David Bell, author of "The First Total War: Napoleon's Europe and the Birth of Warfare as We Know It", wrote an important op-ed piece in today's LA Times: Was 9-11 really that bad?

In the editorial he points out that we lose roughly the same number of people every two months as we've lost in the 9-11 attacks as well as soldiers fighting the war.

Here is a review of his "The First Total War" from The Nation, Feb 5th issue: Savage Wars of Peace.