War in Human Civilization is an awesomely well written and dense book. Like The Horse, the Wheel, and Language it is a scholarly work which stays broadly engaging and relevant to a wider audience than specialists. Highly recommended if you have some spare time over Christmas.
This is naturally not a endorsement of every claim made in this book. But whatever the substantive facts, the author managed to implement the plan of argument and the marshaling of evidence in a fashion which is extremely impressive.