Book Review: Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare From 1945 to Gaza

Introduction
I love almost everything military. Tactics, equipment, history, it all makes me happy inside. So when I found "Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare From 1945 to Gaza" by Andrew Robert and David Petraeus in a Little Free Library, I almost had a heart attack from excitement. It's been a while since I read it, but I still love it and think it's one of the best non-fiction military books ever written.

Contents

As the title states, it covers (almost) every war from the end of World War II to conflicts currently ongoing. Something to note before continuing is that I do not know if they have published a new edition or are planning on doing so with the recent developments with the US, Israel, and Iran that have occurred over the past 12-ish months. As for the contents, it covers everything from major conflicts such as the Six-Day War and the Gulf War (both of them) to little-known ones such as the Malayan Emergency during the post-WWII decolonialization efforts. It also talks about the development of new technology and equipment, such as the High Mobility Multipurpose Wheeled Vehicle (Humvee), and how that impacted warfare. Major note: I plan on doing a blog post on the new M1301 Infantry Squad Vehicle, so keep your eyes peeled. It also draws from David Petraeus' experience as a General in GWOT, which is an excellent addition for a book on warfare.

My Opinion

If I could sum up my opinion on this book, it would be: Why aren't there more books like this? And also: Why limit yourselves to one book? Make this several volumes so you can share more information. Military nerds like me would love more books like this. This book differs from On War by Von Clausewitz as it is not based as much on theoretical and strategic considerations as it is on historical warfare and the results of the strategies used. It's well written, has plenty of photos to provide some illustrations of what each war looked like, and isn't a definitive "end-all-be-all" book. It's meant to be a modern-day look into some of the defining wars since World War II. My favorite part was learning more about some of the obscure or less-talked-about wars that actually had a bigger impact on military strategy than one might think. For example, the Malayan Emergency is a great example of how to deal with an insurgency that is attempting to use the surrounding environment to its advantage, and had it been talked about more, Vietnam, Iraq, and Afghanistan would have been very different conflicts. I do wish that they talked more about the nitty-gritty details of the war on the strategic or equipment side, but for as great a book as it is, I'm not complaining.

Final Rating: 4.5/5

Conclusion

"Conflict: The Evolution of Warfare from 1945 to Gaza" is the defining book on warfare. While it will never dethrone The Art of War or On War, it is the best book published in the last 100 years on war and conflict from as many views as possible, not just the author's experiences. I would highly recommend seeing if your local library has it or getting it from a local bookstore (or Amazon if the first two don't work out).