Lethality in Combat shines a blazing light on the three most controversial aspects of military combat: the necessity of killing; the taking, or not, of prisoners; and the targeting of civilians.

Author Tom Lewis controversial new book shatters our preconceptions regarding the rules of engagement and the realities of combat. The truth of warfare is little understood by those who haven’t endured it. It’s romanticised and simplified in many fictional books and movies, and even sanitised in so-called “real” accounts

This book argues that when a nation-state sends its soldiers to fight, the state must accept the full implications of this, uncomfortable as they may be. Lewis affirms that he ISN’T saying that all such behaviours are ethically correct. However as society members who commission others to carry out violence on our behalf, we should understand these behaviours, and not be too quick to instantly condemn

Drawing on seven conflicts– the Boer War, World Wars I and II, and the wars in Korea, Vietnam, the Falklands and Iraq – the author considers these ethical issues. Lethality in Combat lifts the veil on the much-misunderstood but very real and secret world of unsanitised war.