To End All Wars

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This is the kind of investigatory history Hochschild pulls off like no one else . . . Hochschild is a master at chronicling how prevailing cultural opinion is formed and, less frequently, how it's challenged." — Maureen Corrigan, NPR’s Fresh Air World War I was deemed the “war to end all wars,” yet over four years, it engulfed nations and resulted in millions of deaths, marking one of history’s most senseless acts of violence. This narrative highlights the often-overlooked moral struggles of the war’s critics, alongside its generals and heroes. Many dissenters faced imprisonment for their opposition, including a future Nobel Prize winner and an editor who distributed a clandestine newspaper on toilet paper. These critics were sometimes closely related to those advocating for war: a prominent British pacifist had a brother commanding on the Western Front, and two sisters became estranged, launching rival newspapers. Adam Hochschild vividly brings the Great War to life, compelling us to confront essential questions: Why did nations become so embroiled in violence? Why couldn’t reason prevail? And can we avoid repeating such history? "Hochschild brings fresh drama to the story and explores it in provocative ways . . . Exemplary in all respects." — Jonathan Yardley, Washington Post "Superb . . . Brilliantly written and reads like a novel . . . [Hochschild] gives us yet another absorbing chronicle of the redeeming pow