Modern War: A Very Short Introduction

Very Short Introductions #363

by Richard English

Warfare is the most dangerous threat faced by modern humanity. It is also one of the key influences that has shaped the politics, economics, and society of modern times. But what do we mean by modern war? What causes modern wars to begin? Why do people fight in them, why do they end, and what have they achieved?

In this accessible and compelling Very Short Introduction, Richard English explores the assumptions we make about modern warfare and considers them against the backdrop of their historical reality.

Drawing on the wide literature available, including direct accounts of the experience of war, English provides an authoritative account of modern war: its origins, evolution, dynamics, and current trends.

Genres: History, Politics, War, Nonfiction, Military Fiction, Military History

160 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 2013

About the author

Richard English is a historian from Northern Ireland. He was born in Belfast in 1963. His father, Donald English (1930–1998) was a prominent Methodist preacher. He studied as an undergraduate at Keble College, Oxford, and subsequently at Keele University, where he was awarded a PhD in History. He was first employed by the Politics Department at Queen's University Belfast in 1990 and became a professor in 1999. He is currently teaching at the University of St Andrews.

Reviews

[Bojan Tunguz · Rating 1 out of 5]

One of the main reasons why I picked up this book was in order to find out more about what I consider to be the modern wars – wars that were, roughly, waged in the recent few decades, and especially the wars that are going on right now or are about to break out soon. However, this book seems to have taken a much more expanded vision of what modern war means. I say “seems” because, despite dedicating a whole chapter on trying to define its subject matter, this book never quite arrives at a conclusive definition. Judging mostly by the wars that were mentioned throughout the book I conclude that in the author’s view “modern” means happening within the last quarter of a millennium or so.

The biggest problem, however, that I have with this book is that it’s not very informative. Sure, there is a lot of talk within its pages about various wars and war-related events, but most of that talk constitutes not much more than the author’s musings and opinions. There is very little concrete hard analysis in this book, and even less hard data and numbers-driven conclusions. Some of the opinions are interesting, some are not, and some are downright tedious. Even though this is a very short book, it was very hard for me to sustain any level of interest while reading it, and I consider myself a history and international affairs buff.

Things get a bit more interesting in the penultimate chapter that largely deals with the “War on Terror.” In fact, in the light of reading that chapter I get the feeling that most of the previous chapters were a bit of an overdrawn and lazily assembled introduction too this subject. However, even this chapter reads more like a really long op-ed piece rather than a detailed and informative scholarly analytical account. The author presents seven main “lessons” or “recommendations” for how counter-terrorist military activity should be conducted, but aside from the appeal to the authority of various scholars and pseudo-experts on this subject, very little of a concrete evidence or well-thought out argument is offered. This chapter is also incredibly tendentious, presenting only one very critical set of views and opinions on this very contentious subject. Some of these opinions will probably resonate with the majority of the readers of this book (as they do with me too), but again, based on the (lack of) supportive evidence presented here they remain just that – opinions. If you’ve kept up on your news analysis over the last decade or so, then there is very little new information that this chapter will offer you.

As I write this review the dominant headlines on all news sources I consult involve the high-stake diplomacy concerning the possibility of another Western involvement in a Middle Eastern war – Syria. It would have been wonderful if we had a short and accessible book that would present hard objective facts about the nature and limitations of the modern wars. A book like that would go a long way to help inform public opinion on some very important policy discussions that affect all of us. Unfortunately this is not a book that would do the job. As history it is vacuous, as an opinion piece it is unremarkable, and as a policy suggestion it is unhelpful. There is hardly anything positive that I can say about it.

[Daniel Wright · Rating 3 out of 5]

I like to think I only perceive content when I read academic books, and am impervious to dry, scholarly prose. Alas, books like this one prove how deluded I am. It remains a distant aspiration. The content was interesting enough, but sometimes difficult to follow. Its reputation was rescued by the epilogue in which the author right laments the lack of interdisciplinarity in his own and other fields.

Chapter 1: Definition
Chapter 2: Causation
Chapter 3: Lived experience
Chapter 4: Legacies

[Muaz Jalil · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a fascinating short book that packs a lot of information into one.

The definition of war is" a socio-political activity, which entails reciprocal and legitimized use of purposeful violence to attain political objectives."

Modern war is the post-French Revolutionary era of nationalistic wars. Strategy (theory of change) uses military means to achieve policy or political objectives, while tactics are a lower-level operation (results chain).

Sen's dichotomy is either realization focused on removing egregious injustice or identification of perfect justice, like transcendental idealism.

Authors to look up, Sir Michael Eliot Howard ( Captain Professor)

It also mentions military methods are not effective in dealing with terror. Rather a police based approach is more successful.

The Availability Heuristic, by Kahneman, is the tendency to abstract general arguments from unrepresentative salient cases, much like books on the traits of billionaires. So you may argue nationalism causes war but fail to see in far more cases, it exists peacefully.

Jus ad bellum, when it might be legitimate to go to war and jus in bello, what it is legitimate to do in war.

[Dropbear123 · Rating 2 out of 5]

2/5, probably a bit generous tbh.

It just feels like it doesn’t actually say much. Also it’s a product of its age as it tends to focus on the war on terror, especially towards the end of the book.

I pretty much only read it as it was short and I didn’t want a big commitment before a trip and also to get it off my shelf.

[Esha Nas · Rating 3 out of 5]

A lot of metaphoric words, for one; weirdly claiming that people think the allies fought ww2 for the Jews - who claims this, when hitlers militarism and the failure of appeasement (done due to the costs of the first war being so high, as this book itself notes) have been pointed out as the causes since '39 itself? Felt odd…it is however (at least the edition i have) 9 years old, I wonder how a modern one would fare. I still came away from the book with six pages of notes, its causes and delineation of modern war is not lacking.

I wonder how it would be made now, with the rise of say, Obama's 'Special Forces Army'; the use of drones by the US and now through smaller conflicts, the long civil wars of Syria, Libya, Yemen (and with that, the disposing of Gaddafi in Libya), and so forth. War has come a long way even in the last ten years....

[Grant · Rating 5 out of 5]

Beginning with the French Revolution as the beginning of political modernity, English walks through the causes, experiences, and legacies of war in the 19th, 20th, and 21st centuries.

[A R · Rating 1 out of 5]

A very long introduction. Reads like the introduction to a book on modern war, but the book never starts.

[Eliade Weismann · Rating 2 out of 5]

The introduction chapter was exciting, but then the writing bogs down as soon as he finishes talking about nationalism.

[Arbraxan · Rating 2 out of 5]

"The Very Short Introductions are for anyone wanting a stimulating and accessible way in to a new subject". I really wish that Richard Englisch, the author of "Modern War: A Very Short Introduction" had heeded that description more closely, for his account of "modern war" was neither stimulating nor particularly accessible to me. Instead of slowly building up to the topic by first offering a general overview of the salient features of modern war, maybe fluffing the introduction up with some anecdotes history is in the habit of richly providing, and then delving deeper into some of the peculiarities of modern war, he imposes a bleak structure - definition, causation, lived experience, legacies - upon the text. I am generally a focused reader and interested in war as a political topic, but the author already lost my attention in the second chapter with a minute (and, in my opinion, excessively verbose and academic) discussion of nationalism as a cause of war. It is also utterly lost on me why you would include an agenda for future research in a book that is meant to be a very short introduction to a topic. Although I don't mind academic writing, I don't think the scholarly style ("scholar A said this, scholar B said that, please look at the book I wrote") befits the "Very Short Introduction" series. I also wonder whether any reader's interest peaked face to the challenge of reading sentences occasionally ten lines long and sprinkled with more than half a dozen semicolons.

In conclusion, I really hope for a re-edition by someone who is more apt at writing introductions and perhaps writes something that reverses Englisch's style through a book that is "more chronicle than catechism".