War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning

Chris Hedges

Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, Jun 10, 2003 - Philosophy - 211 pages

As a veteran war correspondent, Chris Hedges has survived ambushes in Central America, imprisonment in Sudan, and a beating by Saudi military police. He has seen children murdered for sport in Gaza and petty thugs elevated into war heroes in the Balkans. Hedges, who is also a former divinity student, has seen war at its worst and knows too well that to those who pass through it, war can be exhilarating and even addictive: “It gives us purpose, meaning, a reason for living.”

Drawing on his own experience and on the literature of combat from Homer to Michael Herr, Hedges shows how war seduces not just those on the front lines but entire societies, corrupting politics, destroying culture, and perverting the most basic human desires. Mixing hard-nosed realism with profound moral and philosophical insight, War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning is a work of terrible power and redemptive clarity whose truths have never been more necessary.

What people are saying

Review: War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning

User Review  - Litbitch - Goodreads

I don't know why I'm not giving this 5 stars. Maybe I just wanted more? Maybe I wanted less. An exceptional book: well-written, important, and incisive. Doesn't make you feel good about humanity - past, present, or future.

Review: War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning

User Review  - Harry - Goodreads

Heartbreaking book - could easily change my mind about war and it's impact on man -were I a younger man (too late for me, I think). I would strongly recommend this book to any person thinking of ...

About the author

Chris Hedges has been a foreign correspondent for fifteen years. Currently on staff at The New York Times, he has previously worked for The Dallas Morning News, The Christian Science Monitor, and National Public Radio. He holds a master of divinity from Harvard University. He lives in New York City.

Bibliographic information

• Title: War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning
• Author: Chris Hedges
• Edition: reprint
• Publisher: Knopf Doubleday Publishing Group, 2003
• ISBN: 1400034639, 9781400034635
• Length: 211 pages
• Subjects: History / Military / General; Philosophy / Ethics & Moral Philosophy; Political Science / General