Why do human beings fight one another?

In this exhilarating and bracing book, we learn the common logic driving vainglorious monarchs, dictators, mobs, pilots, football hooligans, ancient peoples and fanatics.

Distilling decades of economics, political science, psychology and real-world interventions, and through his time studying Columbia, Chicago, Liberia and Northern Ireland, Christopher Blattman lifts the lid on the underlying forces governing war and peace.

Why did Russia attack Ukraine? Will China invade Taiwan and launch WWIII? And what can any of us do about it?

'Captivating and intelligent' Tim Harford

'Wise, intriguing, imaginative' Rory Stewart

'Nothing could be more relevant today than war and peace . . . an outstanding and original book on this topic' Martin Wolf, Financial Times

'Important, readable, radical' David Miliband

'A great storyteller with important insights for us all' Richard Thaler, co-author of Nudge

'Essential for understanding the world we live in today' James A. Robinson, co-author of Why Nations Fail

Christopher Blattman is the Ramalee E. Pearson Professor of Global Conflict Studies at the University of Chicago in the Harris School of Public Policy and The Pearson Institute. As a young man, he met his future wife in a Kenyan internet café, where she set him on a path to working on conflict and international development. He's now done so for 22 years. Through his academic work he has witnessed (and helped to stem) violence around the world. Blattman writes regularly for The New York Times, Washington Post, Wall Street Journal, Foreign Policy and Foreign Affairs, among others. For 15 years he has run one of the most popular blogs on international affairs and global development. This is his first trade book.