The Oxford Handbook of War is the definitive analysis of war in the twenty-first century. With over forty senior authors from academia, government and the armed forces world-wide the Handbook explores the history, theory, ethics and practice of war. The Handbook first considers the fundamental causes of war, before reflecting on the moral and legal aspects of war. Theories on the practice of war lead into an analysis of the strategic conduct of war and non Western ways of war. The heart of the Handbook is a compelling analysis of the military conduct of war which is juxtaposed with consideration of technology, economy, industry, and war. In conclusion the volume looks to the future of this apparently perennial feature of human interaction.The incidence of war and its casualties have dramatically declined in the last thirty years. That, however, is not the perception of a public used to the dramas of 24/7 media coverage of what is still happening on the world's battlefields. Never has it been more timely for a volume like this to appear and to enlighten the global population to the changed and increasingly complex nature of modern warfare.