If You're Curious About These Questions...
You should listen to this audiobook
- Have you ever wondered if the very foundations of modern civilization—from our organized governments to our social safety nets—were actually forged by the fires of human conflict?
- Are you curious about the unsettling paradox of how war can simultaneously destroy our world while driving our greatest advancements in technology, science, and even art?
- What if the secret to preventing future global catastrophes lies not in ignoring the history of violence, but in confronting the deep-seated human impulses that make us so prone to it?
Listen to War — Free Audiobook
Loading player...
Key Takeaways from War
- Understand how war and human society have evolved together, and discover why accepting war as a historical constant is the first step to learning how to avoid it.
- Explore the biological roots of human conflict, from the violent death of Ötzi the Iceman to our evolutionary similarities with both violent chimpanzees and peaceful bonobos.
- Learn how absurd historical triggers, like a ship captain's severed ear, often mask the four true underlying motivations for war: greed, self-defense, emotions, and ideas.
- Uncover how a society's cultural values—from romanticized medieval chivalry to ancient Roman political requirements—fundamentally shape the way its people view and glorify warfare.
- Find out how cultural philosophies and everyday tools influence military tactics, such as ancient Chinese dynasties prioritizing bloodless victories and Roman soldiers weaponizing agricultural levers.
Learning Tools
Reinforce what you learned from War
Mind Map
War
Origins & Human Nature
Ancient History
Biological Paradox
Dual Capacity
Motivations for Conflict
Greed
Self-Defense
Emotions & Ideas
Pretexts
Culture & Beliefs
Glorification
Tactical Values
Technology
Cultural Exploitation
Modern Total War
Nationalism
Industrial Revolution
Democratization
Unprecedented Scale
Mobilizing Soldiers
Coercion
Economic Desperation
Societal Expectations
Military Identity
The Civilian Experience
Collateral Damage
Economic Shifts
Active Participation
Regulating Violence
The Paradox
Justifications
Weaponry Limits
Fragility of Rules
Perception & Memory
Varied Experiences
Artistic Depictions
Selective History
Embracing Complexity
Quiz — Test Your Understanding
Question 1 of 9
According to the text, what do studies of chimpanzees and bonobos reveal about human biological programming for war?
War — Full Chapter Overview
Chapter 1: Recommendation
Chapter 2: Humans have always waged war, and we might be biologically wired to pursue it too.
Chapter 3: Wars arise from greed, self-defense, passions, and beliefs alike.
Chapter 4: A society’s institutions, values, and beliefs shape how it perceives and conducts war in practice.
Chapter 5: Nationalism, industrialization, and cultural shifts have shaped modern warfare profoundly.
Chapter 6: People may be persuaded or coerced to fight in wars for many reasons and motives.
Chapter 7: Civilians may gain from war, yet they also endure some of its worst horrors too.
Chapter 8: Humanity has repeatedly tried to impose rules on organized conflict.
Chapter 9: War’s experience, and the ways it’s portrayed in art, are profoundly diverse across cultures.
War Summary & Overview
War (2020) is a philosophical inquiry into the nature of human conflict. It considers war from different angles, examining what causes it, how we think about it, and how it affects us. By making an effort to understand war, we become better prepared to avoid it.
Who Should Listen to War?
- Students of international and military history
- People interested in cultural and philosophical differences
- Anyone fascinated or affected by human conflict
Books Similar to War
Readers who enjoyed this also liked these titles.
On War
★ 4.3 / 5 • 400 ratingsObservations on the Nature, Theory and Strategy of War and Combat
Destined for War
★ 4.2 / 5 • 141 ratingsCan America and China Escape Thucydides's Trap?
The American War in Afghanistan
★ 3.9 / 5 • 128 ratingsA History
War and Peace
★ 4.2 / 5 • 235 ratingsA Historical Novel on the Irrationality of Human Behavior in War