★ 11/14/2016
Armitage (The Declaration of Independence: A Global History), a professor of history at Harvard, succeeds in his quest to distinguish civil wars from revolutionary wars, and different kinds of civil wars from one another, in a learned book that cuts a trail through “an impoverished area of inquiry.” Starting with the Greeks and Romans and arriving in the 21st century, Armitage leads readers down long, murky paths that writers, historians, and philosophers have previously trod without making the type of lasting, satisfying distinctions he seeks. As Armitage shows, this is a surprisingly complex subject filled with much heavy speculation. But where others, including many whose thinking Armitage analyzes and quotes, employ laborious prose, his book is a model of its kind: concise, winningly written, clearly laid out, trenchantly argued. Armitage contends that failure to understand civil wars—which are normal and perhaps unavoidable—has burdened the understanding of history and policy in unfortunate ways. His conclusion is sobering: human societies may never be without this kind of conflict, and we’re better off trying to understand it than ignoring its problematic nature. It’s hard to imagine a more timely work for today. Historians, political scientists and theorists, and policy makers will find it indispensable. Agent: Andrew Wylie, Wylie Agency. (Mar.)
"Compact and intensely thought-provoking...densely researched and smoothly written, [Civil Wars] is a pointed attempt to understand the nature of civil war by understanding its history...Armitage traces the broad outlines of Rome's many civil wars and briskly moves his narrative forward through the centuries, looking at how the conflicts were theorized by thinkers like Hobbes, Locke, and Algernon Sidney and aphorized by public figures like Voltaire and Montesquieu. Always the narrative is haunted by the stark admission both of the frequency of civil war and of its savagery... “Civil war is an inheritance humanity may not be able to escape,” he writes at the end of his account, but with the help of powerhouse books like this one, there may at least come greater understanding."
–Steve Donoghue, The Christian Science Monitor
"In Civil Wars Armitage traces the evolution of an explosive concept, not to pin down a proper meaning but to show why it remains so slippery...In an era of transnational populism and anti-globalist revolt, this [book] is resonant. The meaning of civil war, as Mr. Armitage shows, is as messy and multifaceted as the conflict it describes. His book offers an illuminating guide through the 2,000-year muddle and does a good job of filling a conspicuous void in the literature of conflict."
–The Economist
"Civil Wars ranges over more than two millennia of history, law, and philosophy, but it feels as urgent as the latest shock, as fresh as tomorrow’s news."
–Richard Kreitner, The Nation
“Concise, wonderfully lucid, highly intelligent… a searching, nuanced, and succinct analysis.”
–Linda Colley, The New York Review of Books
“Learned…Indispensable…[Armitage’s] book is a model of its kind: concise, winningly written, clearly laid out, trenchantly argued…His conclusion is sobering: human societies may never be without this kind of conflict, and we’re better off trying to understand it than ignoring its problematic nature. It’s hard to imagine a more timely work for today.”
–Publishers Weekly (starred review)
“A profound contribution to political philosophy.”
–Booklist (starred review)
“A probing examination of the history of civil war and why it matters to define it precisely…an erudite work by a top-shelf scholar.”
–Kirkus Reviews
Bracing and nuanced… Anyone trying to parse Syria’s current military conflagration will find time with Civil Wars well spent.
–Karen R. Long, Newsday
“[A] brilliant, bold, and important new book.”
–Signature
“Armitage is a learned and winning tour guide, and Civil Wars a valuable mapping tool for that journey.”
–Michael Moran, The Carnegie Reporter
“Civil wars, bloody and long-lasting, are the worst source of violent conflict in the world today. In this dazzling book, David Armitage illuminates this ancient scourge with fresh insight. Ranging from Rome to the American Civil War to Rwanda, powerfully using thinkers from Cicero to Rawls to make sense of centuries of revolutionary and nationalist turmoil, Civil Wars fully achieves the promise of a genuinely international history. Packed with wisdom and learning, elegantly written and vigorously argued, this is a magnificent field guide to our current crises in Syria and elsewhere.”
—Gary Bass, author of The Blood Telegram: Nixon, Kissinger and a Forgotten Genocide
“Civil Wars, once confined to individual states have now become ‘global.’ We all live increasingly with the consequences. David Armitage’s book—learned, powerful and elegant—is, however, the first to chart how our understanding of what a civil war is has changed over time, from ancient Rome, where the concept was first invented, to modern Syria. Armitage has written a ‘history in ideas’ which circulated among many different social groups—not least of all the military—at many different intellectual levels and in many different idioms. These are ideas that mattered; and they continue to matter. Civil Wars succeeds brilliantly in its ambition to ‘uncover the origins of our present discontents.’”
—Anthony Pagden, author of The Enlightenment: And Why It Still Matters
“Through its military interventions abroad, our country has helped to unleash several civil wars over the last decade, only to become a bystander as they have been fought with all the ferocity that has marked such conflicts since their first occurrence in Roman times. Today, as we contemplate how to respond to an unsettled world, every citizen can profit from Armitage’s learned and pathbreaking examination of this unique, and uniquely terrible, form of human aggression.”
—Samuel Moyn, author of The Last Utopia: Human Rights in History
01/01/2017
In his latest work, British historian Armitage (Lloyd C. Blankfein Professor of History, Harvard Univ.; The Declaration of Independence: A Global History) explores the complexities around the term civil war. He begins by looking at the origin of recognizing conflicts as such, which he traces back to Rome. The following chapters highlight historically major civil wars in Europe and the United States, and the characteristics of each. In examining these battles, Armitage explains that "without the challenges it posed," our ideas of democracy and community wouldn't be as rich. But, labeling conflicts civil wars can also have negative effects. According to Armitage, the term has "moral as well as political consequences." For example, countries outside the struggle might deny responsibility to offer assistance to one side or the other. Armitage's book does a wonderful job of showing the multifaceted nature of his subject. While civil war might be easy to define, he shows that its application is intricate. VERDICT Readers with an interest in history and philosophy will find this work both engaging and thought provoking. [See Prepub Alert, 8/26/16.]—Scott Duimstra, Capital Area Dist. Lib., Lansing, MI
2016-11-21
A probing examination of the history of civil war and why it matters to define it precisely.In this slender but dense work of academic history, distinguished historian Armitage (Intellectual and International History/Harvard Univ.; Foundations of Modern International Thought, 2013, etc.) tracks the emergence of "civil war" from Roman times to the present Syrian conflagration, exploring how it has become "the most widespread, the most destructive, and the most characteristic form of organized human violence." Defined by the ancient Greeks as a conflict between members of the same civitas, it features deadly strife among fellow citizens and family; it is the most profoundly destructive, shameful struggle; and it is without triumph, in the Roman sense of victory over foreign enemies. Indeed, the Romans had the dubious distinction of "inventing" or recognizing this new form of warfare as a kind of recurring plague of civilization, a violation of the "zone of cooperation and peace" epitomized by the city, replaced by "threats of irrationality, savagery, and animality." Armitage regards Consul Lucius Cornelius Sulla's march on Rome in 88 B.C.E. to "free the fatherland from tyrants" as the first civil war; it was construed as defensive and only in the face of injustice. From here until the modern era, historians have weighed in on what constitutes a civil war: is it rebellion or revolution, such as the American or French revolutions, which were regarded as "fertile" conflicts that ultimately brought their citizens innovation and improvement? Armitage emphasizes that the Enlightenment thinkers had hoped to do away with what was regarded as the atavistic, destructive "weed" of civil war, yet the conflicts have proliferated to the point where global civil war is now the norm. Ultimately, the classification of "civil war" often determines the level of world response, politically, militarily, legally, and ethically—and whether it justifies intervention, humanitarian or otherwise. An erudite work by a top-shelf scholar.
Armitage’s scholarly work examines the idea of civil war from ancient Rome to the present day in a text that demands thought and attention. Narrator Derek Perkins takes it at a perfect pace, not too slow but allowing the listener, for the most part, to follow Armitage’s arguments and tracing of intellectual connections. Though the audiobook is academic, Perkins reads with energy but without showiness, always giving primacy to the text. He seems especially careful to reflect its meaning in his tone and emphases. His fine, deep voice and clipped accent complement his pacing and command of sense. The subject matter, including fine distinctions of law still debated, does not make for an easy listen, but Perkins’s intelligence helps the listener along and keeps the material palatable. W.M. © AudioFile 2017, Portland, Maine
