Every War Has Two Losers: William Stafford on Peace and War

By William Stafford

Book Overview

Born the year World War I began, acclaimed poet William Stafford (1914-1993) spent World War II in a camp for conscientious objectors. Throughout a century of conflict he remained convinced that wars simply don't work. In his writings, Stafford showed it is possible--and crucial--to think independently when fanatics act, and to speak for reconciliation when nations take sides. He believed it was a failure of imagination to only see two options: to fight or to run away.

This book gathers the evidence of a lifetime's commitment to nonviolence, including an account of Stafford's near-hanging at the hands of American patriots. In excerpts from his daily journal from 1951-1991, Stafford uses questions, alternative views of history, lyric invitations, and direct assessments of our political habits to suggest another way than war. Many of these statements are published here for the first time, together with a generous selection of Stafford's pacifist poems and interviews from elusive sources.

Stafford provides an alternative approach to a nation's military habit, aggressive instincts, and our legacy of armed ventures in Europe, the Pacific, Korea, Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and beyond.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1571312730
• ISBN13: 9781571312730
• Release Date: October 2003
• Publisher: Milkweed Editions
• Length: 168 Pages
• Weight: 0.56 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.6" x 4.9" x 7.8"

Customer Reviews

If A Book Could Save the World. . . it might be this one.

As a review of this book, I offer only that after reading less than a third of it, I ordered additional copies to give away to others. I can't think of another time that I have done this. Expect to be prodded by humor and deep thinking, and moved to joy and tears by Stafford's reflections on war and peace.