This book is more about the effects of war than it is about its endorsement or condemnation. Margaret MacMillan addresses the political mistakes that led to war over the years and postulates that its main cause may simply be due to human nature. War, according to her research, seems to have historically manifested itself about the time that agricultural societies developed. Those societies warred against others as a means of protecting their resources. Before this, there were only small hunter/gatherer groups that simply moved on when competing groups arrived at their favored hunting grounds.

Most of the book is devoted to the historical period starting in the 1700s through to, and including, the second world war; I surmise the reason for this focus being that this is the period which was better documented and reported upon in historical records. Before this period, history was recorded and embellished by the victors of wars; thus, making themselves appear heroic and just.

With detailed evidence from this period, MacMillan was able to describe the effects of war on soldiers, civilians, and future events. Soldiers for the most part in the middle ages came from the lower classes who were told that it was their duty to fight for their king or to protect their lands and way of life. Often, these soldiers had no idea why they fought or how the war came about. Starting in the 21st century, soldiers were required to have some education and reading skills so that they could be counted on to follow written orders.
Typically, wars started when a leader considered a demonized opponent to have committed some slight or when there was a need to protect homeland territory from invasion. Wars in ancient to modern times resulted in the deaths of thousands of combatants before one of the warring factions sued for peace. Modern-day citizens of western countries are less tolerant of the loss of their soldiers’ lives. This aversion to risk of human loss is leading to mechanized wars with smart tech being remotely utilized to inflict damage on an enemy’s infrastructure.

Citizens have historically faired the worse from wars. Victorious soldiers pillaged the defeated country’s wealth, revengefully killed its noncombatants, and raped or enslaved its women. These actions were seen as a reward for a soldier’s service. Even today, such conduct takes place in the middle east by ISIS combatants who fight in the name of religion. This kind of behavior may not be condoned by modern western societies but it occurs and is often overlooked by military leaders. The Mi Lai massacre only came to light because of the freedom of movement mistakenly afforded to the American journalist. Such freedom was given with the thought that it would lead to greater civilian support for the ongoing war effort. Having learned their lesson, modern-day media is only allowed in certain militarily approved areas of combat, supposedly for their “protection”. Modern-day atrocities are not spoken of, are denied with brought to light, and are only investigated when the evidence of them becomes overwhelming.

Despite its atrocities, war does provide an impetus for innovation. Atomic energy got little funding before the second world war. The same can be said for aeronautics before the first world war. The American civil war brought about greater armament development in the form of smokeless powder, firepower, and accuracy. Mass armament production became possible during the late 20th to early 21st centuries as a result of the industrial revolution. All these advancements were hastened by war.

Margaret MacMillan doesn’t forecast what lies in our future because civilian acceptance of war is changing. Despite war terminology being part of our vocabulary, “the need to establish a beachhead”, “shock and awe”, or “wipe out the competition”, war is no longer looked at as an opportunity for heroism. Since the second world war, have attempted to use world organizations as arbitrators to political differences. In my opinion, that movement is presently being challenged as the greatest western power is making moves to abandon those world institutions. The United States is currently working to demonize China; it will only take a slight or a mistake by either side to escalate matters beyond political restraint and to war.

This is a surprisingly engaging study of War as a human activity throughout history — rather than the more commonplace in-depth study of a particular conflict. With tight (read non-meandering, non-dry, non-dull) prose, MacMillan studies War from its evolution across the ages: how the ability to make war and changes in human society progress inextricably; the evolution of war across changes in society and technical advancement; the shift from King and Country to nationalism and our view of warriors; what induces people to fight, the role of civilians, and the efforts to control and regulate something as completely uncontrollable as the license to slaughter other human beings. Drawing on a wide variety of examples — from the Peloppenesian and Punic wars to more modern conflicts and everything in between — she brings this uniquely human activity into a sobering perspective.

Like most historians, MacMillan provides an impressive array of sources at the end — what I particularly appreciated is that a significant portion of those referred to individual accounts — diaries, letters, etc. This gave her narrative the perspective of the individual as well as the big picture trends. Her attention to detail pervades from the high-level machinations of governments, kings, and rebels down to the experiences of individual foot soldiers, civilians, prisoners, and diplomats.

Here are some parts that stuck with me for a variety of reasons:

• For much of history the records were made and kept by that minority who could read and write. WWI was groundbreaking in that the majority of combatants were literate.
• We have an antipathy to war that makes us avoid its study and understanding.
• A paradox of war: growing state power and the emergence of larger states are the result of war but can also then bring peace. A strong state keeps a monopoly on force and violence but keeps things peaceful within. For example, Tito kept Yugoslavia together — once he toppled all the ethnic groups within started killing each other. Similarly, the Chinese Qin empire in 221 BC was run by a ruthless tyrant but was remembered with gratitude as the ruler who brought peace and order to China.
• After Waterloo, the British proudly wore dentures made from battlefield dead and used their skeletons as fertilizer.
• Men killed and died because they were embarrassed not to — many came to war to avoid shame, not for glory or duty.
• People at home hate the enemy more than the fighters do. The fighters have pity for each other and understand how similar they are. Those at home see the enemy as one anonymous “they”.
• The longer or costlier the siege, the worse the treatment of the citizens afterwards.
• In WWII, Germany followed International prisoner protocols as long as they considered the prisoners their racial equals — the French and British, not the Poles or Russians.
• The state of the British soldiers during the Boer war was so poor that society started a whole program to improve health of citizenry in order to have more fit soldiers.

While I thought I preferred her deep-dive books to this thematic one, I’ve found these concepts keep coming back into my brain. I’m realizing that it has shifted my way of thinking on the topic — which is exactly what happened to me with her book The War That Ended Peace (highly recommended — all about what led up to WWI). She has an ability to get to the heart of subjects, and her examples are illuminating because while I was aware of some before, I had not been aware of how they exemplified the theme.

Reading this book was both fascinating and depressing, though not in an emotionally wrenching way. While I was aware of all the conflicts she mentioned, the aggregation of violence and mass destruction through the ages makes it harder to ignore. Her concluding point is that we must keep thinking about War, despite our innate abhorrence of the topic, because it has reached a point (Total War, Modern War, high-tech weaponry) where we are threatening all of humanity.

A single quote: “War is a mystery both to those who fight and those of us who are on the sidelines. And it is a troubling and unsettling mystery. It should be abhorrent, but it is so often alluring and its values seductive. It promises glory and offers suffering and death. We who are non-combatants may fear the warriors, but we also admire, even love, them. And we cannot pretend we are not party of the same family, with the same potential for fighting.”

War: How Conflict Shaped Us by Margaret MacMillan is a historical study of the effects of war on many societal levels. MacMillan is a Canadian historian and professor at the University of Oxford. She is the former provost of Trinity College and professor of history at the University of Toronto and previously at Ryerson University. A leading expert on history and international relations, MacMillan is a commentator in the media.

We often look at the causes of war without really examining them. The Trojan War started when Helen left with Paris. WWI began with the assassination of Franz Ferdinand. Although correct in simplistic terms, many miss the larger meaning. Paris was a diplomat from Troy who abducted the Spartan King’s wife — a terrible breach of diplomacy, an insult to the king, and conceivably an attack on Sparta. Franz Josef disliked his nephew. His reaction to the assassination was simply God’s will, and it removed a problem in his life. He sought no demands. The Austro-Hungarian court saw it as an excuse to put down the troublesome Serbs, and they won out.

MacMillan goes beyond the causes of war and looks at society and war itself. Examined are the move from mercenary armies to standing armies, the Industrial Revolution, nationalism, and technology. Using examples from the ancient to the present, MacMillan gives examples of change and how it affects society. Modern industrial warfare took a significant toll on civilian populations, from food restrictions to the collateral damage of bombing industrial sites.

Society is also affected by war in peacetime. Nationalism creates a bond that begins with youth — the Pledge of Allegiance. The Olympic Games were created to show international fellowship but developed into playing national anthems and international competition, especially during the cold war. Governments worked to keep the populations healthy and fed because that is their supply of soldiers for the future.

War has been waged since man has moved from the state of nature to form societies. Yet it remains a mystery. It is not an accident. Nations set up vast infrastructures to support it — from standing armies to enormous arsenals. No one wants to go to war, yet we always seem ready to fight it. The Romans fought outside their borders to preserve peace and commerce inside. Great powers seem prepared for war also seem to keep peace like the British in their period of splendid isolation. In the same thought, the US has not been able to keep itself out of war since the fall of the Soviet Union.

War examines the complexity of war and the extent that it changes and involves society. It is no longer fighting your neighbor for land and riches. It can be sabotaging your enemy in proxy wars. Now it too can be something like Stuxnet. MacMillan offers a very readable and comprehendible work. She provides enough background material for the general public to follow along and learn. She also writes so that someone with a degree in history or politics can also learn or review. MacMillan’s insight and grasp of the subject make this a captivating read.

Available 22 September 2020

An interesting look at futility of war and the necessity of it as well. Ms. MacMillan shows the paradoxical nature of humans as we both want to prevent war and yet, call on it to defend our beliefs. She shows that war is not solely a XX chromosome act but females are often at the forefront of war machine, and have been for centuries, as war defies race, sex and creed. Some might say war is as natural to us as oxygen is to breathing. Ms. MacMillan does, from time to time, subtly, show her own biases but overall most of the text is neutral and non-partisan. Overall, War: how conflict shaped us is well worth the time, giving insight into human behavior in our want to control the chaotic nature of war.