Customer Reviews

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

5 star:		(1)
4 star:		(0)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

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.