The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace, and the Course of History (2002)

by Philip Bobbitt

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749	10	32,185	(3.82)	5
For centuries, civilisation has been defined by epoch-making cycles of war and peace. But now our world has changed irrevocably. What faces us in this era of uncertainty? How do we protect ourselves against war machines that can penetrate the defences of any state? Is it too late to try? Visionary and prophetic, The Shield of Achilleslooks back at history, at the 'long war' of 1914-1990 and at the future- the death of the nation-state and the birth of a new, terrifying kind of conflict without precedent in our history.… (more)

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Showing 1-5 of 10 (next | show all)

A curious analysis of the history of the world and its conflicts, and an attempt to predict the possible futures. Predicting the future is bound to fail as no one can clearly foresee new developments. A pattern that does emerge is the gradual growth in the size of communities, from families, to villages, to principalities, kingdoms, countries, states and nations and to world alliances. If this is continued eventually perhaps the world will be a single unit. For this however the interests of individuals must be subjugated to the interests of the whole. Will that happen is another question.

David-Block | Jan 25, 2024 |

almost unreadable (

)

Baku-X | Jan 10, 2017 |

Magisterial in scope the author surveys law and war and the newly emerging market state of the 21st Century. Could have been two books as the author states.

http://web.archive.org/web/20071019104838/http://www.gbn.com/GBNDocumentDisplayS...

http://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Philip_Bobbitt

gmicksmith | Dec 14, 2014 |

almost unreadable (

)

BakuDreamer | Sep 7, 2013 |

In what universe can the various world events of 1914-1990 be binned together into one unified "Long War"?

AsYouKnow_Bob | Oct 7, 2012 |

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▾Awards and Honors

Awards

Arthur Ross Book Award (Honorable Mention – Honorable Mention – 2003)

Robert W. Hamilton Book Award (2003)

Notable Lists

The Economist Best Books (2002.14)

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Canonical title

The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace, and the Course of History

Original title

The Shield of Achilles

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2002

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Full title (2002):The shield of Achilles : war, peace, and the course of history.

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Philip Bobbitt

Robert W. Hamilton Book Award

The Shield of Achilles: War, Peace, and the Course of History

▾Book descriptions

For centuries, civilisation has been defined by epoch-making cycles of war and peace. But now our world has changed irrevocably. What faces us in this era of uncertainty? How do we protect ourselves against war machines that can penetrate the defences of any state? Is it too late to try? Visionary and prophetic, The Shield of Achilleslooks back at history, at the 'long war' of 1914-1990 and at the future- the death of the nation-state and the birth of a new, terrifying kind of conflict without precedent in our history.

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