Conflict
THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER
‘A rigorous and thoughtful study of what has happened on battlefields over the past eight decades’ THE TIMES
‘A hugely important book … elegantly written and persuasively argued’ DAILY TELEGRAPH
** FULLY UPDATED TO INCLUDE NEW MATERIAL ON THE ISRAEL/GAZA CONFLICT **
Conflict is both a sweeping history of the evolution of warfare up to Putin’s invasion of Ukraine, and a penetrating analysis of what we must learn from the past, and anticipate in the future, in order to navigate an increasingly perilous world.
In this deep and incisive study, General David Petraeus, the former CIA director who commanded the US-led coalitions in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and the prize-winning historian Andrew Roberts, explore over seventy years of conflict, drawing significant lessons and insights from their fresh analysis of the past. Petraeus and Roberts show how often critical mistakes have been repeated time and again, and explore the challenge, for statesmen and generals alike, of learning to adapt to various new weapon systems, theories and strategies. Among the conflicts examined are the Arab – Israeli wars, the Korean and Vietnam wars, the two Gulf wars, the Balkan wars in the former Yugoslavia, and both the Soviet and Coalition wars in Afghanistan, as well as guerrilla conflicts in Africa and South America.
Conflict culminates with a bracing look at Putin’s disastrous invasion of Ukraine, yet another case study in the tragic results that occur when leaders refuse to learn from history, and an assessment of the nature of future warfare. Filled with sharp insight and the wisdom of experience, Conflict is not only a critical assessment of our recent past, but also an essential primer of modern warfare that provides crucial knowledge for waging battle today as well as for understanding what the decades ahead will bring.
General David Petraeus is a retired United States Army general and widely respected as a leading warrior intellectual. He is currently a Partner in a major investment firm and chairs that firm’s Global Institute. He previously served for 37 years in the US Army, culminating his time in uniform with 6 consecutive commands as a general officer. Following a Senate confirmation by a vote of 94-0, he served as Director of the CIA.
Andrew Roberts is a biographer and historian of international renown whose books include The Storm of War (winner of the British Army Book Prize), Napoleon the Great (winner of the Grand Prix of the Fondation Napoléon and the Los Angeles Times Biography Prize) and George III. He is currently Visiting Professor at the Department of War Studies at King's College, London, and the Roger and Martha Mertz Visiting Research Fellow at the Hoover Institution at Stanford University.