War Machine: The Rationalisation of Slaughter in the Modern Age.

Daniel Pick.

ISBN 10: 0300067194 / ISBN 13: 9780300067194

Published by Yale University Press, 1996

About this Item

Twelve pages early in the text show UNDERLINING AND MARGINALIA IN INK. Else, Near Fine in Wraps: shows only minor indications of use: just a hint of wear to extremities; mildest rubbing. The binding shows very slight lean, but remains perfectly secure. Clearly, this book is flawed, but if one could overlook the underlining early on, would make a handsome reading copy. NOT a Remainder, Book-Club, or Ex-Library. 8vo. 292pp. University Press Paperback. This fascinating book examines Western perceptions of war in and beyond the nineteenth century, surveying the writings of novelists, anthropologists, psychiatrists, poets, natural scientists, and journalists to trace the origins of modern philosophies about the nature of war and conflict. 'This is a clever, interesting, and in many ways learned book.' John Keegan, Sunday Telegraph 'In a brilliant work of cultural analysis, Pick has mined some curious disparate areas and been rewarded with remarkable material for study.' Observer 'Profound . A fascinating book.' Martin Pawley, Guardian 'Continuously intelligent and concerned, cogently argued, well-informed . I fear this excellent book will always be timely.' Tony Tanner, European 'Pick, in his timely new study of how war came to be justified in the 20th century, provides a hundred reasons why no country should ever get involved in fighting.' Walter Ellis, Times 'An original, eclectic and personal study . Pick has cast his net widely to survey a broad sample of political, literary, economic and psychological works of Europe's most important thinkers and writers.'.

Seller Inventory # 44153

Bibliographic Details

• Title: War Machine: The Rationalisation of Slaughter in the Modern Age.
• Publisher: Yale University Press
• Publication Date: 1996
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0300067194
• ISBN 13: 9780300067194
• Binding: Paperback
• Seller catalogs:
  • Military

About this title

Synopsis

This fascinating book examines Western perceptions of war in and beyond the nineteenth century, surveying the writings of novelists, anthropologists, psychiatrists, poets, natural scientists, and journalists to trace the origins of modern philosophies about the nature of war and conflict.

Daniel Pick compares philosophical and historical models of conflict with fictions of invasion and biological speculation about the nature and value of conquest. He discusses the work of such familiar commentators on war as Clausewitz, Engels, and von Bernhardi, and examines little-known writings by Proudhon, De Quincey, Ruskin, Valery, and many others. He explores nineteenth-century English fears of French contamination through the Channel Tunnel and the widespread continuing dread of German domination. And he analyzes the history of the widely-shared European belief that war is beneficial or at least functionally necessary.

A central theme of the book is the disturbing relationship between machinery and destruction. According to Pick, relentless technological progress and the irresistible rise of the military-industrial complex risks turning conflict into little more than a sophisticated game played out by high-precision automata. Shorn of human agency or responsibility, war could become technologically unstoppable, a flawless mechanism for human slaughter.

From the Back Cover

This fascinating book examines Western perceptions of war in and beyond the nineteenth century, surveying the writings of novelists, anthropologists, psychiatrists, poets, natural scientists, and journalists to trace the origins of modern philosophies about the nature of war and conflict.