Reviews
What is it good for?
HISTORY
In her new volume, historian Margaret MacMillan argues that we cannot understand history if we do not understand war
BY MEGAN MOORE BURNS
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Margaret MacMillan
MARGARET MACMILLAN:ANDER MCINTYRE
War: How Conflict Shaped Us
Margaret MacMillan
Allen Lane Canada
WAR HAS BEEN, and continues to be, a key element of human history. There is archaeological evidence that we have always used violence both to make gains and defend ourselves. In her new book, War: How Conflict Shaped Us, award-winning historian Margaret MacMillan argues that the history of any society at any time must include an understanding of the role conflict played in its development. In fact, “war’s effects have been so profound that to leave it out is to ignore one of the great forces … which have shaped human development and changed history.”