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Books like War! What is it good for?
A sweeping, provocative exploration of how humanity's most destructive impulse paradoxically paved the way for modern peace and prosperity. These 12 books are the closest matches in mood, pace and themes, with what each one shares with War! What is it good for?.
- intellectually stimulating
- sobering
- expansive
- 01
Why the West Rules - For Now
Ian Morris
A sweeping, God's-eye view of human history that turns millennia of data into a gripping puzzle about geography, power, and our collective future.
- 02
War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning
Chris Hedges
A haunting, erudite dismantling of the myths we tell ourselves about the glory of combat and the intoxicating poison of nationalism.
- 03
War and Peace and War
Peter Turchin · 2005
A sweeping, interdisciplinary exploration of the cyclical forces that build and destroy human empires.
- 04
Against the Grain
James C. Scott
A paradigm-shifting journey into deep history that completely upends the comforting myth of human progress.
- 05
The causes of war
Geoffrey Blainey · 1973
A methodical, big-picture exploration of the historical patterns that drive humanity to armed conflict.
- 06
The pursuit of power
William H. McNeill · 1984
A sweeping, sobering journey through a millennium of human conflict, tracing how markets and technology forged the modern military-industrial complex.
- 07
Carnage and culture
Victor Davis Hanson
A sweeping, accessible synthesis of 2,500 years of military history that examines the cultural roots of Western lethality.
- 08
The Silk Roads
Peter Frankopan
A sweeping, panoramic journey that recenters the globe and fundamentally shifts how you view the history of human civilization.
- 09
Energy in world history
Vaclav Smil · 1994
A sweeping, deeply pragmatic lens on human history that reveals the hidden physical forces shaping our world.
- 10
The Dawn of Everything
David Graeber and David Wengrow
A sweeping, paradigm-shattering intellectual adventure that rewrites the story of human potential.
- 11
A History of Warfare
John Keegan
A sweeping, deeply philosophical exploration of how culture, rather than mere politics, has shaped human conflict across the millennia.
- 12
The better angels of our nature
Steven Pinker
A sweeping, data-driven journey through the darkest chapters of human history that ultimately builds a profound case for optimism.
