Books on War

by David Gordon
by David Gordon

The manifest failure of the Iraq War is no isolated phenomenon. As Murray Rothbard again and again emphasized, wars almost never serve the interests of the people. To the contrary, war is a chief means to advance the power of the state and its allied groups. Court intellectuals do their best to disguise these facts by enveloping wars with specious justifications. Fortunately, a number of books are available that enable the interested reader to understand what is at stake. What follows is a selection of these books. The list is not confined to books that adopt a libertarian viewpoint. I have included historical works that question particular wars and various works of theology, philosophy, and political science as well. I welcome suggestions for additions.

Anscombe, G.E.M. Ethics, Religion and Politics. Includes two classic essays, "War and Murder" and "Mr. Truman’s Degree," protesting violations of traditional just-war doctrine in modern warfare. She contends in another essay that British aims in World War II went beyond the justifiable.

Bacevich, Andrew J. The New American Militarism. Technological advances in weaponry have encouraged a dangerous utopianism in American foreign policy. Military ideologues think they can spread American values through force.

Barnes, Harry Elmer, ed. Perpetual War for Perpetual Peace. A collection of essays by leading scholars critical of American intervention in WWII. George Lundberg’s essay puts the issue of aggression and peace in a more general context.

Beard, Charles A. Giddy Minds and Foreign Quarrels. A 1930s plea for American neutrality. Emphasizes the lessons of WW I and warns against repetition of America’s mistaken policy.

______. The Devil Theory of War. Good short statement of Beard’s noninterventionist views.

______. President Roosevelt and the Coming of the War, 1941. One of the foremost American historians of the twentieth century indicts secret efforts to maneuver the United States into war.

Borchard, Edwin, and W.P. Lage. Neutrality for the United States. Borchard, a leading international lawyer, argues for an American policy of nonintervention. The policies of Woodrow Wilson violated international law.

Bourne, Randolph. War and the Intellectuals: Essays, 1915–1919. Bourne broke with John Dewey and other Progressives over American entry into WWI. He indicts American intellectuals for viewing the war as means to enhance their own power and influence. "War is the health of the state."

Butler, Smedley D. War Is a Racket. A retired Marine Corps general contends that profits for certain business groups allied with government are the key motive for war.

Butterfield, Herbert. History and Human Relations. Challenges the tendency to demonize particular nations as a unique source of evil.

Cadoux, Cecil John. The Early Christian Attitude to War. During the first three centuries of Christianity, the predominant Christian view rejected military violence.

Cavanaugh, William T. Theopolitical Imagination. Rejects the modern state. The "Wars of Religion" are a product of the state, not the Church.

Chamberlin, William Henry. America’s Second Crusade. A highly critical account of American policy leading up to WWII and during the war. America under Roosevelt failed to learn the lessons of WWI.

Chomsky, Noam. American Power and the New Mandarins. Controversial indictment of American foreign policy. Attacks intellectuals who offer a rationale for the promotion of state power.

Cobden, Richard. Political Writings (2 volumes). A great nineteenth-century classical liberal gives a detailed analysis of a number of British wars. A major case for a peaceful foreign policy.

Creveld, Martin. The Rise and Decline of the State. Unprecedented destructive warfare and imperialism are the products of the modern state, particularly aided by the state’s seizure of control over the financial system. Van Creveld suggests that the state is on the way out.

Cull, Nicholas. Selling War: The British Campaign Against American "Neutrality" in World War II. Detailed survey of the massive British propaganda effort to secure America entry into WWII, from a point of view sympathetic to the British effort.

Dallmayr, Fred. Peace Talks – Who Will Listen? Stresses the contemporary relevance of Erasmus on the need for peace. See especially the chapter "A War Against the Turks?" for Erasmus’s criticism of religious crusades.

Denson, John V., ed. The Costs of War. Comprehensive anthology on America’s wars, from an anti-war perspective. Ralph Raico’s essays on Churchill and World War I are especially notable. Rothbard’s classic "World War I as Fulfillment: Power and the Intellectuals" is a must.

Doenecke, Justus. Storm on the Horizon: The Challenge to American Intervention, 1939–1941. Detailed survey of the arguments deployed by American isolationists in their futile effort to block Roosevelt’s pro-war policy. Doenecke, a leading authority, stresses the diversity of the anti-interventionists’ arguments.

Ekirch, Arthur. The Civilian and the Military. Discusses efforts to retain civilian control of the military in American history; by a leading classical liberal historian and conscientious objector during WWII. Criticizes American policy in both world wars and the Korean War.

______. The Decline of American Liberalism. America’s wars have, throughout our history, led to increased power for the state and less liberty.

Eller, Vernard. War and Peace from Genesis to Revelation. Contends that the Bible advocates peace. By a leading Mennonite theologian.

Ely, John Hart. War and Responsibility. By a leading constitutional theorist; argues that the Constitution intended to grant Congress exclusive power to start wars. The president could act without Congress only to repel an immediate invasion.

Engelbrecht, H. C. and F. C. Hanighen. Merchants of Death. A bestseller during the thirties; argues that arms dealers help promote war.

Fay, Sidney B. The Origins of the World War (2 volumes). A balanced and comprehensive account of war origins. Guilt for the war does not rest primarily on any one country.

Finnis, John M., et al. Nuclear Deterrence, Morality, and Realism. The best analysis of the immorality of nuclear deterrence policy. The authors are leading Thomists.

Fisher, Louis. Presidential War Power. Very similar argument to Ely’s book, by another eminent authority. Written in a much simpler style than Ely.

Flynn, John T. As We Go Marching. Indicts Roosevelt’s New Deal and WWII measures as leading to an American fascism.

_____. Forgotten Lessons. Shows how statist regimes, in particular Roosevelt's New Deal, used militarism and war to distract attention from domestic failure.

Fussell, Paul. The Great War and Modern Memory. Detailed study of the impact of WWI. The analysis of the "war poets" is especially notable.

_____. Wartime: Understanding and Behavior in the Second World War. Extends the analysis to WWII. Thoroughly debunks the romanticized view of this conflict.

Gamble, Richard M. The War for Righteousness: Progressive Christianity, the Great War, and the Rise of the Messianic Nation. Shows how liberal ministers embraced WWI as a means to promote social reform. Good on the religious impulses behind Wilsonian policy.

Garrett, Garet. Defend America First: The Antiwar Editorials of the Saturday Evening Post, 1939–1942. A leading member of the Old Right argues against American entry into WWII. Nazi Germany may have hostile intentions against the U.S., but an America First defense is the best way to cope with this.

______. The People’s Pottage. America has become an empire; only the empty form of a republic remains. Garrett draws parallels between America’s policy and the fall of the Roman republic.

Girard, René. Violence and the Sacred. Claims that societies rest fundamentally on violence: people unite against a ritualized scapegoat.

Goddard, Arthur, ed. Harry Elmer Barnes: Learned Crusader. Collection of essays in honor of a leading revisionist historian. Contains an important essay by Rothbard, "Harry Elmer Barnes as Revisionist of the Cold War."

Hamlin, C. H. The War Myth in United States History. Shows how a benign view of America’s wars works as an instrument of propaganda.

Harnack, Adolf von. Militia Christi: The Christian Militia and the Military in the First Three Centuries. A great historian argues that early Christians rejected military service because they saw themselves as soldiers of Christ.

Harper, F. A. In Search of Peace. Highlights the absurdity of adopting socialistic measures in order to combat the Russian communist system.

Hauerwas, Stanley. The Peaceable Kingdom. A leading theologian contends that Christians should regard the Church as establishing an alternative society to the war system of the state.

Hedges, Chris. War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning. Given the brutality and loss of life inherent in war, why is it popular? Hedges argues that people seek meaning through involvement in extreme situations.

_______. What Every Person Should Know About War. A detailed account of what war is like. What happens, e.g., if a soldier is wounded? Will give pause to all but the most adamant warhawks.

Higgs, Robert. Against Leviathan: Government Power and a Free Society. Shows how the courts defer to government during wartime. Liberty and war are antithetical.

______. Crisis and Leviathan. A classic: wars permanently increase the power of the state. Even when a war ends, the state does not shrink to its former size.

______. Resurgence of the Warfare State: The Crisis Since 9/11. Higgs applies his views on war and the state to the Iraq War. Higgs’s most personal book.

Hoppe, Hans-Hermann, ed. The Myth of National Defense: Essays on the Theory and History of Security Production. Strongly critical of the public goods argument for national defense. Private provision of defense would avoid the evils of militarism and aggression.

Huddleston, Sisley. Popular Diplomacy and War. Challenges "goldfish bowl diplomacy" that stresses heavily publicized conferences by world leaders. Unrealistic expectations impede peaceful settlement of disputes.

Joas, Hans. War and Modernity. Valuable study of philosophical views on war. The discussion of Georg Simmel is especially insightful.

Journet, Charles. The Church of the Word Incarnate, Volume 1. The French Cardinal ably shows the drastic limits on initiating war imposed by the traditional just-war criteria. At best a handful of wars in history count as fully just.

Jouvenel, Bertrand de. On Power. Traces the rise of the modern state, from its medieval origins. War has been a principal cause of the growth of state power.

Karp, Walter. The Politics of War. The Spanish-American War and American entry into WWI resulted from resistance to domestic reform measures.

Knightley, Phillip. The First Casualty. Journalists tend to lie during wartime. "The war correspondent as hero and mythmaker."

Kubek, Anthony. How the Far East Was Lost. The first chapter contains a classic account of how Communist sympathizers high in the counsels of the U.S. government encouraged a provocative anti-Japanese policy that led to war in 1941.

Leffler, Melvyn P. A Preponderance of Power. The best treatment of the early years of the Cold War. Shows that the United States was always militarily superior to the Russians.

Mahl, Thomas E. Desperate Deception: British Covert Operations in the United States, 1939–44. British intelligence operations rigged poll data prior to WWII to show public support for U.S. intervention.

McMahan, Jeff. Reagan and the World: Imperial Policy in the New Cold War. A careful analysis of Reagan’s foreign policy, by a leading moral philosopher.

Milbank, John. Theology and Social Theory. Contends that the principal aim of modern social science is the justification of violence.

Mills, C. Wright. The Causes of World War III. Protests America’s militaristic Cold War policy.

_____. The Power Elite. Influential account of the dominance of American society by a coalition of business and military interests. Mordant portrayal of the "crackpot realism" of American strategy.

Mises, Ludwig von. Liberalism. Contrasts wars with peaceful social cooperation based on the free market.

______. Nation, State, and Economy. Important discussion of nationalism and the economy during wartime. Shows the relation between socialism and imperialism.

______. Omnipotent Government. The expansionist policy of both Imperial Germany and the Nazis stemmed from economic interventionism. Only the worldwide adoption of laissez-faire can ensure peace.

Moseley, Alexander. A Philosophy of War. Considers biological, sociological, and philosophical explanations for war, from a point of view sympathetic to libertarianism.

Nordlinger, Eric. Isolationism Reconfigured: American Foreign Policy for a New Century. A policy of isolation from foreign entanglements will best promote both America’s security interests and the values of the American people. American intervention in both World Wars was unnecessary.

O’Donovan, Oliver. Peace and Certainty. Assails the policy of nuclear deterrence through threatened mass destruction.

O’Huallachain, D. L. and J. Forrest Sharpe, eds. Neo-CONNED! (2 volumes). A collection of articles critical of the Iraq War. The first volume reprints Cardinal Ottaviani’s influential statement that altogether rejects war under modern conditions.

Orwell, George. Nineteen Eighty-Four. Shows how a totalitarian society uses emotional propaganda campaigns against other nations to whip up support. One of the most famous novels of the twentieth century.

Porter, Bruce W. War and the Rise of the State. Like Higgs, Crisis and Leviathan, but over a wider historical span, Porter shows that war leads to the growth of the state.

Remarque, Erich Maria. All Quiet on the Western Front. The most famous of all novels about WWI. Shows the realities of life on the front.

Robbins, Lionel. The Economic Causes of War. Interference with the free market leads to antagonisms between nations.

Rockwell, Lew. Speaking of Liberty. Forceful argument that one cannot consistently support both the free market and a bellicose foreign policy.

Rothbard, Murray N. "War and Foreign Policy" in For a New Liberty. Defends a noninterventionist foreign policy on the basis of libertarian theory.

______. The Irrepressible Rothbard: The Rothbard-Rockwell Essays of Murray N. Rothbard. Rothbard skewers the fallacious argument that an aggressive foreign policy will make dictators back down. Faced with an ultimatum, a hostile power is likely to fight. In the twentieth century, social democrats have been a major force for war.

_____. "War, Peace, and the State" in Egalitarianism as a Revolt Against Nature. Rothbard brilliantly shows how war advances the power of the state. Distinguishes between "inter-State warfare" and revolutions.

Rummel, Erika, ed. The Erasmus Reader. An anthology of works by the great sixteenth-century humanist and opponent of war.

Russett, Bruce M. No Clear and Present Danger. Contends that although America had reason to oppose German domination of Europe, this did not suffice for a clear case in favor of intervention in WWII.

Ryn, Claes G. America the Virtuous: The Crisis of Democracy and the Quest for Empire. Discerns a Jacobin influence at the heart of American foreign policy. Neoconservatives, consumed by revolutionary ideology, wish to impose "democracy" by force.

Schmitt, Carl. The Nomos of the Earth in the International Law of the Jus Publicum Europaeum. Defends the classical system of European diplomacy, in which wars between the European powers took place under limits, against the abstract universalism introduced by Woodrow Wilson.

Scarry, Elaine. Who Defended the Country? Argues that people, acting spontaneously against danger, can be much more effective than governments in responding to threats.

Schumpeter, Joseph. Imperialism and Social Classes. Imperialism and war are social atavisms, not the products of capitalism, as Marxists claim.

Shapiro, Harold. What Every Young Man Should Know About War. A question-and-answer book, by an American attorney, stressing the horrors of WWI.

Sherry, Michael S. In the Shadow of War: The United States Since the 1930s. The militarization of American society is a key factor in recent history.

Sledge, Eugene B. With the Old Breed: At Peleliu and Okinawa. Searing memoir of the battle against the Japanese during WWII. Stresses the horrors of the conflict.

Sumner, William Graham. The Conquest of the United States by Spain. A famous essay by great classical liberal and sociologist. Contends that the United States abandoned its own traditions of freedom during the Spanish-American War, adopting instead the discredited power politics of Europe.

Tansill. Charles C. America Goes to War. Remains the best scholarly study of America’s entry into WWI; stresses Wilson’s unneutral diplomacy.

_____. Back Door to War. Tansill, one of the foremost American diplomatic historians, argues that Roosevelt sought a "back door" to American entry into war in Europe through provoking a Japanese attack.

Twain, Mark. "The War Prayer." Mocks prayers for the troops during war by claiming that they imply the wish that the enemy population suffer and die.

Vance, Laurence M. Christianity and War and Other Essays Against the Warfare State. Argues that current American foreign policy is at odds with Christianity.

Veale, F.J. P. Advance to Barbarism. Contemporary war has abandoned the limited wars characteristic of European tradition for policies of total destruction. The Nuremberg Trials and other war crimes tribunals have contributed to this process.

Weaver, Richard M. Visions of Order. Contains a brilliant essay, "A Dialectic on Total War," that contrasts modern total war with past emphasis on chivalry and limited war.

Williams, William Appleman. The Tragedy of American Diplomacy. Influential critique of American foreign policy. Argues that during the twentieth century, American policymakers sought empire as a substitute for the end of the American frontier.

Wilson, Edmund. The Cold War and the Income Tax, A Protest. A famed man of letters rejects the Cold War and protests the bloated U.S. defense budget.

_____. Patriotic Gore. A comprehensive set of essays on the literature of the Civil War, notable for its skeptical view of Lincoln’s war rhetoric.

Yoder, John Howard. Nevertheless: Varieties of Religious Pacifism. An influential Mennonite theologian shows the diversity of arguments against war.

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