Causes of War

This is a new book. Condition: Brand New.

Australia's most famous historian on a freshly essential subject; a classic work updated for our times.

The Causes of War is one of Geoffrey Blainey's most influential books, carried in corridors of power around the world.

Covering international wars from 1700 - and now updated to include Ukraine and Gaza - Blainey demolishes many widely-held theories of why nations fight, arguing that peace is not the 'natural' state of international relations and war is not an aberration. Both are best understood as means of advancing national interests: when one is failing, the other becomes more likely, and therefore we need to understand what causes 'the mystery of peace' as urgently as we understand what causes war.

Trenchantly argued and beautifully written, this bracing, clear-eyed survey is an essential guide to understanding our current fraught moment, seeing beyond the daily news cycle to deeper truths about the way the modern world works.

Book details and technical specifications

Format: Hardback
ISBN13: 9781761635236
Published: July 2025

Number of pages: 368
Width: 153 mm
Height: 234 mm
Depth: not specified

Publisher: Simon & Schuster Australia