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War and Anti-War: Making Sense of Today's Global Chaos
Beginning with a provocative analysis of warfare in the past, futurists Alvin and Heidi Toffler offer intriguing insight into today's military conflicts--and an eye-opening portrait of the battles of the future. By describing the horrifying realities of future war, the authors offer innovative strategies for implementing future peace.
370 pages, Mass Market Paperback
First published November 3, 1983
24 people are currently reading
750 people want to read
About the author
Alvin Toffler
57 books699 followersAlvin Eugene Toffler was an American writer, futurist, and businessman known for his works discussing modern technologies, including the digital revolution and the communication revolution, with emphasis on their effects on cultures worldwide. He is regarded as one of the world's outstanding futurists.
Toffler was an associate editor of Fortune magazine. In his early works he focused on technology and its impact, which he termed "information overload". In 1970, his first major book about the future, Future Shock, became a worldwide best-seller and has sold over 6 million copies.
He and his wife Heidi Toffler (1929–2019), who collaborated with him for most of his writings, moved on to examining the reaction to changes in society with another best-selling book, The Third Wave, in 1980. In it, he foresaw such technological advances as cloning, personal computers, the Internet, cable television and mobile communication. His later focus, via their other best-seller, Powershift, (1990), was on the increasing power of 21st-century military hardware and the proliferation of new technologies.
He founded Toffler Associates, a management consulting company, and was a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation, visiting professor at Cornell University, faculty member of the New School for Social Research, a White House correspondent, and a business consultant. Toffler's ideas and writings were a significant influence on the thinking of business and government leaders worldwide, including China's Zhao Ziyang, and AOL founder Steve Case.
Toffler was an associate editor of Fortune magazine. In his early works he focused on technology and its impact, which he termed "information overload". In 1970, his first major book about the future, Future Shock, became a worldwide best-seller and has sold over 6 million copies.
He and his wife Heidi Toffler (1929–2019), who collaborated with him for most of his writings, moved on to examining the reaction to changes in society with another best-selling book, The Third Wave, in 1980. In it, he foresaw such technological advances as cloning, personal computers, the Internet, cable television and mobile communication. His later focus, via their other best-seller, Powershift, (1990), was on the increasing power of 21st-century military hardware and the proliferation of new technologies.
He founded Toffler Associates, a management consulting company, and was a visiting scholar at the Russell Sage Foundation, visiting professor at Cornell University, faculty member of the New School for Social Research, a White House correspondent, and a business consultant. Toffler's ideas and writings were a significant influence on the thinking of business and government leaders worldwide, including China's Zhao Ziyang, and AOL founder Steve Case.
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Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews
August 19, 2013
1970...future shock
smthing is gonna change,it will change in the fastest way it could!
here he discuss the effect that the rate may cause,& leave
the tehem of the "change" 4 his next book to discuss!
1980...third wave
he define us the chaneg we r facing or going to face in future decades in details
1990...power shift
this change "third wave" will affect the basics of distribution of the meaning of the "power" in society!
1993...war & antiwar
an "ASKED" book!
smthng US.ARmy & goverment asked him to have research & write!
imagine what a great influense & impact his other books had,that they made us Gov to ask him 2 write smtng like that in military area!
November 14, 2017
After studying the Toffler’s earlier books, the US military brings the Tofflers in for additional consulting concerning how the changes in society described in their earlier tomes, based on ‘The Third Wave”, will impact the world of war. The Tofflers use this book to describe the kinds of predictions and descriptions they provided to the military. There is a lot of focus on how technology is changing war, and how organization is changing in war and in society in general.
Having read all of the Toffler’s other books, I found some interesting extensions, but this is mostly a rehash of their earlier work, albeit with a slant toward how war is impacted by the introduction of the information wave. The Tofflers also talk about what they call “anti-war”, or the use of new technology and organization to combat war. While this is a big part of the book’s title, it’s a small part of the book’s content. They don’t have much to say here, and I felt their analogies for anti-war weren’t as baked as most of their other analogies. If you like Toffler books, you’ll like this one. It felt much like their earlier books like “Powershift” and less like their later books, which I found not as readable. They continue to telegraph upcoming parts of the book, like baiting that a topic will come up in a future chapter a few times. And this continues their use of very short chapters. For me, this makes the book quite readable.
Having read all of the Toffler’s other books, I found some interesting extensions, but this is mostly a rehash of their earlier work, albeit with a slant toward how war is impacted by the introduction of the information wave. The Tofflers also talk about what they call “anti-war”, or the use of new technology and organization to combat war. While this is a big part of the book’s title, it’s a small part of the book’s content. They don’t have much to say here, and I felt their analogies for anti-war weren’t as baked as most of their other analogies. If you like Toffler books, you’ll like this one. It felt much like their earlier books like “Powershift” and less like their later books, which I found not as readable. They continue to telegraph upcoming parts of the book, like baiting that a topic will come up in a future chapter a few times. And this continues their use of very short chapters. For me, this makes the book quite readable.
October 18, 2013
Good, But olden story about new world and new war because everything about security and war changes ...
April 16, 2013
A revolutionary angels-and-demons kind of book!
June 22, 2021
Ante todo, el libro tiene casi treinta años. No puede verlo todo venir. Una pena. Y sin embargo, habla de ciberguerras en el año 1993
Este libro orienta un poco más hacia la guerra lo que el autor viene diciendo en libros anteriores: que ha habido tres olas que han cambiado la historia de la Humanidad: el arado, la cadena de montaje y el ordenador. Que este último todavía está desarrollando sus efectos a escala planetaria y que, por supuesto, influirán también en cómo se combate.
En ocasiones leo frases suyas que son 100% coincidentes con las que escribe casi treinta años después Yuval Harari en ensayos sobre, precisamente, el futuro:
El libro se llama en inglés "War and Anti-war", porque los autores hacen mucho hincapié en cómo utilizar esta comunicación planetaria para desactivar conflictos. De momento no estamos teniendo mucho éxito en esto último.
En ocasiones predice temas que luego se ven reflejados (y predichos de nuevo) en libros mucho más modernos.
En conjunto una lectura interesante que, precisamente por hablar del futuro, se ha quedado un poco anticuada.
Este libro orienta un poco más hacia la guerra lo que el autor viene diciendo en libros anteriores: que ha habido tres olas que han cambiado la historia de la Humanidad: el arado, la cadena de montaje y el ordenador. Que este último todavía está desarrollando sus efectos a escala planetaria y que, por supuesto, influirán también en cómo se combate.
En ocasiones leo frases suyas que son 100% coincidentes con las que escribe casi treinta años después Yuval Harari en ensayos sobre, precisamente, el futuro:
The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn, unlearn, and relearn.
El libro se llama en inglés "War and Anti-war", porque los autores hacen mucho hincapié en cómo utilizar esta comunicación planetaria para desactivar conflictos. De momento no estamos teniendo mucho éxito en esto último.
En ocasiones predice temas que luego se ven reflejados (y predichos de nuevo) en libros mucho más modernos.
En conjunto una lectura interesante que, precisamente por hablar del futuro, se ha quedado un poco anticuada.
El futuro ya no es lo que eraPaul Valery
June 10, 2025
The focus of Mr. Toffler is more on War and less on Anti-War. I find it more of a propaganda sort of book. At the start, he talks about inspiring the military leadership with his bright ideas in previous books. But then he goes on the say that the military preparations for third wave civilization in USA had started as soon as the end of WWII. He predicts about the rise of knowledge (specially the Computer, Information and Communication Technology, Satellite etc.) and how this is going to revolutionise the society, its economics and its wars. The book probably was written to give the idea to the common people to take an interest in what is projected and make the prediction come true.
And yes. It actuallt worked. Today we see the actual rise rather monoply of Computers, our communication technology, the satellites and the surveillance (both military and civillians), artificial intelligence and machine learning and what not. I would have given him a higher rating if he had pondered over how to stop war with an equal weightage as he had given to his description of war.
And yes. It actuallt worked. Today we see the actual rise rather monoply of Computers, our communication technology, the satellites and the surveillance (both military and civillians), artificial intelligence and machine learning and what not. I would have given him a higher rating if he had pondered over how to stop war with an equal weightage as he had given to his description of war.
May 31, 2019
Very interesting. Bit old though, would love to see more of this kind of book but updated.
June 21, 2020
Le sobran como 100 páginas y no tener ideas tan dependientes a la gobernación.
October 17, 2020
Книга про новітні методи сучасної війни, написана після війни у Перській затоці. На сьогодні думки авторів уже трохи застаріли, але читати доволі цікаво.
September 15, 2023
Excelente libro,casualmente lo leo en medio de la incertidumbre actual por el "incendio" con lásers en Hawai,y casualmente la única empresa que los posee (fruto de investigaciones de extrabajadores del estado y la obvia información privilegiada que tuvieron),es una empresa cuya dueña es Blackrock(Titan casi dueño del mundo).Imagínense, se entrevista a mucha gente del sector militar de USA y estos srs ya en el libro de Alvin hablan de inteligencia artificial,armas de láser, comunicaciones en tiempo real ,robots de combate y similares ,considerando que se publicó en 1993/1994 y supongo elaboró desde 1990 ,se imaginan lo atrasados que estamos en cuanto a la información y situación real del mundo?,que no sabremos ahora,estamos con 20 a 30 años de retraso respecto a la realidad,vivimos en una burbuja entretenidos con cualquier cosa que nos da placer temporal,increíble.Bueno el libro es bastante amplio respecto a cómo se desarrollarían las guerras y anti-guerras en el futuro,lectura obligatoria y muy interesante.
April 9, 2007
Without knowing it, there is a lot of game theory in this book. I've gone back and re-read it a few times. Toffler is consistent in marking the plow, the assembly line, and the computer as the 3 waves of change. The latest book Revolutionary Wealth is the icing on the cake.
December 12, 2008
A great general read if you are interested in pontificating about why, how, and who goes to war. This is not a history book as much as a philosophy book, in my opinion. and its very accessible... for those who didn't get to read Clauswitz's 'On War' in a college class, especially.
October 24, 2011
rather disappointing so far - having a hard time finishing
I quit!! really a rehash of modern warfare and its implications - not really very informative or interesting
never finished - not worth the effort - out of date and simply parises smart technology etc
I quit!! really a rehash of modern warfare and its implications - not really very informative or interesting
never finished - not worth the effort - out of date and simply parises smart technology etc
December 16, 2012
About the age of the information and the modern ways of structuring the society. The main purpose is to outline how the successful war as a wealth generating power in the 21st century should look like according to the authors' theory of waves.
August 16, 2007
Alvin and Heidi Toffler certainly offer a tremendous amount of info in this book. It's hard reading.
July 21, 2010
Tofflers always deliver a good read. A little different than their usual observations but nonetheless interesting at it's lowest points.
September 6, 2012
Extremely insightful.
Read
April 4, 2013They have global experience and insight and share their look into crystal ball of the 21st Century and how to survive through it. Insightful!
July 15, 2014
No tan bueno como la trilogía.
April 23, 2014
Ciekawe spojrzenie na zagadnienia współczesnych koncepcji i rodzajów wojen. Rozjaśnia umysł na wiele spraw dotyczących wojny i pokoju i reguł nimi rządzących.
February 24, 2016
A true visionary look at cyber warfare (before such a thing really existed) and the future of conflict.
Displaying 1 - 21 of 21 reviews