Book Review: “War: A Crime Against Humanity” by Roberto Vivo

“War: A History of Humanity” by Roberto Vivo (2015)

Genre: War, Non-fiction, Historical

Page Length: 274 pages (electronic edition)

Synopsis:

Roberto Vivo deftly guides the reader through the history of war and peace, from early civilizations to the major conflicts and peace efforts of today. The book zeros in on the historical moments that have shaped the practice of war in dozens of examples, from the ancient Greeks to Cambodia to Rwanda, and juxtaposes such examples with our best experiments in peace.

Vivo then draws on the history of movements to outlaw practices such as apartheid and slavery to build a case for criminalizing the use of war and holding world leaders accountable for initiating conflicts before the International Criminal Court.

His outspoken criticism of the politics and industry of war is tempered by a profound optimism about what people can learn from history and what we can achieve together. War: A Crime Against Humanity is not another diatribe against the status quo; it is an inspiring and profoundly hopeful vision of the future we can dare to create. (description from Amazon)

Review:

War: A Crime Against Humanity takes its readers all over the world and focuses on the origins of war in various countries. In the book, Vivo is outspoken and seeks to express to his readers about the errors made in history so that it cannot repeat itself, and that perhaps we can live in a more peaceful world with less conflict.

While reading the book I found the history to be fascinating, but the writing was a bit dry, and reminded me of reading a textbook. At times I felt like I was reading a constant series of facts and opinions without it feeling like an actual book. But these facts do show that Vivo, put a lot of time and effort making sure there was valid evidence to back his opinions.

All in all, this book was not for me. I do enjoy non-fiction, but this book felt out of my comfort zone and sometimes it was hard to understand the language written. I think that anybody that likes non-fiction that focuses on war or historical events will enjoy this book.

Final Verdict: