The Final War

Barillet-Lagargousse’s The Final War (1885), takes the European arms race of the late 19th century to its logical end: a terrifying deadlock due to the political and social paralysis caused by weapons sufficiently powerful to be seemingly unbeatable. Based on a then-new idea, The Final War is the first elaborate extrapolation of the strangely modern notion is that peace can only be achieved through ultimate war, and the first novel to flesh it out with abundant detail. Also included in this volume is Maurice Loir’s Naval Battles of the Future (1895), which takes the form of a series of journal entries by a perceptive and philosophical naval officer aboard a French vessel engaged in dreadnought warfare in the Mediterranean. It is a sobering reflection on patriotism, solidarity, and ambition, and a reminder of the human element in war-future, final, or otherwise.