The Ethics of War and Peace: An Introduction to Legal and Moral Issues (2nd Edition)

Rating:
Summary: A Good Introduction
Review: Christopher's work provides a good introduction to Just War theory. He takes the view that Just War is a balance of what he calls two "Moral Truths." Moral truth one is that it is wrong to intentionally harm innocent people, and moral truth 2 is that we are sometimes justified in using force to protect innocent people from harm. Just War theory is then about reasoning between these two tensions. This text is good read before approaching some of the heavier primary Just War sources.

Rating:
Summary: Ethics Lite
Review: It would be best to skip this book and instead purchase Regan's Just War. While well intended, this volume is merely an overview of the subject and a superficial one, at that.

Rating:
Summary: Academic Potboiler
Review: This is a simple, and simplistic, attempt to review the nature of war as regarded by philosophers and ethicists. It may be that it was written so that the author might offer his students, in an ancient and ignoble practice, an intellectually slim volume as the text for a course. If you need something to lead you to primary sources, this might do. If you want an original take on this subject, or even the hint of perspicacious commentary, look elsewhere.