Conflict: A Military History of the Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Ukraine
£19.90£24.70 (-19%)
‘A HUGELY IMPORTANT BOOK … ELEGANTLY WRITTEN AND PERSUASIVELY ARGUED’ DAILY TELEGRAPH, FIVE-STAR REVIEW
Two leading authorities – a bestselling historian and the outstanding battlefield commander and strategist of our time – collaborate on a landmark examination of war since 1945.
Conflict is both a sweeping history of the evolution of warfare up to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and a penetrating analysis of what we must learn from the past, and anticipate in the future, in order to navigate an increasingly perilous world.
In this deep and incisive study, General David Petraeus, the former CIA director who commanded the US-led coalitions in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and the prize-winning historian Andrew Roberts, explore over seventy years of conflict, drawing significant lessons and insights from their fresh analysis of the past. Petraeus and Roberts show how often critical mistakes have been repeated time and again, and explore the challenge, for statesmen and generals alike, of learning to adapt to various new weapon systems, theories and strategies. Among the conflicts examined are the Arab – Israeli wars, the Korean and Vietnam wars, the two Gulf wars, the Balkan wars in the former Yugoslavia, and both the Soviet and Coalition wars in Afghanistan, as well as guerrilla conflicts in Africa and South America.
Conflict culminates with a bracing look at Putin’s disastrous invasion of Ukraine, yet another case study in the tragic results that occur when leaders refuse to learn from history, and an assessment of the nature of future warfare. Filled with sharp insight and the wisdom of experience, Conflict is not only a critical assessment of our recent past, but also an essential primer of modern warfare that provides crucial knowledge for waging battle today as well as for understanding what the decades ahead will bring.
‘This collaboration between a famous general and a distinguished author is a marriage made in heaven. The book’s narrative is seamless, sustained by comparative judgements, and calculated to challenge the professional and enlighten the generalist’ PROFESSOR SIR HEW STRACHAN, Chichele Professor of History of War
‘Not since Clausewitz’ On War has a book provided so much insight into the nature of warfare. Deeply researched, brilliantly constructed and thoroughly entertaining, Conflict gets to the heart of why some nations win and others lose during war. It is a book that will shape the thinking of policy makers and military strategists for generations to come’ ADMIRAL WILLIAM H. MCRAVEN, US Navy ( Ret .); former Commander of US Special Operations Command
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Additional information
| Publisher | William Collins (17 Oct. 2023) |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Hardcover | 544 pages |
| ISBN-10 | 0008567972 |
| ISBN-13 | 978-0008567972 |
| Dimensions | 15.9 x 4.6 x 24 cm |
by Broadway
This book is absolutely brilliant and I read it in a day. Really interesting, well written and with clear compelling ideas.
by graham a.
The book is simple and unobtrusive in appearance with a black cover, the names and title are done in black gloss finish.
The pages feel high quality thick browned paper, the hardback is solid, the spine does not need to be broken, it opens readily.
I have read the introduction and it is simple, clear, and has the four most important points outlined.
It (the intro thus far) is written in a style that is easy to understand, with no complicated words to confuse, or that might require the reader to look up.
There are maps at the back, notes and importantly, an index!
It feels like it will be a journey rather than a destination. The reality on the ground.
I will enjoy reading this book.
—update
I have had time to read some of the book now, and it’s authors both petraeus and roberts, must be very proud of it.
The thing I found most interesting was it’s straight talking honesty, and the view that many perhaps fail to recognise, that is that it is never just one nation or group, but a large number of competing interests, all having things to gain or lose in world scale events. What seems to one as a bad thing might be seized upon by another who percieves it as good. Only to find that those roles eventually become reversed due to complacency or lack resolve in carrying the big ideas into reality.
I still have far to go, but already I find I am challenged, and have learned a great deal from only a few pages.
UPDATE 2023-11-11
I’ve spent a little time reading now, now I’m a slow reader, and I spend time getting around a book, this book is great, it is written in manageable chunks of roughly 35 to 40 pages, which was I remember, similar in style and font to some course texts I have read in the past. It is also in a font size that is helpful.
I remember a conversation once with a friend of mine, where I expressed that I felt that there is a lack of basic education of world events, in the minds of the people in nations around the world, where they either ommit or don’t acknowledge those events. I feel this book fills the important gaps in much of that knowledge.
I’m still not finished reading it but it’s educating me daily.
It’s a must read, slow…
by Henrik Aslaksen
Superbly written and insightful analysis of warfare.
by Cath Gray
Bought as a gift