About TIOW

Cave painting of a battle between archers, Cueva del Roure, Morella la Vella, Castellón, Valencia, Spain.

The Idea of War project grew out of academic research into how governments and international organisations understand conflict.

Years of practice as a conflict analyst and studying how institutions create meaning out of conflict led me to a broader question: where do our ideas about war actually come from?

Babylonian Relief of Ishtar, Goddess of Love, Sex, and War circa. 19th-18th century BCE, via The British Museum, London

The ways we recognise, explain and imagine war are not fixed; they have been shaped by particular histories, cultures and experiences.

I wanted to trace some of the moments through which those ideas took shape.

Ramses II slays an enemy while he tramples on an other in the battle of Kadesh in 1274 BC

By exploring individual objects, people and places, The Idea of War brings that history to life—revealing a story that tells us as much about ourselves, and our relationship with mass violence, as it does about the people of the past.