very serious subject. In any event, the reason I bring it up is that there is a part of the book where the author catalogs the many, many occasions where men soldiers and scholars declare women to be unsuitable material for the military life. Some of these people were, in all probability, simply knuckleheads. But others, I felt, may have made knuckleheaded statements advocating the exclusion of women from the military simply because they could not bring themselves to speak clearly about the thing they were really worried about, which was: rape. They may have felt – with some justification – that the introduction of women into the company of some of the men who they had known and perhaps been forced to tolerate in the ranks of the military would simply be disastrous. It doesn't really take more than a very small percentage of horrible individuals in a large population to create an intolerably large amount of morale-sapping cases of violation. To say so plainly might have brought down on the heads of the soldiers or scholars much more approbation than they were ready to bear. Perhaps, instead of being considered hopelessly backward in their outlook, the worst they can be accused of is wanting to have a quiet life, unburdened by excessive controversy.

– Declarations of war. Location 3303: “Since 1945, however, in one of those inexplicable shifts in fashion, declarations of war have fallen completely out of favor.” True: declarations of war have fallen out of favor. False: It is inexplicable. It is, in fact, very explicable. Nothing is easier to see or understand as a naked grab for power. Once executives (here in the US of course, but I think in other countries also) saw that the public opinion could be easily whipped up so any political opponents could be accused of being unpatriotic, the world's war-makers were free to see declarations of war as they see ceremonial swords: at best a useless ornament, at worst a nuisance to doing whatever it is you want to do anyway.

– Grant's Tomb. Location 150: “Grant's tomb is a popular meeting place in New York's Riverside Park.” As one born and raised in New York, I must dispute this. Grant's Tomb is impressive and worth a visit. But it is not a popular meeting place. It is, however, an excellent place for New Yorkers to dispatch pesky visiting relatives for a day trip on their own. It is, as they say there, a schlep.

– The art and literature of war. Location 3660: “The First World War brought great novels and poems in several languages, as well as great paintings and music. It is hard to think of a comparable outpouring from the Second World War. Vasily Grossman's Life and Fate is the great novel, but where are the others?” There are plenty of others. Each will have his or her own favorite: mine is Catch-22.

– World War I in the popular imagination. Location 3945: “The popular view today, and not just among the British, is that those who fought in the First World War were dupes, lured to the battlefields by irresponsible elites ….” The author goes on to accuse people who feel this way of “condescending” to those who fought and often died. This concluding item shares a little in common with the first item in this list, in that the assertion is not really supported by a great number of examples. The only example of this “popular view” cited in the text is the 1989 television series Blackadder Goes Forth. All viewers of this series, I think, knew that the situation was played for (grim) laughs and no one really looked at it as a serious historical critique. As a counter-example, also from British television, the wildly popular and more recent TV series Downton Abbey (whatever your opinion about it generally) portrayed WWI as a serious, complex, and difficult period, with no condescension either toward the common soldier or the officers. Just last year (2019), the World War I drama “1917” opened to great acclaim and many awards. I just don't think the author's representation of public opinion in this case is correct.

After all of this carping, I wish to repeat that I enjoyed this book greatly – disagreeing with it was a pleasure. It made me resolve to go back and try more entries in the author's back-catalog.

I love this book. I can't wait to buy a physical copy to put on my shelf. I've always been fascinated by the sociological factors behind wars, and this book gives a well-rounded picture of the positives and negatives of war, as well as the human desire to begin wars as a means of defending honour, territorial expansion, or other causes. This is the kind of thoughtful book that makes you stop in the middle of a paragraph and consider what the author has just said. It made me look at things from a new angle.

This book shows how the many different levels of society from the civilians, to the members of the military to the upper levels of the government are involved in wars and how there are often technological developments as a result of conflict. I enjoyed the writing, as it was scholarly but not overly so and could be enjoyed by the layperson. This book has a nice tone. You feel as if you are learning from it, but it is not stuffy and boring.

I'd recommend this to anyone interested in conflict and how it changes the world we live in.

This review is based on a complimentary copy from the publisher, provided through NetGalley. All opinions are my own.

Margaret MacMillan, a renowned historian looks at war. Why choose war? What does it say about us?

From the beginning, there has been war and peace. Sometimes at the same time. Everything we know and have comes from war. It brings out the worst in us and challenges our beliefs and what we hold dear.

This is a look at war from all sides. Is it in our very nature to be at war? How do we decide to go to war?

We all know that war shapes politics, values and can be destructive so why do we humans keep planning, strategizing, and declaring war? And why is it mainly men? 

Some very good history here along with a lot to think about.

NetGalley/ September 22nd, 2020 by Random House