In this authoritative and illuminating survey, Freedman – a professor of war studies and member of the Chilcot inquiry into the Iraq war – argues that “the future of war has a distinctive and revealing past”. The subject of wars to come has long fascinated not just those in the military but also politicians and writers highlighting concerns about foreign threats, campaigning against types of weaponry or seeking to banish war. Texts about future war can reveal anxieties about impending conflict and offer historical insights into the causes and conduct of actual wars.

Beginning in the 19th century, Freedman shows how the optimism that new tactics and technologies would deliver quick and decisive victories foundered in the mud of the trenches. For authors such as HG Wells, the chaos of modern war was a necessary prelude to world peace. Indeed, it was a superweapon Wells predicted in 1914 – the atomic bomb – that made all-out nuclear conflict unwinnable after 1945.

Today, we face hi-tech threats such as drones and cyber war, as well as terrorists armed with the oldest weapons: knives. The future of war has never seemed less certain.

• The Future of War: A History is published by Penguin. To order a copy for £9.45 (RRP £10.99) go to guardianbookshop.com or call 0330 333 6846. Free UK p&p over £10, online orders only. Phone orders min p&p of £1.99.