On the origins of war and the preservation of peace by Donald Kagan

War has been a fact of life for centuries. By lucidly revealing the common threads that connect the ancient confrontations between Athens and Sparta and between Rome and Carthage with the two calamitous World Wars of the twentieth century, renowned historian Donald Kagan reveals new and surprising insights into the nature of war and peace. Vivid, incisive, and accessible, Kagan's powerful narrative warns against complacency and urgently reminds us of the importance of preparedness in times of peace. PDF source: http://libgen.io/book/index.php?md5=45CCF98D0F06F58E80707CDD0B99D86C Preface Introduction 1. The Peloponnesian War 431-404 B.C The Hegemonic Powers and Their Alliances Sparta and the Peloponnesian League Athens and Its Empire The Origin of the Rivalry The Peace Testing the Peace The Crisis The Crisis Widens The Decision for War: Sparta The Decision for War: Athens The Outbreak of War The Causes of the War 2. The First World War 1914-1918 The Emergence of Germany and the Challenge to the Old Order The European Powers Germany France Great Britain Russia Austria-Hungary Italy Bismarck's Era The Character of the Peace Testing the Peace Germany's "New Course Britain's Reaction The Road to War The First Moroccan Crisis The Triple Entente The Naval Race The Bosnian Crisis Agadir: The Second Moroccan Crisis The Haldane Mission The Balkan Wars The Final Crisis The Causes of the War 3. Hannibal's War: The Second Punic War 218-201 B.C The Nature of the Opponents Rome Carthage The Origins of the First Punic War The Peace Testing the Peace The Accession of Hannibal The Crisis The Causes of the War 4. The Second World War 1939-1945 The End of the First World War The Peace Testing the Peace, 1919-1933 Reparations and the Ruhr Crisis of 1923 The Locarno Agreements The Fall of the Weimar Republic The Road to War Hitler in Power The Abyssinian Crisis The Remilitarization of the Rhineland From the Rhineland to Vienna British Rearmament Hitler's Plans The Anschluss Munich The Causes of the War 5. The Cuban Missile Crisis The Cold War Khrushchev Comes to Power Castro and Cuba Khrushchev versus Kennedy The Bay of Pigs The Summit Meeting at Vienna The Berlin Wall Rattling Missiles Missiles to Cuba The Crisis The Resolution The Causes of the Crisis Conclusions Selected Bibliography Index

by Lucidly Revealing The Common Threads That Connect The Ancient Confrontations Between Athens And Sparta And Between Rome And Carthage With The Two Calamitous World Wars Of ...

richard Bernstein

on The Origins Of War Is A Remarkable Study In Historical Juxtaposition And Analogy. . . . Mr. Kagan's Undertaking Is Valuable And Compelling Because It Distills So Much History Into So Clear And Transparent A Liquid. -- New York Times

Professor Kagan Reveals The Common Threads That Connect The Ancient Confrontations Between Athens And Sparta And Between Rome And Carthage With The Two Calamitous World Wars Of Our Own Century. The Peloponnesian War 431-404 B.c. -- The First World War 1914-1918 -- Hannibal's War : The Second Punic War 218-201 B.c. -- The Second World War 1939-1945 -- The Cuban Missile Crisis. Donald Kagan. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 575-589) And Index. By lucidly revealing the common threads that connect the ancient confrontations between Athens & Sparta & between Rome & Carthage with the two calamitous world wars of the 20th century & the Cuban Missile Crisis, Kagan reveals new insights into the nature of war & peace that are vitally important & often surprising. A study of why wars begin and how they can be prevented. The author takes four mammoth wars and one near-suicidal nuclear confrontation to explore the question of why wars break out, what common threads link conflicts throughout history, and how, in the post-Soviet world, we can preserve peace. FOR ALMOST THREE decades at the end of the fifth century B.C. the Athenians and their allies fought the Spartans and theirs in a terrible war that changed the Greek world and its civilization forever.