From the Gulf War until 2002, debates on the future of war seemed intoxicated by the new military technology and the promise of quick, low-risk, low-casualty conflict. Wars in Kosovo and Chechnya, did not disabuse the public, the press or seemingly the policy-makers of this perspective. Then on September 11th the myth that wars were to be fought elsewhere on Western terms was destroyed in the World Trade Center attacks. Jeremy Black's book prophetically explores the realities of war in a globalised world where growing prosperity can increase the likelihood of conflict and American power is likely to be increasingly challenged.