War and the Liberal Conscience, 1977: with a new preface (Trevelyan Lectures) [Paperback]

Michael Howard (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 0813511976 | ISBN-13: 978-0813511979 | Publication Date: January 1, 1987

For centuries liberal-minded men and women have been horrified by the pain and waste of war. From Erasmus, who saw war as above all a product of stupidity, to Marxists who see it as a matter of class conflict, they have produced social theories to account for its occurrence and have tried to devise means to end it. Despite these variations, there have been certain continuing themes in the search for a means to end wars, and one of the most enlightening things in this book is the way in which it is possible to see how these themes recur in subtly different forms in different periods of history. Michael Howard traces them from the Renaissance to our own time, through the social, political, and intellectual groups that gave birth to them. Throughout the whole story runs the continuing contrast between those who hoped to find a single cause for the disease, leading to a lasting cure, and those who understood that, in Howard's words, "this was a task which need to be tackled afresh every day of our lives." This edition includes a new preface by the author. Sir Michael Howard was Regious Professor of Modern History at Oxford University. "For 20 years Michael Howard has produced a steady stream of books and essays that earned him a place as one of the foremost military historians and analysts. . . . Adopting a broad definition of liberalism as the belief that humanity has the ability to improve and reach its full potential through reason, he traces the evolution of this idea as it has affected perceptions of war from the Renaissance to the present. The result is a brilliant survey of anti-war thought that illuminates not only the many transformations in the liberal opposition to war, but also the remarkable continuity of its basic assumptions. As with all of Howard's works, it is marked by a clarity of thought, soundness of judgment, and power of exposition that are rarely found."-Choice

Product Details

• Paperback: 150 pages
• Publisher: Rutgers University Press (January 1, 1987)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0813511976
• ISBN-13: 978-0813511979
• Product Dimensions: 8.1 x 5.6 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.6 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #928,533 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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5.0 out of 5 stars Why Wars Persist in a Liberal Age..., August 31, 2009

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This review is from: War and the Liberal Conscience, 1977: with a new preface (Trevelyan Lectures) (Paperback)

Sir Michael Howard may be uniquely qualified to ponder the confrontation between the liberal conscience and the fact of war. As a young man, he served with the British Army in the Second World War. For the last half century, he has been a prominent and acutely observant military historian. By personal politics, he is a liberal. This book, "War and the Liberal Conscience", embodies his Trevelyan Lecture on the topic, delivered at the University of Cambridge in 1977.

In a brisk 135 pages, the author reviews the history of classical European political liberalism from 1500 to 1977. Along the way, he deftly delineates the competing strands of political and economic thought which motivated various liberal movements to "end" war. He marks also their failures amid increasingly horrendous wars. His conclusions, equal parts realism and optimism, seem just as relevant as when first delivered. While his context might seem limited by the relative vantage point of 1977, the knowing reader may surmise that nothing that has happened since must have surprised Howard very much.

"War and the Liberal Conscience" is very highly recommended to students of military history and of modern politics, who will find much to ponder in a concise but fascinating book.