War, What Is It Good For? The Role of Conflict in Civilisation, From Primates to Robots

Jul 3, 2026

War is examined as a recurring engine of social change across human history, from ancient Rome to modern empires. Ian Morris connects patterns of conflict to developments in institutions, technology, and productivity, arguing that war can both destroy and generate organizational capacity. Chapters trace when war becomes counterproductive, why large-scale campaigns shape global power shifts, and how animal and human evidence—including primate fighting—illuminates the evolutionary roots of violence.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryResearch & Report

FormatPDF

Pages649

Reading Time27 h 15 min

Introduction: Friend to the Undertaker

The Wasteland? War and Peace in Ancient Rome

Caging the Beast: The Productive Way of War

The Barbarians Strike Back: The Counterproductive Way of War, A.D. 1–1415

The Five Hundred Years’ War: Europe (Almost) Conquers the World, 1415–1914

Storm of Steel: The War for Europe, 1914–1980s

Red in Tooth and Claw: Why the Chimps of Gombe Went to War

The Last Best Hope of Earth: American Empire, 1989–?

WAR WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? IAN MORRIS is Willard Professor of Classics and a fellow of the Archaeology Centre at Stanford University. He has appeared on a number of television networks, including the History Network and PBS and has directed excavations in Greece and Italy. His first trade book Why the West Rules – For Now was published to critical acclaim and won a number of prizes including a PEN USA Literary Award. Morris’s second book The Measure of Civilisation, a companion volume to his first, was praised as a ‘treasure trove of information about social development’. ALSO BY IAN MORRIS Why the West Rules—for Now WAR WHAT IS IT GOOD FOR? THE ROLE OF CONFLICT IN CIVILISATION, FROM PRIMATES TO ROBOTS IAN MORRIS First published in Great Britain in 2014 by PROFILE BOOKS LTD 3A Exmouth House Pine Street London ECIR 0 JH [www.profilebooks. com](www.profilebooks. com) First published in the United States of America in 2014 by Farrar , Strau s and Giroux Copyright © Ian Morris , 2014 Maps copyright © 2014 by Michele Angel Grateful acknowledgment is made to the Hal Leonard Corporation for permission to re print lyrics from “War ,” written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong , 1969 , first recorded by Edwin Starr , 1970 , released as a single by Gordy Records (Gordy 7101). Publisher : Stone Agate Music (from BMI Repertoire). The moral right of the author has been asserted. All rights reserved. Without limiting the rights under copyright reserved above , no part of this publication may be reproduced , stored or introduced into a retrieval system , or transmitted , in any form or by any means (electronic , mechanical , photocopying , recording or otherwise) , without the prior written permission of both the copyright owner and the publisher of this book. A CIP catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library. eISBN 978 1 84765 454 0 CONTENTS List of Illustrations Introduction: Friend to the Undertaker 1. The Wasteland? War and Peace in Ancient Rome 2. Caging the Beast: The Productive Way of War 3. The Barbarians Strike Back: The Counterproductive Way of War, A.D. 1 –1415 4. The Five Hundred Years’ War: Europe (Almost) Conquers the World, 1415 –1914 5. Storm of Steel: The War for Europe, 1914 –1980s 6. Red in Tooth and Claw: Why the Chimps of Gombe Went to War 7. The Last Best Hope of Earth: American Empire, 1989 –? Notes Further Reading Bibliography Acknowledgments Index ILLUSTRATIONS Table 1 Historian Niall Ferguson’s “menu” of forms of government (From Colossus: The Price of America’s Empire by Niall Ferguson, copyright © 2004 by Niall Ferguson. Used by permission of The Penguin Press, a division of Penguin Group [USA] LLC.) Figure Locations in the Roman Empire mentioned in 1.1 Chapter 1 Figure First-century A.D. German auxiliary soldier 1.2 fighting for Rome (Landesmuseum Mainz, Mainz, Germany) Figure Barbarian auxiliaries presenting the Roman 1.3 emperor with the heads of enemies killed in Dacia, 110s A.D. (Scala/Art Resource, NY) Figure Shipwrecks and lead pollution from the 1.4 Mediterranean Basin, A.D. 1 –900 Figure Roman marines preparing to board an enemy ship, 1.5 first century B.C. (Scala/Art Resource, NY) Figure Locations outside the Roman Empire mentioned in 1.6 Chapter 1 Figure Yanomami club fight, early 1970s (© Dr. Napoleon 1.7 A. Chagnon, Yanomamo, Harcourt Brace College Publishers, 1997, p. 187) Figure Greek infantryman spearing a Persian, ca. 470 2.1 B.C. (Scala/Art Resource, NY) Figure Ancient empires, 250 B.C.–A.D. 300 2.2 Figure The lucky latitudes 2.3 Figure Sites of the original revolutions in military 2.4 affairs, ca. 9500 –500 B.C. Military and social developments, 10,000 –1 B.C. Table 2.1 Figure 2.5 Figure 2.6 Figure 2.7 Figure 2.8 Figure 2.9 Fighting on a cave painting from Los Dogues, Spain, CA. 10,000 –5000 B.C. (From Jean Guilane and Jean Zammit, The Origins of

FAQs

What is the central question of War: What Is It Good For?

The book investigates what war is “good for” by linking conflict to civilisational development over long historical arcs.

How does the book explain the difference between productive and counterproductive war?

It argues that war can create organizational and social capabilities in some periods, while in others it becomes wasteful and harmful, changing the trajectory of states.

What roles do history and comparative evidence play in the argument?

The narrative uses detailed historical case studies and comparative perspectives, including evidence drawn from primate behavior, to illuminate the deeper roots of conflict.

Jul 3, 2026

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