War in Human Civilization

by Gat, Azar

• ISBN13: 9780199236633
• ISBN10: 0199236631
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2008-04-15
• Publisher: Oxford University Press

Summary

Why do people go to war? Is it rooted in human nature or is it a late cultural invention? How does war relate to the other fundamental developments in the history of human civilization? And what of war today--is it a declining phenomenon or simply changing its shape? In this sweeping study of war and civilization, Azar Gat sets out to find definitive answers to these questions in an attempt to unravel the riddle of war throughout human history, from the early hunter-gatherers right through to the unconventional terrorism of the twenty-first century. In the process, the book generates an astonishing wealth of original and fascinating insights on all major aspects of humankind's remarkable journey through the ages, engaging a wide range of disciplines, from anthropology and evolutionary psychology to sociology and political science. Written with remarkable verve and clarity and wholly free from jargon, it will be of interest to anyone who has ever pondered the puzzle of war.

Author Biography

Azar Gat is Ezer Weitzman Professor of National Security in the Department of Political Science at Tel Aviv University. He has published widely in the field of military strategy and thought, including A History of Military Thought: From the Enlightenment to the Cold War.

Table of Contents

Preface: The Riddle of War	p. xi
Acknowledgements	p. xiv
List of Illustrations	p. xv
Warfare in the First Two Million Years: Environment, Genes, and Culture	p. 1
Introduction: The 'Human State of Nature'	p. 3
Peaceful or War-like: Did Hunter-Gatherers Fight?	p. 11
Why Fighting? The Evolutionary Perspective	p. 36
Motivation: Food and Sex	p. 56
Motivation: The Web of Desire	p. 87
'Primitive Warfare': How Was It Done?	p. 114
Conclusion: Fighting in the Evolutionary State of Nature	p. 133
Agriculture, Civilization, and War	p. 147
Introduction: Evolving Cultural Complexity	p. 149
Tribal Warfare in Agraria and Pastoralia	p. 157
Armed Force in the Emergence of the State	p. 231
The Eurasian Spearhead: East, West, and the Steppe	p. 323
Conclusion: War, the Leviathan, and the Pleasures and Miseries of Civilization	p. 401
Modernity: The Dual Face of Janus	p. 443
Introduction: The Explosion of Wealth and Power	p. 445
Guns and Markets: The New European States and a Global World	p. 449
Unbound and Bound Prometheus: Machine Age War	p. 512
Affluent Liberal Democracies, Ultimate Weapons, and the World	p. 570
Conclusion: Unravelling the Riddle of War	p. 662
Endnotes	p. 674
Index	p. 809
Picture credits	p. 821
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