New York Times, USA Today, Amazon, and Publishers Weekly bestseller
Aspects of History, The Critic, Octavian, and Modern War Institute Book of the Year.
Two leading authorities-an acclaimed historian and the outstanding battlefield commander and strategist of our time-collaborate on a landmark examination of war since 1945. Conflict is both a sweeping history of the evolution of warfare up to Putin's invasion of the 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, who commanded the US-led coalitions in both Iraq, during the Surge, and Afghanistan and former CIA director, and the prize-winning historian Andrew Roberts, explore over 70 years of conflict, drawing significant lessons and insights from their fresh analysis of the past. Drawing on their different perspectives and areas of expertise, Petraeus and Roberts show how often critical mistakes have been repeated time and again, and 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 guerilla 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 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.
"A major book that will enlighten the layman and guide the statesman or geopolitical student." - Dr. Henry Kissinger, former Secretary of State and National Security Advisor; Nobel Prize laureate and Presidential Medal of Freedom recipient; author of 20 books; and Bronze Star Medal recipient as an infantryman in WWII
"Splendidly researched and persuasive in applying history's altruism that failure to learn from the past compels us to repeat mistakes, this is a clear-sighted assessment of war's future. Applying front-line military leadership and strong academic rigor, General Petraeus and Lord Roberts have crafted a most extraordinary book that bristles with lessons drawn skillfully from the past. Conflict provides the map and compass to guide us through a perilous future." - General James Mattis, U.S. Marine Corps (Ret.), 26th Secretary of Defense; former Commander of US Central Command and Marine forces in Iraq, Afghanistan, and the Gulf War; author of No Better Friend, No Worse Enemy
"Conflict is remarkably readable. . . . Many of the elements that Conflict dissects-the use of low-cost drones, the targeting of infrastructure, the power of social media and the patronage of outside powers, to name a few-flash across our screens in real time, reminding us that 'war is thus still very much worth studying.' Timely, engaging and instructive, Conflict is the best one-volume study of conventional warfare in the nuclear age. It sets a new benchmark in understanding modern war." - Wall Street Journal
"Not since Clausewitz' On War has a book provided so much insight into the nature of warfare. Deeply researched, brilliantly constructed and thoroughly entertaining, Conflict gets to the heart of why some nations win and others lose during war. Conflict could only have been written through the unique collaboration of General Dave Petraeus and Lord (Andrew) Roberts. It is a book that will shape the thinking of policy makers and military strategists for generatio
