Hedges writes in the Introduction that he wrote the book "not to dissuade us from war but to understand it... - so that we, who wield such massive force across the globe, see within ourselves the seeds of our own obliteration."

Abraham Verghese, reviewing the book in the New York Times described it as "a brilliant, thoughtful, timely and unsettling book whose greatest merit is that it will rattle jingoists, pacifists, moralists, nihilists, politicians and professional soldiers equally."

"[3] Lawrence F. Freedman, writing in the journal Foreign Affairs, said "this is an angry, articulate -- an act of therapy summed up by its ironic title."

He continues that "Hedges' thoughts on why wars start are at best sketchy, but his explorations of what happens when they do make this book a compelling read and a valuable counterweight to the more antiseptic discussions common among strategic analysts.

"[4] University of Texas classics professor Thomas Palaima wrote an article for the Austin-American Statesman charging that a single sentence in the book should have been attributed to Ernest Hemingway.