The Greatest Evil Is War

Now with a new preface for the paperback edition by the author, an unflinching indictment of the horror and obscenity of war by one of our finest war correspondents.

Drawn from experience and interviews by Pulitzer-prize-winner Chris Hedges, a devastating look at the hidden costs of war, what it does to individuals, families, communities and nations.

“A remarkable record of reporting and analysis. . . A contribution of great significance in these troubled times.” —Noam Chomsky

In the twenty years since the publication of War Is a Force that Gives Us Meaning, Chris Hedges has not wanted to write another book on the subject of war—until now, with the outbreak of war in Ukraine.

In fifteen short chapters, Chris Hedges astonishes us with his clear and cogent argument against war, not on philosophical grounds or through moral arguments, but in an irrefutable stream of personal encounters with the victims of war, from veterans and parents to gravely wounded American serviceman who served in the Iraq War, to survivors of the Holocaust, to soldiers in the Falklands War, among others. Hedges reported from Sarajevo, and was in the Balkans to witness the collapse of the Soviet Union.

Today it is important again to be reminded who are the victors of the spoils of war and of other unerring truths, not only in this war but in all modern wars, where civilians are always the main victims, and the tools and methods of war are capable of so much destruction it boggles the mind.