War in Human Civilization

This is a massive and fatiguing book to read. Weighing in at 673 pages it is definitely an endurance test to make it all the way through. Azar Gat admits in the preface that he designed this book not only for scholars but also for the interested reader walking into Barnes and Noble or shopping on Amazon for a book on war. I'm sure this book has made wide circulation among scholarly circles. However, I doubt seriously that many other readers will take the time and energy to make it past the first 100 pages. That's not to say that the book is poorly conceived or executed—it's simply too overwhelming for anyone but the dedicated minority.

This is essentially a book about human history that uses an evolutionary framework to explain the origins of violent competition (i.e. war) between human beings. As the book progresses, Gat transitions from biological evolution/natural selection into cultural evolution—that is, primarily, the emergence of various polities and their elaboration across the centuries. Gat actually advances a fairly simple argument for why humans often resort to violence (well, it seems simple and I hope I don't oversimplify his argument). Humans are hard-wired through the calculus of survival and reproduction (the unforgiving essence of natural selection) to pursue an array of strategies to secure resources, women, and the survival of their species. Peaceful means certainly exist to achieve these ends. But Gat focuses instead on how humans (especially humans in nature—the 95% of human history that occurred before the advent of agriculture) often resorted to aggressive tactics to secure water, food, and fertile women. All other motives for war—including honor, nationalism, religion and ideology, etc.—are secondary to these core constituents of survival. In modern times, though, these secondary elements have become more salient while resource abundance has obscured for a contemporary audience the fundamental rationale for war. Increasing globalization of the economy and economic interdependence have made the benefits of peace outweigh the potential rewards of warfare and have, especially within liberal democracies of the west, exercised a depressing effect on the occurrence and duration of wars.

Throughout the book Gat's writing is precise and clear. He does has a tendency to repeat himself throughout the various chapters and section introductions and conclusions. I feel certain that Gat could have written this book in 300-400 pages, rather than 673. You'll find that in the beginning chapters he draws mostly on evolutionary theory, anthropology, and archaeology while in the later chapters he pulls heavily from international relations, political science, and sociology to explain political developments. Still, many undertreated civilizations and empires are treated throughout his book to advance his thesis—I particularly enjoyed his sections on Australian Aborigines, Native Americas (Aztec, Maya, Inca), and the Safavid/Mughal Empires of Eurasia.

A more specific review will likely follow....4.5 stars and recommended for anyone with a deep interest in military history.