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This latest edition does have quite an "author's slant". Stoessinger must be getting impatient with what he sees as mistakes by statesmen and despots. He comes right out with judgment calls on the Iraq war. He is blunt in his opinions. Apr 28, Romanna rated it really liked it. This book provided a really interesting focus on specific wars and their causes. Every war provides lessons for the future. I wish our leaders read it. An account of 6 major wars in the last century or so. Throughout history classes I learned that nations go to war because of alliances or certain objectives.
This book looks more at the mindset of leaders in order to explain how decisions are made throughout the course of a war - what leaders are thinking about when deciding whether to initiate, escalate, or continue in war. It helped me better understand what war 'is' and learn about commonalities across recent wars. Stoessinger summarizes some An account of 6 major wars in the last century or so. Stoessinger summarizes some of the principles that repeatedly appear in his research into different wars: The case material reveals that perhaps the most important single precipitating factor in the outbreak of war is misperception.
Such distortion may manifest itself in four different ways: in a leader's image of himself; a leader's view of his adversary's character; a leader's view of his adversary's intentions toward himself; and, finally, a leader's view of his adversary's capabilities and power.
There is a remarkable consistency in the self-images of most national leaders on the brink of war. Each confidently expects victory after a brief and triumphant campaign. Distorted views of the adversary's character also help to precipitate a conflict. If a leader on the brink of war believes that his adversary will attack him, the chances of war are fairly high. If both leaders share this perception about each other's intent, war becomes a virtual certainty.
A leader's misperception of his adversary's power is perhaps the quintessential cause of war. It is vital to remember however, that it is not the actual distribution of power that precipitates a war, it is the way in which a leader thinks that power is distributed. The war itself then slowly, and in agony, teaches men about reality. Feb 21, cncundiff rated it really liked it.
I wish we could rate at half stars—this doesn't quite feel like a wholehearted 5-star recommendation, but deserves more than a simple four.
If you're looking to be a better informed person particularly about 20th century conflicts , there's not a better book to consult. Regardless of your opinions or interest in the book, if you ever see a copy laying around—stop what you are doing.
Read the epilogue. It's a chilling and inspiring recount of the author's flight from Austria in when he was a I wish we could rate at half stars—this doesn't quite feel like a wholehearted 5-star recommendation, but deserves more than a simple four.
It's a chilling and inspiring recount of the author's flight from Austria in when he was a child. It will take you all of ten minutes, and it absolutely worth reading the story of the people that saved his life. The book as a whole is well-crafted, especially for non-fiction. What could have been a long slog through historical battles ends up an engaging blend of history and narrative.
Each chapter discusses a different conflict: its rise, its reasons, and its ebb. At the end, a conclusory chapter pulls from each of the cases and notes interesting correlations from each conflict. Stoessinger's deft talent for words gives the reader exactly as much as they can understand without feeling like the material is watered down, and it's hard to oversell how happy that makes me as a reader.
There are times where it feels like Stoessinger fills the gaps of history with narrative. It's not necessarily a bad thing, but I could see historians or other sticklers of inerrancy bristling at the small license Stoessinger takes with some of the older wars. In short, this is an incredible initial dive into many of these conflicts of the 20th century. If you have any interest in understand world history a little more, you should absolutely start here. If the iron dice must roll, May God help us.
These were the words of the German chancellor on the eve of World War 1. This book takes the wars of 20th century as a case study and tries to find out the main reason behind why nations go to war. The main thesis put forward by the writer is that war breaks out because of the misperception of powerful individuals involved.
These misperceptions can be about their self created image, about the strength of their adversary. Stoessinger focuses on the hum If the iron dice must roll, May God help us. Stoessinger focuses on the human element and questions the character of the leadership on both sides of the conflicts who couldn't satisfy their egos.
He also postulates that it is impossible for anyone to win a decisive victory in modern warfare as nuclear armed states can annihilate each other. Another aspect that emerges from the case studies is that those who initiate war have never emerged as victors. I really like how he builds up his argument and on the basis of that, presents a solution to prevent future wars. It is necessary for global leaders to be more empathetic if we are to live in a peaceful world.
Jun 20, Waqar Ahmed rated it it was ok Shelves: leadership , political , pakistan , non-fiction , ww-ii , history , war , military , ww-i. If you want a history book that covers the wars in the previous century and gives some insight into the men behind them, I recommend this. But if you want an unbiased and realistic account of things and reasons behind the wars, this is not for you.
There's no mention, whatsoever, of geopolitics or other things that are one of the reasons behind war. The author seems to think that the reason behind wars is because of the leaders of the country and their personalities which in my opinion is a deepl If you want a history book that covers the wars in the previous century and gives some insight into the men behind them, I recommend this. The author seems to think that the reason behind wars is because of the leaders of the country and their personalities which in my opinion is a deeply flawed argument.
Moreover, the arguments and conclusions are drawn from selected facts while ignoring many other realities. Read the first edition of this book in college. It was a quarter the size of the 8th edition. The book impressed back then and when I came across this edition, I was not disappointed.
Was impressed with the author's brief, clear and concise accounts of the origins and results of the 4 Arab-Israeli wars, 3 India-Pakistan wars, and the Balkan wars. Best of all his moving epilogue really drove home the point of the whole book. Aug 28, John Eliade rated it really liked it Shelves: must-read-history.
I give this book four stars because it's a really amazing read But first the good stuff: This book goes over alternative theories of war, perhaps humanity's greatest failing. Stoessinger proposes that "History does not make history. Men and women make foreign policy decisions.
Stoessinger's theory ies , it certainly deserves consideration especia I give this book four stars because it's a really amazing read Stoessinger's theory ies , it certainly deserves consideration especially to emphasize a more compassionate and considerate world, and one with less violence.
Stoessinger was raised as a young boy in Vienna and Prague until when he and his mother managed to get a very hastily and mysterious visa to cross the Soviet Union, enter Japan, and live in Japanese occupied Shanghai. This narrative is not interwoven through the academic text a huge plus, as it would become more of a memoir and less of a researched consideration about war and its causes but bookends the text with Stoessinger's lifelong passion evolving out of the questions of his life, and ending with a very touching story of how his life was saved those many moments on the trail from Prague to Shanghai and beyond.
Aside from the Great Man Theory stuff, which is generally out of vogue today but I would argue that it still merits certain considerations and we're in need of a more all encompassing "Theory of History" and one that's less presumptive and singular it's a bit odd that Stoessinger keeps updating the book with later editions.
The first edition of "Why Nations Go to War" was published in , before Vietnam was even over and could conclusively be considered. I can only imagine that the book was literally pages long, which only encompasses World War I, Barbarossa, and the Korean War Which is astounding. I was reading the 10th edition, but I can gather that we're well past it now He still discusses Saddam Hussein as post-trial, pre-dead. That said, there is a quite noticeable change after Vietnam. The latter part of the work still has those elements, but very selectively.
There is a noticeable slip of the personality analyses and the tiny decisions made by the leaders of the wars afterward, making them very much wars between nations, and less so the whims of monarchs and their underlings.
In the Yugoslavia chapter, for example, he goes over quite a bit about Milosevic, but not to the depth that he discusses Kaiser Wilhelm. He also spends considerable time on the relationship between George W. Bush and Saddam Hussein, but nothing compared to the quality of his Hitler vs. Stalin analysis. I'm not sure what to make of this. Maybe it's about the triumph of democracy that Stoessinger is subtly or unsubtly making? That the actions between Israel and the Arab states, or India and Pakistan are still the actions of foreign policy makers, but the state is much more of a collective effort, and less an extension of any one person?
Or is it just bad editing? Material that would make for an excellent book, but a different one? Sep 17, Ian rated it it was amazing Shelves: history , non-fiction. The horrifying answer to the question posed by the title is: Mostly by mistake. Or, according to a quote from the German Chancellor of , at a roll of "the iron dice. Feb 02, Michelle rated it it was amazing Shelves: adult , history.
I read an older edition of this book published in , I believe. I am interested to see that he has more recent editions, and I wonder what his opinions on more recent wars are. This book was very enlightening, and I am glad to have read it.
Some parts were very difficult, as in they were heart breaking. I never like being reminded of the horrors of war, and I was especially saddened to learn of the atrocities committed to the Iraqi people by the Iraqi people.
I had never realized before how I read an older edition of this book published in , I believe. I had never realized before how evil Saddam Hussein was. I learned a lot about history and parts of the world of which I was previously ignorant.
I recommend this book to everyone. The author began his research for the book because he was dissatisfied with the reasons history books contained for why wars began. Too often it seemed that people by and large believed that wars happened because "Fate" or "God" willed it—that the leaders had no choice, that they had to go to war. The author found it hard to believe that war ever had to happen, so he began to research and see if he could find any other reasons why wars started.
As he did so, he was surprised to actually find discernible patterns for why wars began. He hopes that in understanding better real causes of war perhaps future wars can be avoided. I was born after the Vietnam and Korean Wars, and I must say that the book was very eye opening in regards to those wars.
It also made me disappointed in the actions of some American leaders. Oh, and I must add that it also made me understand many more aspects of the United Nations than I ever had before. May 27, Shishir rated it liked it. Wars are started by people and leaders not ideologies. Usually they are guised under causes such as fundamentalism, or such -isms. Wars are wretched excuse for exercising power and greed. Wars are based on themes of inevitability and pervasiveness.
A fatalistic attitude is portrayed. By shifting responsibility to impersonal ideologies or God, the leaders are able to transfer the guilt or obligations of the action of war. They are veiled and disguised even romanticized by leaders who possess charis Wars are started by people and leaders not ideologies. They are veiled and disguised even romanticized by leaders who possess charisma and power. Sep 14, Saqib rated it it was amazing. Geostrategic interests and nationalism are often blamed for war but ultimately,as the author argues,the personality of the major decision makers-statesmen,dictators,policy advisers-is what leads to war.
Every country has geostrategic interests but how those interests are prosecuted depends on the personality of these decision makers. By reading this book,i got a sense of how casually how nonchalantly statesmen and dictators bargain away the lives of millions over what they perceive to be in the b Geostrategic interests and nationalism are often blamed for war but ultimately,as the author argues,the personality of the major decision makers-statesmen,dictators,policy advisers-is what leads to war.
By reading this book,i got a sense of how casually how nonchalantly statesmen and dictators bargain away the lives of millions over what they perceive to be in the best interests of their countries.
It was an infuriating read,which is why i gave it 5 stars. Oct 20, Korrin rated it really liked it. I really liked the layout and execution of events dominantly wars internationally dealt with. It gave me a much better understanding of how certain wars started and why they came about and who was involved and what each leader was all about and why they did the things they did. Stoessinger does an excellent job laying out the facts as well as making it comprehensible and important for readers to know and remember.
A really well organized introduction to some of the modern era's most important wars, this book really goes best within a classroom setting, but it's actually a good read as a stand alone book.
If you ever wanted to know why Israel, Iraq, Korea, The United States, and a bunch of other countries have done some of the crazy stuff they've done, this might be a good one for you to look into. This is a great book if you have any interest in the major conflicts of the 20th Century. Each chapter is a concise history of the events leading up to that conflict.
Even though my copy is the 4th edition from , it was enlightening. May 21, Jwduke rated it it was amazing Shelves: geopolitical , conventional-warfare , profession-of-arms , general-intelligence-analysis. Why nations go to war is an outstanding book. The author demonstrates how WW1 could have been avoided.
He also argues how if it had, the alliance system credited with starting the war would have been credited for preventing it. I enjoyed getting to know the leaders who start wars. I enjoyed reading on why they started the wars. The authors personal history is a nice story in the book as well.
I like how he gave a completely new perception to the causes of war, That personalities of the leader do matter and misperceptions are of major importance to bring the nations to the brink of war.
At the end author summarized 'why nations go to war' concisely yet adding new details to the topic. Aug 15, Liam Ralph rated it liked it Shelves: favorites. This book does a superb job of tracing the political elites decision making process.
While the moralizing and judgments the author makes are at times annoying the historical accuracy is not compromised. The lens of elite decision making is rarely used in academia since the s and this book remains one of the premier examples of that lens. Not a political science student?
It's cool. But this book really has some resonance for our modern time, and a great ay to understand the conflicts present and those to come. He's a brilliant man who leads with his heart and hopes for mankind, never is the substantiveness compromised. Dec 03, Dan rated it it was amazing. An awesome book for anyone interested in the causes of war. Stoessinger focuses exclusively on the wars of the 20th century. I bought it for a class which I did not end up taking, but I read it anyway.
Yeah, it was that good! Mar 24, A.
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