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Conflict

By: David Petraeus, Andrew Roberts
Narrated by: Robert Fass
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Summary

THE INTERNATIONAL BESTSELLER

‘A rigorous and thoughtful study of what has happened on battlefields over the past eight decades’ THE TIMES

‘A hugely important book … elegantly written and persuasively argued’ DAILY TELEGRAPH

** FULLY UPDATED TO INCLUDE NEW MATERIAL ON THE ISRAEL/GAZA CONFLICT **

Conflict is both a sweeping history of the evolution of warfare up to Putin’s invasion of 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, the former CIA director who commanded the US-led coalitions in both Iraq and Afghanistan, and the prize-winning historian Andrew Roberts, explore over seventy years of conflict, drawing significant lessons and insights from their fresh analysis of the past. Petraeus and Roberts show how often critical mistakes have been repeated time and again, and explore 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 guerrilla 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 that occur 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.

PLEASE NOTE: When you purchase this title, the accompanying PDF will be available in your Audible Library along with the audio.

©2023 David Petraeus and Andrew Roberts (P)2023 HarperCollins Publishers Limited
  • Unabridged Audiobook
  • Categories: History
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Critic reviews

BOOK OF THE YEAR IN: ASPECTS OF HISTORY, THE CRITIC, OCTAVIAN, AND MODERN WAR INSTITUTE

SHORTLISTED FOR THE MILITARY HISTORY MATTERS BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD

‘How has warfare evolved in the eight decades since 1945? And what might it look like in the future? These are the questions posed by the authorial dream team of David Petraeus and Andrew Roberts: respectively a distinguished former US general and spy chief, and one of Britain’s finest military historians. This brilliant history shows how the wars of the future may go. Elegantly written and persuasively argued, Conflict is a hugely important book that explains why wars are still being fought and lost, what we can learn from them, and how we can protect ourselves from malign actors in the future’

DAILY TELEGRAPH, FIVE-STAR REVIEW

‘Charts just about every war fought in Europe, the Middle East and Asia since the defeat of the Nazis… [a] compendious narrative… has all the more force in light of Israel’s retaliatory assault on Gaza’

FINANCIAL TIMES

‘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

‘The pairing of Roberts with Petraeus is an engaging choice… They spend little time imagining a world without war, or even a world with less war. Their book – like Clausewitz’s canonical text – is a primer for today’s strategists, brimming with lessons about leadership, counter-insurgency, and intelligence. It’s a guide to effectively prepare for and win wars of the future, to achieve perpetual peace through perpetual strength’

NEW STATESMAN

What listeners say about Conflict

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    3 out of 5 stars

Good, but flawed

The book spends an awful lot of time on contextual narrative rather than analysis, and does not do an amazing job of crafting a clear narrative of the changes in warfare since 1945.

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    5 out of 5 stars
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Contemporary and easy to follow

A good book that’s very detailed and well articulated, well worth buying or downloading for anyone that’s new to 20th - 21st century history and international relations

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

A very important treatise.

Excellent coverage of modern conflict yet a difficult listen. Andrew Roberts solo work has more impact whilst not withholding man’s inhumanity. The narration is technically sound yet seems harsh & emphasizes the horror of the modern conflict.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Interesting but needs more editing to balance

General David Patraeus has a unique wealth of knowledge and experience when it comes to warfare and conflict resolution. The first parts of the book are very interesting, explaining the history of the Vietnam and several other conflicts. However from the Iraq war, given Patraeus' personal involvement, the book goes into too much detail that is largely irrelevant to the reader seeking to understand the overarching narrative of warfare.

This book requires a greater degree of editing with the chapters on Iraq brought down to less than half their current length.

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Excellent appraisal

Interesting points picked up and clear analysis of post world war conflict . Some interesting new points

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    4 out of 5 stars
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    3 out of 5 stars

Modern war for aficionados

Fascinating take, with some interesting insights into the strategies employed in modern warfare.

Was interested in listening to Gen. Patraeus’ segments, but the section pace and tone was different to the rest of the book which was a tiny bit distracting.

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    3 out of 5 stars

Brilliantly written. Concise overview of the many post WW2 conflicts.

I really enjoyed this book. The chapters work through the various wars and do a lovely job of linking them back to the core theme of conflict evolution.
Nice summary to finish with informed predictions for the future.

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    3 out of 5 stars
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A bit dry

Detailed intelligent and obviously well considered. I did find this a bit dry and lacking in smaller level detail. it is a birds eye view.

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A review of modern and future warfare

The authors cover international warfare from 1945 to the date of publication. I read the book as the Israeli Hamas war was being waged. The book covers all aspects of modern warfare and summarizes future prospects. An excellent, informative and enjoyable read

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    2 out of 5 stars
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Factual interesting despite struggles to get over inbuilt biases

an interesting factual walkthrough of the major conflicts but when it came to areas of opinion or moral representation, was heavily influencing in a particular direction. Unfortunately this impacted how much i listened to our interesting and thought-provoking chapters. I did listen the whole way through

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