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Why War?

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Why War?

By: Richard Overy
Narrated by: Dennis Kleinman
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About this listen

Brought to you by Penguin.

Why has warfare always been part of the human story?
From biology to belief, what explains the persistence of violent conflict?
What light can this shed on humanity’s past – and its future?

There can be few more important but also more contentious issues than attempting to understand the human propensity for conflict. Our history is inextricably tangled in wave after wave of inter-human fighting from as far back as we have records.

Repeatedly humans have foresworn war, have understood its appalling risks and have wished to create more pacific, productive societies. And yet almost inevitably circumstances emerge under which war once more seems inevitable or even desirable.

How can we make sense of what Einstein called 'the dark places of human will and feeling'? Richard Overy draws on a lifetime's study of conflict to write this challenging account of how we can understand the causes of war. Looking at every facet of war from biology to belief, psychology to security, Overy allows readers to understand the many contradictory or self-reinforcing ways in which warfare can suddenly appear a legitimate option, and why it is likely to be part of our future as well as our past.

©2024 Richard Overy (P)2024 Penguin Audio
Military Politics & Government Psychology Psychology & Mental Health Social Psychology & Interactions War Imperialism Capitalism

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I have read many of the authors’ other books and found them accessible and enlightening. In this, as he openly acknowledges he goes well beyond his areas of expertise and sometimes it shows. The further he strays from his home base, the more complex his prose becomes. When it is read by a narrator who appears, once per page and sometime once per paragraph, not to understand what he is saying, it becomes hard to follow. I am glad I persisted to the end but wish I had read the hard copy instead

Comprehensive in scope but flawed in delivery

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