Eich, A. Die Söhne des Mars

A History of War from the Stone Age to the End of Antiquity. Civilisation and war do not form a contradiction, much to our chagrin. It is all the more interesting that reliable evidence of lethal acts of violence against entire groups of people is only found relatively late, in Europe, for example, from the 6th millennium BC onwards. The first weapon developed exclusively for war purposes - the sword - did not even become established until the second millennium BC. But what sparked the dynamics of war and intensified them more and more, so that it seems to have unalterably determined the course of human history up to the present day?

Armin Eich has written a fascinating book about the early days of war. He expertly explains the relevant research findings of prehistorians, describes the effects of improved weapons technology and strategy in the Bronze Age, and also focuses on declining advanced civilisations such as the Mycenaean and the Hittite. In further chapters, he examines the oppressive interrelationships of a developing commodity trade, early statehood and the monetisation of warfare in classical times. The presentation concludes with the traumatising conditions of an unbounded state of war, in which the permanent confrontation with war experiences changes the psychological structure of those affected and organised violence as a way of life becomes a hopeless fate in antiquity.