The title of the book is explained in the introduction, which informs the reader that "an antique saying has it that a man's life is incomplete unless or until he has tasted love, poverty, and war.

"[3] Love, Poverty, and War was praised in Kirkus Reviews as "a well-turned collection with scarcely a false note", with the author's "fierce and nuanced patriotism in the wake of 9/11" singled out.

[...] Hitchens is an effortlessly engaging writer and a famously pugnacious commentator, but the sheer scope of Love, Poverty and War is testament to his erudition.

There are few writers who can turn from a long and detailed reassessment of the legacy of Winston Churchill to the work of Marcel Proust and feel equally at home.

"[6] In Prospect, David Herman argued that the collection solidified Hitchens as "one of the best literary and cultural critics of the past 20 years", praising the author's writings on Rudyard Kipling, Marcel Proust, and The Adventures of Augie March.