Siniša Malešević is Senior Lecturer in the School of Political Science and Sociology at the National University of Ireland, Galway. He has written and edited many books, chapters and journal articles including Ernest Gellner and Contemporary Social Thought (with Mark Haugaard, Cambridge, 2007), Identity as Ideology: Understanding Ethnicity and Nationalism (2006) and The Sociology of Ethnicity (2004).

• Introduction: war, violence and the social; Part I. Collective Violence and Sociological Theory: 1. War and violence in classical social thought; 2. The contemporary sociology of organised violence; Part II. War in Time and Space: 3. War and violence before modernity; 4. Organized violence and modernity; 5. The social geographies of warfare; Part III. Warfare: Ideas and Practices: 6. Nationalism and war; 7. War propaganda and solidarity; Part IV. War, Violence and Social Divisions: 8. Social stratification, warfare and violence; 9. Gendering of war; Part V. Organised Violence in the 21st Century: 10. New wars?; Conclusion.

'With its combination of theoretical acumen and historical insights, this book is a significant step forward in the reintegration of war into the sociological canon. Both students and experienced scholars will appreciate Malesevic's perspectives on how war made us who we are.' Miguel A. Centeno, Princeton University