Contagion and War

'Some scholars like to look at forests from the outside-in and never get too close to the trees. Others like to plunge into the forest and tag every tree. Despite the old adage of not seeing the forest for the trees, both approaches can prove profitable. John A. Vasquez's latest book is a tree-tagging exercise that pays off in generating an inside-out look at why war participation spreads. There is still more to learn about these contagious processes but tackling first one of the toughest nuts to crack in the war inventory, World War I, should make it easier to figure out why wars spread in general. And just when you thought everything had been said about World War I that could be said, Vasquez comes up with some new twists on how things worked between 1914 and 1918.' William R. Thompson, Distinguished and Rogers Professor Emeritus, Indiana University
'Contagion and War is a nuanced and systematic exploration of the multiple causal processes through which war might spread, illustrated by a detailed examination of the First World War. Vasquez makes a significant contribution to both the theory of international conflict and to our historical understanding of one of the world's most catastrophic and consequential wars.' Jack S. Levy, Rutgers University, New Jersey
'Contagion and War adds to our knowledge of World War I and multiparty conflicts … by recognizing that temporal sequences are involved in both the start and spread of belligerency, and teasing out and exploring the mechanisms associated with them.' Richard Ned Lebow, War in History