Peace

How peace has been made and maintained, experienced and imagined is
not only a matter of historical interest, but also of pressing
concern. Peace: A World History is the first study to
explore the full spectrum of peace and peacemaking from prehistoric
to contemporary times in a single volume aimed at improving their
prospects.

By focusing on key periods, events, people, ideas and texts,
Antony Adolf shows how the inspiring possibilities and pragmatic
limits of peace and peacemaking were shaped by their cultural
contexts and, in turn, shaped local and global histories.
Diplomatic, pacifist, legal, transformative non-violent and
anti-war movements are just a few prominent examples.

Proposed and performed in socio-economic, political, religious,
philosophical and other ways, Adolf's presentation of the diversity
of peace and peacemaking challenges the notions that peace is
solely the absence of war, that this negation is the only task of
peacemakers, and that history is exclusively written by military
victors. "Without the victories of peacemakers and the
resourcefulness of the peaceful," he contends, "there
would be no history to write."

This book is essential reading for students, scholars,
policy-shapers, activists and general readers involved with how
present forms of peace and peacemaking have been influenced by
those of the past, and how future forms can benefit by taking these
into account.