
Season 4, Episode 7: Richard Overy, Why War?
From Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs by Jeffrey Sachs
March 4, 2025 · 52 min · Season 4 · Episode 7
About this episode
Professor Jeffrey Sachs interviews historian Richard Overy about the reasons behind warfare throughout history.
Send us Fan Mail Join Professor Jeffrey Sachs and historian, Professor Richard Overy for an insightful conversation on one of humanity’s most unsettling questions: Why do we wage war? In his book, Why War? Overy takes us on a journey across time, from the ancient battlefields of the Roman Empire to the devastation of the World Wars and the conflicts shaping our present. Together, they examine what drives organized violence? Is it hardwired into human nature, or does it stem from competition f...
People in this episode
Host: Jeffrey Sachs
Guest: Richard Overy
Topics covered
- war
- history
- human nature
- organized violence
- conflict
- society
Keywords
- war
- history
- human nature
- conflict
- organized violence
- Roman Empire
- World Wars
Mentioned in this episode
Books & works: Why War?
More episodes of Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs
- Season 5, Episode 4 - Dorothy A. Brown, The Whiteness of Wealth: How the Tax System Impoverishes Black Americans--and How We Can Fix It · June 9, 2026 · 1h 0m
- Season 5 Episode 3: Rana Mitter, Forgotten Ally: China's World War II, 1937-1945 · May 5, 2026 · 1h 2m
- Season 5 Episode 2: James W. Douglass: Martyrs to the Unspeakable: The Assassinations of JFK, Malcolm, Martin, and RFK · March 10, 2026 · 1h 1m
- Season 5 Episode 1: Michael Carley, Stalin's Great Game : War and Neutrality, 1939-1941 · January 6, 2026 · 48 min
- Season 4, Episode 12: Yakov M. Rabkin, Israel in Palestine: Jewish Rejection of Zionism · September 30, 2025 · 41 min
- Season 4, Episode 11: James Romm, Plato and the Tyrant · July 8, 2025 · 45 min
Explore listener stats, chart rankings, contacts and more on the Book Club with Jeffrey Sachs podcast page.