books about war that will turn your mind against war
Explore powerful anti-war books from Chris Hedges, Tolstoy, and Dalton Trumbo that expose war's brutal reality and challenge its meaning.
Book
Johnny Got His Gun
by Dalton Trumbo
For use in schools and libraries only. The powerful story of a young boy and his tragic fate in World War I makes a terrifying statement on the horrors of war and a compelling plea for peace.
Book
The Kingdom of God is Within You
by graf Leo Tolstoy
First published in Germany in 1894, after being banned in Russia, The Kingdom of God Is within You reveals Tolstoy’s world outlook after his conversion to Christianity. He argues that the kingdom of God is within reach of all. The core of the book deals with his nonresistance to evil, a principle Tolstoy passionately advocated. Gandhi was won over by the book. Tolstoy clearly describes the hazards that bullying governments and false beliefs produced. “The situation of the Christian part of humanity—with its prisons, forced labor, gallows, saloons, brothels, constantly increasing armaments, and millions of confused people ready like trained hounds to attack anyone against whom their masters set them—this situation would be terrible if it were the product of coercion, but it is above all the product of public opinion.” Abhorring the violence of revolution, Tolstoy calls on Christians to remember that the only guide for their actions is to be found in the divine principle dwelling within them, which in no sense can be checked or governed by anyone or anything else.
Book
War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning
by Chris Hedges
Looks at the appeal of war, arguing that the ideas of combat are noble and glorious, providing a purpose for living for some people.
Book
Ugly American
by William J. Lederer
The ineffectual Ambassador is just one of the handicaps facing the Americans as Southeast Asia becomes increasingly involved with Communism.
