Issues of War

Whereas Victorian optimists imagined that armed conflict would
gradually disappear as the world continued to head for universal peace
and prosperity, the 20th century wiped out any such illusions. These
reflections mark the centenary of WW1, whose open-access horrors gradually
unfolded despite official attempts at censorship. “The pity of war” is
first examined through the eyes of artists and poets, before turning to
an overview of how thinking about the conduct and morality of war
developed down the centuries. Are there still lessons to be learnt? –
read on in the final chapter.