John Gittings

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THE GLORIOUS ART OF PEACE
From the Iliad to Iraq
Oxford University Press,   2012
 
'We need all the insights collected in Gittings's impressive book and more, enriching our culture with more capacity to cooperate, empathize, reconcile and resolve conflict. Violence and war are often symptoms of underlying, unresolved traumas and conflicts. Identify them, solve them: incompatibilities are challenges to make changes that accommodate compatibility. An art, yes, but it can be learnt. Glorious, for sure. And feasible, when we add Gittings's optimism.' (Johan Galtung, International Affairs)
 
'Many of our cherished assumptions about war and peace are challenged in this ambitious and refreshing book.' (The Tablet )

'This comprehensive history of the arts of peace was an ambitious undertaking that has resulted in a fine study.' (
Irish Times )

'An original re-appraisal of history which opens up the prospect of a new, pacific, world order.' (Corriere della Sera )

'An important and much needed divergence from the standard way of approaching history.' (Vietnam Veterans of America)
 
'An ambitious overview of the perceptions of peace from ancient times to the present... Recommended.' (Choice: American Library Association)

Human progress and prosperity depend on a peaceful environment, yet our perception of the past is dominated too often by a narrative that is obsessed with war. John Gittings demolishes the myth that peace is dull and that war is in our genes, and opens an alternative window on history to show the strength of the case for peace which has been argued from ancient times onwards. It needs to be asserted even more loudly today as the world faces multiple global challenges.
 
New article:  'The Narrative of Peace: What we can learn from the history of peace thought', Oxford Research Group, August 2012.
 
New interview:  Matthew Reisz in Times Higher Education, 30 Aug. 2012,
 
 

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