Welcome to a collection of gripping stories behind some of history's most difficult "war or peace" decisions - adapted for teens and kids. This is not a "book of battles for boys." The 'History's Moments of Truth' series focuses on "the lessons of history" with an emphasis on the values and principles that have guided decision-making over centuries. The goal of the series is character building and ethical education for our kids. "War or Peace? Tough Choices with Consequences" delivers clear ethical lessons that have emerged from war after war, from antiquity through the 20th century. It also prompts our kids to practice strategic thinking, analyzing which decisions were right, which decisions were wrong, and why.
Ethical choice, strategy, and leadership are the three most important themes of this book. We look at conflicts ranging from the wars of defense and liberation, to wars of greed and imperial overreach. We go back to St. Augustine's Theory of Just War, and seek to understand the ethics (or none!) behind a list of war-or-peace decisions. Why is it a bad idea to humiliate a defeated enemy? Why is it that when the generals order "Fight to the death!" "No retreat!" and "Give no quarter!" - they lose battles? Why did Sun Tsu say, "Build for your enemy a golden bridge to retreat across"? Kids and teens who face conflict in their circle, who are flexing their leadership muscle for the first time, or who are wondering about the choices of today's politicians, should stop whatever they are doing and grab this book! Let's have our kids learn the "lessons of history" which many of our leaders seem to have totally missed! Perhaps we'll see fewer wars in our future.
Many kids and teens enjoy history books, but when reading war and battle descriptions they will often skip pages, wondering "how does it end?" Young people are most interested in stories of personal experiences and character evolution leading to choices that yield either victory or defeat. Whether it's a war fueled by greed, or arrogance, or miscalculation, or patriotism, or self-defense - a young mind seeks to connect causes with consequences and extract a lesson. That is what this book provides - examples of strategic decision-making and leadership, with a good dose of human interest, presented through a story-based narrative full of twists, turns, occasional cliff-hangers, and humor.
Important: Even though this book is about wars, it does not include the portrayal of anything gruesome or disturbing. Our focus is on choices and decisions, not on the many forms of violence and suffering common in military conflicts. This book presents only historical facts and reports (no fictionalization) and stays firmly on track with kid-appropriate, family-friendly content.
The book chapters are short, its pages are sprinkled with illustrations and photos of historical artifacts - perfect for "reluctant readers." The stories in this book are arranged in chronological order, showing a clear "course of history." We also offer paragraph-long definitions of concepts useful in understanding the events we describe. These include political science and military terms, historical customs and symbols, word origins and meanings, and interesting facts. Among them:
wars of choice vs wars of necessity, geopolitics, bread and circuses, romanization, political puppets, protectorates, to "rally 'round the flag," patriotism vs nationalism, police state, strategic victory vs tactical victory, Roman "triumphs" and "ovations," why "Rome doesn't pay traitors," Friday the 13th, the Oriflamme... How and why republics and democracies collapse... Who wages more wars - democracies or dictatorships?...and more!
