2025-08-30 by wv – Last Updated on 26-03-03 by wv
English translation by Claude Sonnet (Anthropic), revised by wv. The original Italian text is the authoritative version.
What it is
It is personal memory in the form of distinct thoughts, but with a common denominator: war.
It is a sad book; it is a measured book. Sad because it speaks of what one already knows — of how mechanisms work, our mechanisms as individuals, as communities. And as it describes these mechanisms, it says that they are familiar mechanics. All things we already know.
Measured because everything is said with the composure one would expect, I imagine, from an intellectual of such importance and over a century of age. But it is not a subdued text; it is not a renunciatory voice; there is no surrender. It is denunciation, civic pride. It is a sad book, with measured writing, vibrant memory, and commitment.
What works and what doesn’t
It seems to me that everything works in this book-as-intention — yet the intention will not work. It is like this: the book works; one need only read it. But the intention will not work — and that too is readable within it. It is the sad contradiction noted by the author: we know how things go with and inside war, and for this reason we do not underestimate the testimonies; but it is always as if it were the first time we happen to hear them — and for this reason the intention will not work.
Ideology as the veil of history vs. the unveiling of history
Pragmatic, pedagogical, dignified, autobiographical, concrete. No flag, no cries, no martial march, no demand to name the enemy, no arrogance.
A book worth reading — useful for making geopolitical choices as individuals and as communities.
A book for Ukraine, Sudan, Gaza, the many conflicts… and our own forthcoming ones, imminent as we are told.
Morin, Edgar. (De guerre en guerre, Fayard, Paris, 2023), ed. it. 2023. Di guerra in guerra. Dal 1940 all’Ucraina invasa. Raffaello Cortina editore, Milano. €12. ISBN 9788832855265. (Translator not indicated.)
Contra:
According to Pellizzetti, Pierfranco. (2023), “Drôle de guerre.” Terzogiornale, 22 maggio 2023 — Di Cesare has described Morin’s book as a “mediocre pamphlet.” I was unable to find Di Cesare’s original piece, and the quotation reported by Pellizzetti lacks a bibliographic reference [sic]. Since Donatella Di Cesare is, in my view, an authoritative philosopher and political analyst, I take note of it. If her critique of the book is correctly reported, it would concern the undue equidistance Morin maintains in describing the facts of the war, with particular reference to Ukraine.
Update — comment by Donewitch, 2026-02-04: the Di Cesare article containing the critique of Morin can be found at: https://www.ilfattoquotidiano.it/in-edicola/articoli/2023/05/17/rovelli-pensiero-libero-e-intellettuali-in-guerra/7163489/— for non-subscribers, a freely accessible copy here: https://infosannio.com/2023/05/17/rovelli-pensiero-libero-e-intellettuali-in-guerra/
– Last Updated on 26.04.26 by wv
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