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How Wars Begin
War has been one of the most destructive and decisive forces in world history.
But how do wars begin?
In this provocative book, the AJP Taylor addresses one of the greatest questions in history.
Taylor examines eight major conflicts, from the Napoleonic era to the Cold War, discussing the motives and personalities behind the decisions to go to war.
Some wars had a long background, whilst others were brought about by the overweening ambitions of a single man - Napoleon at the beginning of the period, Hitler towards the end. Public opinion, secret diplomacy, jingoism, armament manufacturers, and even historians, have all played a role in setting nation against nation.
But often, Taylor argues, the actual declaration of a war bears little relation to its profound cause. Wars in fact have sprung more from apprehension than from a lust for conquest. Every Great Power is suspicious of any likely or even unlikely rival. What seems defence to one will always appear as aggressive preparation to another.
'With nuclear weapons the Balance of Power has been replaced by the Balance of Terror,' writes Mr Taylor. 'This only means that the chances are less, not that they have been eliminated. In the old days the deterrent worked nine times out of ten. Now presumably it will work ninety-nine times out of a hundred. But if past experience is any guide, the hundredth occasion will come.'
'How Wars Begin' is a brilliant examination of one of the most challenging of all historical issues from one of the greatest historians of his generation.
'Anything Mr Taylor writes is worth reading ... he is our greatest popular historian since Macaulay' - The Spectator
'His informal, pithy style makes the book compelling - even exciting - reading' The Irish Times
A.J.P. Taylor (1906-90) was one of the most controversial historians of the twentieth century. He served as a lecturer at the Universities of Manchester, Oxford, and London. Taylor was significant both for the controversy his work on Germany and the Second World War engendered and for his role in the development of history on television. His books include 'War By Timetable' and ‘The War Lords’, also published in e-book by Endeavour Press.
Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.
But how do wars begin?
In this provocative book, the AJP Taylor addresses one of the greatest questions in history.
Taylor examines eight major conflicts, from the Napoleonic era to the Cold War, discussing the motives and personalities behind the decisions to go to war.
Some wars had a long background, whilst others were brought about by the overweening ambitions of a single man - Napoleon at the beginning of the period, Hitler towards the end. Public opinion, secret diplomacy, jingoism, armament manufacturers, and even historians, have all played a role in setting nation against nation.
But often, Taylor argues, the actual declaration of a war bears little relation to its profound cause. Wars in fact have sprung more from apprehension than from a lust for conquest. Every Great Power is suspicious of any likely or even unlikely rival. What seems defence to one will always appear as aggressive preparation to another.
'With nuclear weapons the Balance of Power has been replaced by the Balance of Terror,' writes Mr Taylor. 'This only means that the chances are less, not that they have been eliminated. In the old days the deterrent worked nine times out of ten. Now presumably it will work ninety-nine times out of a hundred. But if past experience is any guide, the hundredth occasion will come.'
'How Wars Begin' is a brilliant examination of one of the most challenging of all historical issues from one of the greatest historians of his generation.
'Anything Mr Taylor writes is worth reading ... he is our greatest popular historian since Macaulay' - The Spectator
'His informal, pithy style makes the book compelling - even exciting - reading' The Irish Times
A.J.P. Taylor (1906-90) was one of the most controversial historians of the twentieth century. He served as a lecturer at the Universities of Manchester, Oxford, and London. Taylor was significant both for the controversy his work on Germany and the Second World War engendered and for his role in the development of history on television. His books include 'War By Timetable' and ‘The War Lords’, also published in e-book by Endeavour Press.
Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.
192 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1977
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About the author
A.J.P. Taylor
114 books194 followersAlan John Percivale Taylor was an English historian of the 20th century and renowned academic who became well known to millions through his popular television lectures.
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Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews
November 6, 2015
Another set of engrossing lectures from Taylor. He has his own style and approach to examining such issues. He is unconventional in his analyses and even in conclusions based on such analyses. Hence he comes up with an unusual conclusion "Wars in fact have sprung more from apprehension than from a lust for war or conquest. Napoleon and Hitler would perhaps not fall in this category. He is harsh and critical without being biased as he takes the British to task "The British are entitled always to mistrust other people but others are not entitled to mistrust British". How true of some other so called great powers.
October 8, 2023
Long out-of-date. Some random thoughts:
Taylor refers to England and Britain interchangeably which is very much of his time but still jarring for a Scot.
Still, for an Englishman, he is very balanced when pointing out that the UK's actions are not always fair and even. When the USSR asked for an interest in Libya post-World War 2, the British and Americans thought it 'very Asian' and aggressive of them. This despite the fact that Britain wasn't giving up control of both entrances to the Med and that, if America had asked for the same interest in Libya, no one would have blinked an eye.
Taylor says that Napoleon's wars were, apart from 1815, preventative wars. Only if you use an extremely forgiving meaning to the word 'preventative'. He even manages to argue that the invasion of Russia in 1812 was 'preventative'!
Regarding the WW2 chapter, it was written before the work done by Stephen Budiansky and hence repeats the erroneous claim that Britain was almost brought to the brink by the U-boat war. In fact, new merchant ship production outstripped losses.'.
The chapter on the Cold War, written in the mid-70s(?) suffers most from a lack of a long-view - he focuses on the wrong things and sometimes draws the wrong conclusions.
The Kindle version suffers from bad proofreading - typos (years seem to be a hotspot with '1915' for '1945', for example), spelling and grammar issues, along with some repetition within the same or consecutive paragraphs.
I'll finish with a quote from the end of the book which is both a relief and a damning indictment of modern nations:
'On the whole we have done pretty well since the war in not producing any great men. Great men are splendid in war time, maybe essential, but they can be dangerous in peace time.'
Taylor refers to England and Britain interchangeably which is very much of his time but still jarring for a Scot.
Still, for an Englishman, he is very balanced when pointing out that the UK's actions are not always fair and even. When the USSR asked for an interest in Libya post-World War 2, the British and Americans thought it 'very Asian' and aggressive of them. This despite the fact that Britain wasn't giving up control of both entrances to the Med and that, if America had asked for the same interest in Libya, no one would have blinked an eye.
Taylor says that Napoleon's wars were, apart from 1815, preventative wars. Only if you use an extremely forgiving meaning to the word 'preventative'. He even manages to argue that the invasion of Russia in 1812 was 'preventative'!
Regarding the WW2 chapter, it was written before the work done by Stephen Budiansky and hence repeats the erroneous claim that Britain was almost brought to the brink by the U-boat war. In fact, new merchant ship production outstripped losses.'.
The chapter on the Cold War, written in the mid-70s(?) suffers most from a lack of a long-view - he focuses on the wrong things and sometimes draws the wrong conclusions.
The Kindle version suffers from bad proofreading - typos (years seem to be a hotspot with '1915' for '1945', for example), spelling and grammar issues, along with some repetition within the same or consecutive paragraphs.
I'll finish with a quote from the end of the book which is both a relief and a damning indictment of modern nations:
'On the whole we have done pretty well since the war in not producing any great men. Great men are splendid in war time, maybe essential, but they can be dangerous in peace time.'
April 19, 2018
The legendary left-of-centre historian's take on a number of major wars, based on a series of lectures given on BBC television in 1977.
In six short chapters, Taylor offers an admirably clear take on world-changing conflicts from the French Revolution to the Cold War. He even manages to make World War I seem almost explicable.
The tone is learned, but conversational, in a way which points up the fact that history is always a matter of interpretation rather than objective fact. Nevertheless, despite the disdain he expresses for the "Common Market", it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the world is a safer place when nations are working together rather than each pursuing their own territorial objectives, as was the case before World War II.
A valuable, lively and brisk read. (This version does, however, contain some distracting typos).
In six short chapters, Taylor offers an admirably clear take on world-changing conflicts from the French Revolution to the Cold War. He even manages to make World War I seem almost explicable.
The tone is learned, but conversational, in a way which points up the fact that history is always a matter of interpretation rather than objective fact. Nevertheless, despite the disdain he expresses for the "Common Market", it is hard to avoid the conclusion that the world is a safer place when nations are working together rather than each pursuing their own territorial objectives, as was the case before World War II.
A valuable, lively and brisk read. (This version does, however, contain some distracting typos).
August 1, 2024
a bit simplistic...
May 26, 2022
A collection of lectures about the origins of six different wars. AJP Taylor describes what he considers modern wars, i.e. from the French Revolution onwards. Wars described in this short volume are: wars directly following the French revolution, Crimean War and Italian war of liberation, Bismarck’s wars, WWI, WWII, and Cold War. Interestingly, Taylor notices that delineation that is commonly used for wars is misleading, as wars have their own dynamic and can be seen as having different phases, or almost being separate conflicts. Case in point being WWII, which was quite different during the September 1939 Blitzkrieg, and different when it was fought against the Soviet Union (Operation Barbarossa or Bagration).
The answer to the title question is not given directly, but it seems like the wars begin frequently by accident. At least, that was the case in times prior to the information technology revolution. More modern cases tended to start preemptively. The reasons don’t necessarily need to be seen as such by the other side. This particular point made me think of the Russian invasion on Ukraine. Unfortunately, Taylor’s view is that the wars will go on as long as human nature does not change, and this applies to WWIII.
The answer to the title question is not given directly, but it seems like the wars begin frequently by accident. At least, that was the case in times prior to the information technology revolution. More modern cases tended to start preemptively. The reasons don’t necessarily need to be seen as such by the other side. This particular point made me think of the Russian invasion on Ukraine. Unfortunately, Taylor’s view is that the wars will go on as long as human nature does not change, and this applies to WWIII.
December 1, 2014
I was hoping for an answer to the question posed and I guess it was given. It would seem from Taylor's accounts that wars begin by accident or because of misunderstandings or, in the case of the First World War, partly because of the rigidity of railway timetables. Planning seems to have a very small role as does any consideration of readiness or calculation of the odds of winning. In the current era of terrorism driven by fanatics, this is not a very comforting conclusion. Nor is Taylor's final comment on the likelihood of a third world war given his confidence in the immutability of human behaviour.
September 13, 2014
Brilliant as ever and utterly readable....
August 4, 2015
Interesting, but the Kindle edition is marred by OCR errors
Displaying 1 - 8 of 8 reviews