What is War?

by Graeme Newman (Author), Will Irwin (Author), K. A. Bratt (Author)

What is war? Is it a contest of armies, a failure of diplomacy, or something far more pervasive—a condition that engulfs entire societies, economies, and ways of life?

This provocative volume brings together two of the most penetrating early twentieth-century explorations of modern conflict: The Next War and That Next War?. Written in the aftermath of the First World War—when the scale and nature of warfare had changed irrevocably—these works confront a world struggling to understand what had just occurred, and what might come next.

In The Next War, Will Irwin delivers a gripping and urgent analysis of how industrialization, science, and total mobilization transformed war from a clash of armies into a devastating force directed at entire populations. His warnings about chemical weapons, aerial bombardment, and the erosion of moral restraint read today with startling clarity and foresight.

Nearly a decade later, Major K. A. Bratt’s That Next War? expands the inquiry, examining the strategic, and psychological dimensions of future conflict. Moving beyond immediate aftermath, Bratt explores the rise of air power, ideological struggle, global tensions, and the uneasy balance between democracy and militarism in a rapidly changing world.

Together, these two works form a powerful intellectual dialogue—one grounded in lived experience, the other in strategic foresight. Framed by a substantial new introduction by Graeme R. Newman, this edition situates both texts within the longer history of modern warfare and draws out their enduring relevance to the twenty-first century.

At a time when war continues to evolve—through technology, geopolitics, and new forms of power—this volume asks a question that remains as urgent as ever: not simply when the next war will come, but what war has become.

A Read-Me.Org Classic Reprint. Carefully prepared for contemporary readers, this edition preserves the original texts while offering new insight into their historical significance and modern implications.

Read-Me.Org Inc. New York-Philadelphia-Australia. 2026. p.237.