We are now living in a world where Brexit and Trump are daily realities. But how did this come about? And what does it mean for the future?

Populism and ultra-nationalism brought about the rise of Hitler and Mussolini in the 1930s. Now, as Trump sits in the White House, Britain negotiates its way out of the EU, and countries across Europe see substantial gains in support for the extreme Right, award-winning journalist, author, and historian Gwynne Dyer asks how we got here, and where we go next.

Dyer examines the global challenges facing us all today and explains how they have contributed to a world of inequality, poverty, and joblessness, conditions which he argues inevitably lead to the rise of populism. The greatest threat to social and political stability, he argues, lies in the rise of automation, which will continue to eliminate jobs, whether politicians admit that it is happening or not. To avoid a social and political catastrophe, we will have to find ways of putting real money into the pockets of those who have no work.

But this is not a book without hope. Our capacity for overcoming the worst has been tested again and again throughout history, and we have always survived. To do so now, Dyer argues, we must embrace radical solutions to the real difficulties facing individuals, or find ourselves back in the 1930s with no way out.

Gwynne Dyer's War, now in its first UK edition, is widely regarded as one of the most compelling analyses of the history and psychology of armed conflict. Veteran political journalist and military historian Dyer argues against the inevitability of warfare in clear, intelligent and eminently accessible prose, submitting neither to resignation nor false optimism. The multipolar world that has arisen since the fall of the Iron Curtain has forced a re-examination of the accepted fundamentals of history. Dyer traces the psychology of soldiers to the workings of whole armies, and then to broader historical movements and how they change over time - or don't. He argues that war, as an act of mass violence, has remained unchanged; the only real change has been technological. Can shared values, widely disseminated, help us move beyond mass warfare? Does the endless threat of terrorism help preserve the military status quo? Are traditional military and administrative hierarchies still relevant? Why do humans fight wars? Is it even possible to tame the impulse? How can we unlearn war?War is essential reading on the way to resolving these perennial questions, and is a valuable historical treatise as well as a fervent, persuasive call to pacifism.

En esta oportuna adiciÓn a la serie de historia mÁs vendida, la aclamada historiadora Gwynne Dyer cuenta la historia de la guerra desde sus orÍgenes prehistÓricos, quizÁs prehumanos, hasta la era actual de los algoritmos y las bombas atÓmicas. Dyer narra la propagaciÓn de la guerra en las primeras ciudades del mundo; el aumento de la desigualdad y la tiranÍa a medida que crecen las sociedades humanas; la edad clÁsica milenaria del combate terminÓ con la carnicerÍa de la Guerra de los Treinta AÑos; el breve intervalo de guerra "limitada" que siguiÓ antes de las revoluciones populares del siglo XVIII marcÓ el comienzo de una era de guerra total, interrumpida abruptamente por Hiroshima. Los capÍtulos finales tratan sobre el precario equilibrio de los Últimos 75 aÑos, el perÍodo de paz mÁs largo entre las principales potencias en la historia moderna, y las inminentes amenazas que plantean la proliferaciÓn nuclear, la rivalidad entre las superpotencias y el cambio climÁtico. Este libro vÍvido y clarividente es una lectura vital para cualquiera que quiera comprender el papel de la guerra en la larga historia humana: por quÉ lo hacemos y cÓmo podemos detenerlo. In this timely addition to the best-selling history series, acclaimed historian Gwynne Dyer tells the story of war from its prehistoric, perhaps prehuman, origins to the current era of algorithms and atomic bombs. Dyer narrates the spread of the war in the first cities of the world; increasing inequality and tyranny as human societies grow; the millennial classical age of combat ended with the carnage of the Thirty Years' War; the brief interval of "limited" warfare that followed before the popular revolutions of the 18th century ushered in an era of all-out warfare, abruptly interrupted by Hiroshima. The final chapters address the precarious balance of the past 75 years, the longest period of peace between the major powers in modern history, and the looming threats posed by nuclear proliferation, superpower rivalry, and climate change. This vivid and clairvoyant book is vital reading for anyone who wants to understand the role of war in long human history - why we do it and how we can stop it.