This book has been in print for more than a decade, and I am grateful to
Westview Press and to Peter Kracht for keeping it available in the History
and Warfare Series. The revised bibliography contains some important items
that appeared after the original publication of The Origins of War, but there
are no changes in the text. Much has been written in the past ten years on
prehistoric warfare, yet present scholarship confirms the view set forth in
this book that prehistoric man was a warrior long before the emergence of
civilization. If I were to rewrite the book today, I would state my thesis even
more strongly.

When the book was first published, I was afraid that the final section, enti-
tled "Alexander at Waterloo: His Place in the History of Warfare," would
seem fanciful. In fact, it has received considerable favorable attention, and I
continue to believe its validity. Ancient warriors carried warfare to a high
level of skill, and until the dramatic changes in the delivery of firepower in
the last half of the nineteenth century, the best ancient armies would have
held their own on any battlefield.

Arther Ferrill

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