Pages Through the Ages is a book discussion group hosted jointly by the Westport Museum for History and Culture and the Library. Discuss War: How Conflict Shaped Us by Margaret MacMillan with Bruce McGuirk and other history buffs. Meetings will alternate between the buildings, so please check the venue prior to attending! 

Registration suggested. If you wish to join via Zoom, please register here.  

Copies of the book are available at the Westport Library. 

The instinct to fight may be innate in human nature, but war—organized violence—comes with organized society. Margaret MacMillan looks at the ways in which war has influenced human society and how, in turn, changes in political organization, technology, or ideologies have affected how and why we fight. 

War: How Conflict Shaped Us explores such debated and controversial questions as: When did war first start? Does human nature doom us to fight one another? Why has war been described as the most organized of all human activities? Why are warriors almost always men? Is war ever within our control? Drawing on lessons from wars throughout the past, from classical history to the present day, MacMillan reveals the many faces of war—the way it has determined our past, our future, our views of the world, and our very conception of ourselves. 

Community Partner: Westport Library