Great Courses – War in the Modern World

The Pound Ridge Library is pleased to announce the continuation of a series of lectures which mark the eleventh year of courses which are part of the library’s continuing presentation of a new educational concept in life-long learning: a series of DVD seminars from The Teaching Company/The Great Courses encompassing a wide variety of subjects, given by outstanding scholars from major colleges and universities throughout the United States. This program, the first of its kind in the country, is designed to provide collegial, small group-setting for courses “you didn’t get to take at college, but wanted to.” The seminars, developed and moderated by Lawrence Brotmann of Pound Ridge, NY are held at the library on Thursdays at 12:30 pm and consist of four 30-minute (closed-captioned) lectures per session, most from 3 to 6 weeks per course.

Registration guarantees a spot in the program. Registration does not guarantee a parking spot. The library encourages carpooling as much as possible.

Course Overview
World War II was a formidable conflict that engulfed more than 50 nations, many of them world powers. While it ended with peace, the global conflict culminated in massive human and material costs. The Soviet Union lost millions of soldiers and civilians. The United Kingdom sustained relentless bombing campaigns by Axis air forces. And Japan saw the destruction of two major cities via atomic bomb: Hiroshima and Nagasaki. Across the world, whole cities were leveled and millions of people—Axis and Allied, civilians and soldier—were displaced or killed.

Landscapes and populations weren’t the only things that changed, though. A new world order emerged when the ink on the peace treaty dried in 1945, altering borders, ushering in new geopolitical realities, and leaving the West to contend with a new enemy: the Soviet Union, a communist empire intent on spreading its ideology and influence across the globe. These changes, along with the introduction of innovative but extremely destructive weapons like nuclear bombs and drones, ushered in a new kind of warfare that has characterized violent conflicts across the globe for the last three-quarters of a century.

In 24 masterfully designed and clearly presented episodes, War in the Modern World explores the new face of war. US Naval War College professor David R. Stone is your expert guide. A scholar of Russian military history, he is well-versed in the strategy, policy, and history behind modern conflicts and wars across the globe. With David in the front seat, you will examine modern war through modern conflicts, exploring decades of violent conflicts between and within nation-states. You will define insurgency and counterinsurgency warfare as well as the strategies that underlie both. You will learn about the weapons that fundamentally changed how countries and rebel groups fight. And you will understand how highly localized civil and insurgent conflicts became the new terrains on which great powers wage war.