The Causes of War: From 1700 to today

By: Geoffrey Blainey

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Synopsis: Australia&’s most famous historian on a freshly essential subject; a classic work updated for our times.The Causes of War is one of Geoffrey Blainey&’s most influential books, carried in corridors of power around the world. Covering international wars from 1700 – and now updated to include Ukraine and Gaza - Blainey demolishes many widely-held theories of why nations fight, arguing that peace is not the &‘natural&’ state of international relations and war is not an aberration. Both are best understood as means of advancing national interests: when one is failing, the other becomes more likely, and therefore we need to understand what causes &‘the mystery of peace&’ as urgently as we understand what causes war. Trenchantly argued and beautifully written, this bracing, clear-eyed survey is an essential guide to understanding our current fraught moment, seeing beyond the daily news cycle to deeper truths about the way the modern world works.