The inherent dangers of war zones constrain even the most ardent researchers, with the consequence that little has been known for certain about the effects of war on stable environments. War and Nature sifts through the available data from past wars to evaluate the actual impact that combat has on natural surroundings. Examining conflicts of various kinds—the long war in tropical Vietnam, the relatively brief and highly technical wars in the Persian Gulf, and various civil wars in Africa and South-Central Asia fought with small arms—Brauer asks whether differences in technology, location, and duration are critical in causing environmental and humanitarian harm. A number of unexpected conclusions are drawn from this data, including practical agendas for collecting scientific evidence in future wars and suggestions about what the world's environmental and conservation organizations can do. One thing War and Nature does is to show us how globalization can be a force harnessed for good ends.

"War and Nature would be a masterful summary, except that there have not been many studies of the effects of war on the environment, and even fewer prewar baseline studies of affected areas. So there is not much to summarize, but the book does provide thorough coverage of the existing data. . . . The book contains abundant notes and other academic apparatus. . . . Highly recommended." - CHOICE, March 2010

"It is remarkable that military impacts on nature have received little scientific attention. Jurgen Brauer deserves much praise for a systematic reckoning of resource use by military activities and of war’s environmental repercussions. Existing reliable information being scarce, he points the way toward establishing a research agenda and methodology." - Geographical Review