Battling to the End (Paperback)

Rene Girard

ISBN 10: 0870138774 / ISBN 13: 9780870138775

Published by Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, MI, 2009

About this Item

Paperback. In this title, Rene Girard shows us a Clausewitz who is a fascinated witness of history's acceleration. In "Battling to the End", Rene Girard engages Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831), the Prussian military theoretician who wrote "On War". Clausewitz, who has been critiqued by military strategists, political scientists, and philosophers, famously postulated that 'War is the continuation of politics by other means'. He also seemed to believe that governments could constrain war. Clausewitz, a firsthand witness to the Napoleonic Wars, understood the nature of modern warfare. Far from controlling violence, politics follows in war's wake: the means of war have become its ends. Rene Girard shows us a Clausewitz who is a fascinated witness of history's acceleration. Haunted by the French-German conflict, Clausewitz clarifies more than anyone else the development that would ravage Europe. "Battling to the End" pushes aside the taboo that prevents us from seeing that the apocalypse has begun. Human violence is escaping our control; today it threatens the entire planet. Engages Carl von Clausewitz (1780-1831), the Prussian military theoretician who wrote "On War". This title shows us a Clausewitz who is a fascinated witness of history's acceleration. It pushes aside the taboo that prevents us from seeing that the apocalypse has begun. Shipping may be from our Sydney, NSW warehouse or from our UK or US warehouse, depending on stock availability.

Seller Inventory # 9780870138775

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Battling to the End (Paperback)
• Publisher: Michigan State University Press, East Lansing, MI
• Publication Date: 2009
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0870138774
• ISBN 13: 9780870138775
• Binding: Paperback
• Condition: new

About this title

Synopsis

Carl von Clausewitz (1780–1831), the Prussian military theoretician who wrote On War, is known above all for his famous dictum: “War is the continuation of politics by other means.” In René Girard’s view, however, the strategist’s treatise offers up a more disturbing truth to the reader willing to extrapolate from its most daring observations: with modern warfare comes the insanity of tit-for-tat escalation, which political institutions have lost their ability to contain. Having witnessed the Napoleonic Wars firsthand, Girard argues, Clausewitz intuited that unbridled “reciprocal action” could eventually lead foes to total mutual annihilation. Haunted by the Franco-German conflict that was to ravage Europe, in Girard’s account Clausewitz is a prescient witness to the terrifying acceleration of history. Battling to the End issues a warning about the apocalyptic threats hanging over our planet and delivers an authoritative lesson on the mimetic laws of violence.
 

About the Author

René Girard is a member of the French Academy and Emeritus Professor at Stanford University. His books have been translated and acclaimed worldwide. He received the Modern Language Association’s Award for Lifetime Scholarly Achievement in 2008.