I was itching for some good science fiction, and decided to check out a few of the older novels by one of my favorite authors, Vernor Vinge. The Peace War takes place in a future in which Earth’s nation states and their associated military-industrial complexes have been smashed by an organization known as the Peace Authority. Without firing a shot, the Peace Authority conquered the planet by erecting impenetrable force fields around key military installations and cities. Deprived of their military might, the nations of the world fell. The novel begins a few decades after this “Peace War”, as the survivors — who are forbidden to develop high technology — struggle throw off the yoke of their benevolent overlords.