- Paperback: 144 pages
- Publisher: Profile Books; 2nd Revised edition edition (5 Sep 2002)
- Language English
- ISBN-10: 1861974094
- ISBN-13: 978-1861974099
- Product Dimensions: 19.2 x 12.8 x 1.2 cm
- Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars See all reviews (1 customer review)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
473,163 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #89 in Books > Science & Nature > Engineering & Technology > Ethics
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Product Description
Review
'The distillation of a lifetime's study of war and peace by arguably Britain's greatest living historian' - Philip Ziegler, Spectator 'A brilliant reflection on the world in which we live ... demands to be read by a generation of European politicians increasingly blinded by trivia' - Max Hastings, Evening Standard 'In a brilliant book ... Michael Howard explains the unusual and precarious nature of peace, and the urgent questions that this raises for our time' - Max Wilkinson, Financial Times
Product Description
Not until the Enlightenment of the eighteenth century did war come to be regarded an unmitigated evil; only after the massive slaughter of two world wards did peace become the declaratory objective of 'civilized' states. This book, already a success in hardback and paperback is reissued with the author's reflections on the latest failure of peace: the war in Afghanistan.
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Customer Reviews
Most Helpful Customer Reviews
4 of 7 people found the following review helpful
Format:Paperback
Worthy, valuable, indispensable.
For whoever is willing to take time to read between the lines, Mr Howard's contemplations on the culture of war and its implications for international order has precious things to tell. Unimpeded by the deceptions of the ephemeral, the author manages gloriously to combine succinctness in style and clarity of insight.
For whoever is willing to take time to read between the lines, Mr Howard's contemplations on the culture of war and its implications for international order has precious things to tell. Unimpeded by the deceptions of the ephemeral, the author manages gloriously to combine succinctness in style and clarity of insight.
One key danger Howard warns against is an all too liberal economy, and the detrimental effect this may exert on the social cohesion of societies.
The substitution of post-Communist societies by nothing but market-geared mechanisms, Howard states, renders these quite powerless to counter such threats as xenophobia, authoritarianism and nationalism.
This might equally apply to any 'old' democratic country, as these are increasingly prone to pressures from within (the risk of imploding into regions) and without (how loyally is a fragmented country to relate to the all too distant Europe?). Speaking of this Europe, the author raises questions as to the time it will take a supranational authority to command a natural degree of loyalty.
And given the prospect of an even broader Union including Cyprus and Turkey, safeguarding a more or less homogeneous set of cultural values may constitute a yet more crucial concern.
Resorting to Kant's 'seed of enlightenment' as his beacon and cornerstone, Howard urges on the pivotal importance of this in countering nihilism and boredom. These threats, he fears, are lurking behind the curtains and risk fuelling militant nationalism or conspirational radicalism abroad but home as well.
Written with an inobtrusive train of thought this lucid statement is teeming with an insight of reflection that one will encounter far too rarely. It should constitute required reading to anyone with a fair amount of interest in, and care for, the world at large.
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