War: Humanity, Society, and Shaped History

Is peace an anomaly? Margaret Macmillan, Emeritus Professor of International History at the University of Oxford, through a detailed interpretation of nine chapters, from ancient Greece and Rome to the Hundred Years War, to the American Civil War, to the First and Second World Wars, through reflections on the lessons learned from classic battles in history and current wars, from the perspectives of history, political science, literature, anthropology, biology and other disciplines, explores a profound question: Why are humans so obsessed with large-scale cannibalism, and what price will we pay? At the same time, by analyzing the causes, methods and means of war, the author examines how war has affected human society, and how changes in our political structure, technology and ideology have affected the conduct of war. This book focuses on a number of controversial topics: When did the war start? Why is war an organized part of human activity? Why are warriors almost always men? Was war ever under our control? The author also shows us the many aspects of war in the book - the languages ​​we speak, the individual memories we have, and the great cultural treasures all reflect the glory and pain that war brings to human society. As a disturbing and challenging topic, Macmillan also reveals through fascinating observations and examples how war vividly embodies the evil and noble sides of human nature.