New Book

War Is Still A Racket

Smedley Butler’s classic texts with new commentary by David Swanson

Major General Smedley Darlington Butler (1881-1940) from the age of 16 to the age of 50 waged war all over the world for the U.S. Marine Corps. Then he denounced what he’d been doing as a “racket” driven by Wall Street profiteers. Butler’s change of perspective produced probably the most serious and dramatic confession in world history.

His insights have stood the test of time. In fact, much of what he said in 1935 is even more true now. This book republishes Butler’s famous 1935 pamphlet, War Is a Racket, and also a harder to find collection of five articles, also from 1935, giving more depth to Butler’s revelations and his prescriptions for change.

Author and activist David Swanson provides context and builds a case that war remains a racket, defined by Butler as “something that is not what it seems to the majority of people.” Swanson adapts and builds on Butler’s recommendations for addressing this racket as it exists now.

GLOBALLY: This book retails for $27.50 and the equivalent at most online and offline sellers worldwide (Thrift Books, Barnes & Noble, Amazon).

U.S. and UK: It can be had for $17 here.

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About David Swanson

David Swanson is an author, activist, journalist, and radio host. He is executive director of World BEYOND War and campaign coordinator of RootsAction.org. Swanson’s books include War Is A Lie and When the World Outlawed War. He blogs at DavidSwanson.org and hosts Talk World Radio. Swanson was awarded the 2024 Real Nobel Peace Prize and the 2018 U.S. Peace Prize. He was also awarded a Beacon of Peace Award by the Eisenhower Chapter of Veterans For Peace in 2011, and the Dorothy Eldridge Peacemaker Award by New Jersey Peace Action in 2022. Swanson is on the advisory boards of: Nobel Peace Prize Watch, Veterans For Peace, Assange Defense, BPUR, Military Families Speak Out, Fields of Peace, and Peace in Ukraine Coalition. He is an Associate of the Transnational Foundation, and a Patron of Platform for Peace and Humanity. He is on the Consultative Council of the SHAPE Project. MORE HERE.

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Testimonial

"When I’m casting about for experts who can speak to my students about war, the most important topic of our time, or any time, I look for two things. First, command of the facts, from the big picture to the details. Second, passion and a strong point of view. Lots of speakers meet one criterion, but very few meet both. David Swanson meets both and then some. I love having him talk to students in my seminar on war. He wakes them up, he rivets their attention. He has a fascinating answer to every possible question, and every challenge to his point of view. The only problem is that my students are disappointed when David departs and they’re just left with me.”
John Horgan
Author, The End of War, professor, Stevens Institute of Technology