In speaking about war, words matter. What would Nietzsche have said? Had Nietzsche directly focused his critical powers on the urgent questions concerning hostile, violent war, his interpretations of its destructive, corrosive nature would most likely have matched his critique of Christianity in substance and intensity.

Prof. Peery offers new interpretations of Nietzsche'’s ideas regarding power, values, nature, contrariety, and language, truth and deception, religion, experience, sexuality and sexual politics. She quotes extensively from his major works and consults relevant works from the pre-Socratics to the current President of Harvard University, Drew G. Faust.

The book offers new interpretations of Nietzsche's thinking -- considering especially his ideas regarding power, values, nature, contrariety, sexuality and sexual politics -- that could offer new and provocative approaches toward dealing with the rising menace of war. His breadth and depth of interests and his scholarly background make Nietzsche uniquely qualified to comment.

The author quotes from many of Nietzsche's own writings and introduces selected earlier writers whom she believes would have influenced his own thinking on the subject of war, from Thomas Aquinas to Bachofen. Particularly as philosopher, psychologist, philologist and historian, Nietzsche's own words provide the immediate and best access to his thoughts. A thinker of Nietzsche's stature might contribute to the anguished debates rending society even today.

In this century, there appears to be an inverse relationship between the extremely rapid increase of the visible catastrophic effects of the powers of wars and the impotence of people to comprehend the depth and breadth of this complex phenomenon. What is demanded are new, perhaps previously unasked, probably threatening questions.

Any or all of these questions ultimately are centered on, begin or end with, those regarding concern of who. Other than the recognized theorists, who else may have had thoughts, or words, about war? We should surely consider the ancient mythmakers or mythologists; classical Greek or Roman poets, historians, and dramatists; theologians of any era; modern novelists, essayists, or poets; modern scientists. Who has spoken or written words about war? And what have been the his perspectives and interpretations of these men? And who has remained silent, not having spoken or written?

Prof. Rebekah Peery earned her Doctorate in Philosophy at Vanderbilt University; she taught philosophy and religious studies at Radford University for almost two decades. Courses she led included the philosophy of Plato and Aristotle, Hobbes, Kant, Nietzsche and Heidegger, as well as ethics, aesthetics, the Continental Rationalists and British Empiricists, Political Philosophy, and Existentialism. Her enjoyment of sharing the great thinkers with the general public led her to writing. Her first book, Nietzsche, Philosopher of the Perilous Perhaps, was published by Algora in 2008.