With Eastern Europe a political powder keg in the early years of the 20th century, this plea for reasoned pacifism-first published in 1912-seems entirely prescient in hindsight, with our foreknowledge of the dreadful war to engulf the continent two years later.A classic of political theory, Peace Theories and the Balkan War discusses:. the inadequacies of the terms "war" and "peace". the economic motives for war. the impossibility of separating the moral and the material. the danger of war to be found in its illusions. war and religion. and much more.British journalist and politician SIR RALPH NORMAN ANGELL (1872-1967) was an executive for the World Committee against War and Fascism and a member of the executive committee of the League of Nations Union. Knighted in 1931, he was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1933. From 1905 to 1912, he was the Paris editor for the Daily Mail, and served as a Labour MP from 1929 to 1931. He is also the author of The Fruits of Victory.