War and Our World

John Keegan, widely considered the greatest military historian of our time and the author of acclaimed volumes on ancient and modern warfare—including, most recently, The First World War, a national bestseller—distills what he knows about the why’s and how’s of armed conflict into a series of brilliantly concise essays.

Is war a natural condition of humankind? What are the origins of war? Is the modern state dependent on warfare? How does war affect the individual, combatant or noncombatant?...