History is often presented in terms of a series of conquests and conflicts, a perpetual cycle of war and peace. As a result, there is rarely a focus on the socio-cultural dynamics and institutional mechanisms which maintain patterns of violence. This book examines the important questions which have often been ignored: how does war come to be seen as an acceptable way of solving conflict? How do combatants understand their roles in different situations of violence?

What factors complicate the commonplace view that war is 'a cruel necessity'?