A Short History of War. Jeremy Black. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press, 2022.

The phenomenon of war is present throughout the long history of human civilizations, and the archeological record suggests human societies have organized and evolved according to their capacities of making war, among many other influences. In other words, war in its various forms has transcended times and spaces from the ancient to the present, leaving very few organized groups of humans untouched by armed conflicts. The recent book by Jeremy Black, A Short History of War, offers an overview of the fascinating evolution of war from a military perspective. Black, a well-known scholar in the field of war history and former professor at the University of Exeter, offers here a historical perspective on war and warfare over a long timeline to understand the nature of this social phenomenon and its global evolution from what he calls the “oldest evidence of war” until today.[1]

Through forty short chapters, the author examines diverse case studies representing, chronologically, various aspects of war at different times and in different areas around the world. The scope of the book is expansive in terms of time and space, going from ancient times to the 2020s and exploring the variety of warfare in the Middle East, China, India, the Greek and Roman Empires, Japan, Africa, Australasia, Oceania, and the Americas. As the title suggests, the book is an introduction to the history of war and warfare. But, more precisely, it is a military history of the practice of war. Black focuses largely, but not only, on strategies, tactics, fortifications, armaments, naval power, artillery, cavalry, technologies, the use of massive resources, as well as the geography of battlefields. The last two chapters and the conclusion move away from historical analysis to offer some reflective remarks. There the author claims the necessity for a “less western-centric military history” as well as an extensive use of a cultural approaches in analyzing the military past to fully understand the global evolution of war. Black concludes with short comments on the future of war arguing that this phenomenon and its terrible consequences on human conditions are not only elements of the past, but still very present today and will continue to influence international affairs in the coming years.

The book does a fine job providing a global perspective by including multiple areas, cultures, and groups of people, showing that the phenomenon of war is far from being limited to the Western world. The central argument made by Black—that war transcends human societies worldwide for thousands of years—is quite convincing. His approach, however, is confusing at certain points. Although the author’s comprehensive global and long-time history of war is impressive, the structure of the book suffers from a certain lack of clarity. It is only in the short conclusion that the author details his objectives and arguments. A short introduction would have been useful to better understand existing debates on war and the contribution of this book.

Throughout the chapters, the focus is on the practice of war rather than on a larger discussion of the importance of war and different warfare in societies over time. This emphasis on solely military aspects neglects other dimensions also important in armed conflicts, such as legal and moral debates, diplomacy, philosophical thinking, psychological impact, economics, and human conditions. For instance, the influence of social movements, race, gender, class struggles, nationalism, capitalism, globalization and neo-imperialism on the practice of war are not considered in Black’s analysis. Current armed conflicts around the world show that warfare remains interconnected with multiple factors that go beyond military understanding. In terms of structure, the book features numerous brief chapters moving from one aspect to another, seemingly unconnected except for chronology, and each chapter covers various spaces and long periods of time. Consequently, the contribution of this book to larger debates is difficult to fully grasp.

…the influence of social movements, race, gender, class struggles, nationalism, capitalism, globalization and neo-imperialism on the practice of war are not considered in Black’s analysis.

In addition, the book is, at times, short of reflection about the definition and conceptualization of war and warfare, especially on non-military dimensions such as beliefs, emotions, bodies, identities, mentalities, behaviors, and representations. A rich scholarship has developed on the history of war showing that experience, practice, and representation of armed conflicts nuance the “traditional” military perspectives, extending the war beyond the battlefield.[2] For instance, the evolution of the phenomenon of war over time involved larger mobilization of people and resources including women and children. Those aspects have notably contributed to blurring the frontier between combatants and non-combatants as well as expanding the consequences of war on societies. The meaning of concepts such as battle and battlefield have also evolved over centuries according to the character of warfare. Meanwhile, wars have contributed to transnational discussions on humanity, refugees, international humanitarian law, human rights, ethical and moral debates on non-conventional warfare, as well as peace movements. Finally, directly connected to warfare is the complex transition from war to peace. After the official end of combat, war continues to have major impacts on societies in terms of political, social, and cultural changes. Among the numerous examples showing the blurred demarcation between war and peace are displaced people, the return to civil life for soldiers, the wounded and their families, the destruction (and reconstruction) of infrastructure, institutions and human lives, the trauma of war, the mourning of death, the memory of violence, national and international reconciliation, and testimonies of war. Those aspects also impacted the practice of war as well.[3]

Despite these remarks, A Short History of War will certainly be welcomed by a larger public interested in military history. Not only has Black remarkably explored multiple facets of the global history of war, but he also highlights complex elements regarding the evolution of warfare over a long period of time. In addition, the volume is written in a language accessible to a general public unfamiliar with the field of war history which helps to democratize debates and discussion about the nature of war. For an academic readership, however, the structure of the book will raise questions about historiographical debates, although the call of the author for a cultural turn and the need for a global and a less western-centric approach to military history is promising for future research in the field. It is obviously difficult for scholars to cover such a vast and complex subject for a particularly long period without inevitably neglecting some aspects, areas of the world, ethnic groups, as well as various experiences of war. In other words, war has been so deep-rooted in societies for centuries and such a complex phenomenon impacting millions of people that it remains a major challenge for historians to address a comprehensive and accessible understanding of its evolution since ancient times. In this sense, the contribution of Black is admirable.

Jean-Michel Turcotte is a postdoctoral fellow at the Leibniz Institute of European history in Mainz, Germany. His research interests focus on war captivity, international history, and the development of the Geneva Conventions since the 19th century.

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Header Image: “Massacre en Corée (Massacre in Korea)” by Pablo Picasso (Wikimedia)

Notes:

[1] Jeremy Black. A Short History of War, (New Haven and London: Yale University Press, 2022) 5.

[2] For instance: Margaret Macmillan have recently offered interesting reflections on modern war. Margaret Macmillan, War. How Conflict Shaped US, (NY: Random House, 2020).

[3] Bruno Cabanes (dir.), Thomas Dodman, Hervé Mazurel and Gene Tempest (coor.). Une Histoire de la Guerre, du XIXe siècle à nos jours, (Paris: Seuil, 2018).