Away from my City of the Dead setting atm, but felt the need to do an in-character response as the setting's (self-proclaimed) most respected historian, the Lady Silver Door.
Pffft, depends on who you ask. Of course, considering the asymmetrical distribution of power between the Dead and the living, there are few conflicts worth mentioning in recent history. As diplomacy is war by other means, the Dead resolve their conflicts gently, and avoid getting into battles neither they nor the living can win. I would suggest the semi-readable
Riverine Conflict Patterns in the Age of Urban Hegemony by Disciplined Lintel, if you're looking for a boring read by someone who at least takes their work seriously.There's the fun-but-shallow
Top Ten Trades Disputes of the Modern Era by Spiral, but I can't genuinely reccommend that in good faith. And, naturally, the best look at the topic is
Diplomacy is War by Other Means by the Lady Silver Door.
To get to the last real
war, as in war war, the kind where sharp ends and hurling projectiles are utilized, you need to go back a thousand years or so to the overthrow of the Exalted Masters by the bilious witches who call themselves the Trivium. I'm a co-founder, I can say that about them. The Overthrow was a wretched piece of business, when Dead fight Dead there's really no way to end it, just chopping and incinerating each other into tiny, still-functioning pieces. It's a logistical nightmare, not to mention, well, quite horrifying. There were a lot of surprises during the Overthrow, and the Trivium did not win so much as gain the peace through treachery, with the Exalted Masters fallen and either sealed, obliterated, or forced into exile. It was a sorry, unhappy victory, with the inept Trivium priestesses forced to appease both the unruly Dead and the living slaves then habitating the city. Not to mention the Wild Hunt, which...but what an exciting time that was! And so long ago now! I can look back in anger at how badly I was betrayed and insulted, but to remember it is almost bittersweet. And I know my time of triumph is soon, where I will return to the City and unfurl my glory...
In case of reading material, DO NOT trust any sources beyond the ones I give you, they are biased garbage and bad scholarship besides. For starters, I might suggest
Do Not Believe the Lies by the Lady Silver Door, a concise overview focused on certain key characters. For a fictionalized account, the
Opera of the Queen's Revenge offers a delightful recollection with many true events interspersed with fabulation and whimsy. Authored by the Silver Door, it show's the Lady's talent extends far beyond scholarship. Finally, for the best and most complete account, the Lady Silver Door had just penned the 111th volume of her opus,
The Lady Silver Door, Beloved of the Mercies and High Ritual Priestess of Their Mysteries, Who Has Sat Upon the Apex of the Moon Pyramid, and Will Do So Again, Who Has Passed Judgement, and Who Has Been a Guide to the Lost, Doth Set Down Her Account of The War That Led to Her Overthrow, the Secret History Behind It, and the Means by Which She Will Eventually Conquer. Still a work in progress, though the author hopes to finish the series beyond the next phase in her exaltation.
Tell me about your setting's most memorable narcissist.