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Donald Kagan

On the Origins of War: And the Preservation of Peace Paperback – January 1, 1996

by Donald Kagan (Author)

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A brilliant and vitally important history of why states go to war, by the acclaimed, award-winning author of The Peloponnesian War.

War has been a fact of life for centuries. By lucidly revealing the common threads that connect the ancient confrontations between Athens and Sparta and between Rome and Carthage with the two calamitous World Wars of the twentieth century, renowned historian Donald Kagan reveals new and surprising insights into the nature of war and peace. Vivid, incisive, and accessible, Kagan's powerful narrative warns against complacency and urgently reminds us of the importance of preparedness in times of peace.

Print length

624 pages
Language

English
Publisher

Anchor
Publication date

January 1, 1996
Dimensions

5.2 x 1.3 x 8 inches
ISBN-10

0385423756
ISBN-13

978-0385423755
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Editorial Reviews

Review

Praise for Donald Kagan's On the Origins of War

“A particularly timely masterpiece . . . brilliantly examines the origins of four major, devastating conflicts.”—Los Angeles

“Humane and penetrating . . . Kagan shows how, tragically, measures undertaken precisely to prevent war have in the past repeatedly brought it closer.”—The New Criterion

“By now it is all too clear that the so-called end of history really has meant the return of history, with a vengeance. Recent events regrettably confirm that warfare is inherent to any system of world affair yet imagined, so we better do all we can to prevent it. Professor Kagan's impressive volume presents thoughts that are timely, intellectually deep, and just about indispensable.”—George P. Schultz, Former U.S. Secretary of State

About the Author

Donald Kagan is Sterling Professor of Classics and History at Yale University. A former dean of Yale College, he received his Ph.D. in 1958 from The Ohio State University. His publications include On the Origins of War and the Preservation of Peace, The Peloponnesian War, and Thucydides: The Reinvention of History. In 2002 he was the recipient of the National Humanities Medal and in 2005 was named the National Endowment for the Humanities Jefferson Lecturer.

Product details

Publisher ‏ : ‎ Anchor (January 1, 1996)
Language ‏ : ‎ English
Paperback ‏ : ‎ 624 pages
ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0385423756
ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0385423755
Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.4 ounces
Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 5.2 x 1.3 x 8 inches

Best Sellers Rank: #185,307 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #39 in War & Peace (Books)
- #159 in Nuclear Weapons & Warfare History (Books)
- #299 in Violence in Society (Books)

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78 ratings

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Tom O'Donnell

Insightful

Reviewed in the United States on March 24, 2014

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I thought this book was excellent. There are four wars covered in the book, and each is used to support the book's premise, which is basically an idea Thucydides ([...]) came up with many centuries ago: that nations end up going to war out of "fear, honor, and interest." It is shown how a nation's overall sense of honor affects their motivations when dealing with other nations, and how each nation will take what seems like a rational action to protect their honor/interest. Much of the time, crises are averted in this way. However, now and then, a series of subsequent political action-reactions between nations, sometimes combined with a misunderstanding of the opponent's abilities or intent, will instead escalate to armed conflict.

I've previously read a history of Ancient Greece, but it had covered the second Peleponnesian War fairly quickly and I'd forgotten most of it. I really enjoyed the coverage of the two ancient wars. The book seemed well researched and well put together. It demonstrated clearly the necessities of Sparta and Athens as they moved reluctantly but inevitably toward war, each trying mostly to avoid it but each drawn in by either the careless actions of an ally or a political action gone wrong.

I read this book for fiction-writing purposes, to better understand how wars are started. Overall, I enjoyed it and thought it was an insightful look at the often nebulous origins of large-scale conflicts. By boiling motivations down to Thucydides ancient premise, it changed my outlook on war in general.

7 people found this helpful

Helpful

ZaneOriginal

Good, but a little heavy on the modern wars and lite on the ancient.

Reviewed in the United States on August 27, 2011

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I really respect the author Prof. Kagan and feel he is one of the best modern historians in regards to the ancient classical world.

The book is generally very good and I learned a lot from reading it.

The book first juxtaposes the Peloponnesian War between Sparta and Athens to the more recent conflict of World War 1 comparing Britain and Germany. This is not a linear comparison where one nation is like a corresponding one from the other conflict, but instead how aspects of the conflict make the modern nations comparable to one of the nations in certain aspects and to the other in other aspects.

The book then juxtaposes the Second Punic War to the Second World War. Here the comparison is a little more linear, but still not a straight forward one modern nation is analogous to one ancient nation.

The book then discusses the Cuban missile crisis and uses ideas discussed from the other sections of the book to explain why the events took the course they did.

Overall a good book.

However there are two faults:
1. The sections become way out of balance when the ancient wars get kind of a quick over view and then the text becomes bogged down in the fine details of the modern war. A little more info on the ancient and a little more discussion comparing the ancient and modern conflicts would have helped.
2. The book feels a little incomplete from its over all ending conclusion. You can definitely draw conclusions from it, I just wish the author discussed his philosophical views and reasons for them a little bit more.

One person found this helpful

Helpful

J. Adams

A reminder of how we are born to relive the past

Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2004

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Kagan wrote this the same year that bin Laden declared war on Western civilization with his fatwa to kill the infidel no matter where he finds him. This is a wonderful book to understand the history of mankind's desire to avoid war at any cost, even when it means that the consequences of doing so means that millions will die in the pursuit of peace.
Whether it is Chamberlain's claim that he had delivered "peace in our time" in his appeasement of a madman by the name of Hitler, or Kennedy's encouragement of Soviet aggression by his incredible weakness in dealing with a Khrushchev who saw him for the phony weakling that he was, this book drives home the fact that the bad guys will win if the good guys don't stand up.
Robert Kagan obviously learned a lesson in writing "Paradise and Power" versus this book by Donald Kagan by cutting to the chase and understanding that the attention span of most Americans is the average length of a sitcom. If you want to understand why we have to keep learning history's lessons generation after generation, this is the book to buy. The peace movement is responsible for the deaths of more humans than any of the tyrants who filled the gas chambers, launched the bombs, starved the innocents, or invaded their neighbors. Kagan does a great job of showing how this has been the case since recorded history, and unfortunately we are too illiterate to understand this in an era when terrorists are identified by some euphemism like "freedom fighter" or dissident.
This book should be mandatory reading for any teenager in high school as an alternative to the politically correct nonsense that they are graded on and forced to read in schools across the country. Not to mention those who sit in their lounge chairs watching such inanities as "Friends" or equally idiotic nonsense.
This is a great book, but not a one day read if you pay close attention to the massive research and detai it encompasses. Hopefully this will be condensed into something that is more approachable by the average reader.

11 people found this helpful

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DC Dweller

A+

Reviewed in the United States on September 18, 2021

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Amazing analysis from one of the smartest and insightful historians of all time.

Helpful

Top reviews from other countries

Sam

One of the lesser Donald Kagan titles. Still worth reading.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 19, 2018

Verified Purchase

As stated by the author himself, he's not an expert in every period he delves into in this book. Still, comparing the old world with the new is always interesting and Donald Kagan has more insight to share than most people.

One person found this helpful

G H M Pope

Prepare for war but keep the peace.

Reviewed in the United Kingdom on September 19, 2015

Verified Purchase

A great book analysing the attitudes and miscalculations that eventually result in war. Every politician should read it and every politician should read it to understand that the sad fact of history is that disarmament or even strong calls for disarmament almost certainly encourage war. Humans compete for power and war is the final solution for achieveing it. It just needs the dominoes to fall.

2 people found this helpful

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