I found this talk very interesting on a similar topic: http://www.ted.com/talks/steven_pinker_on_the_myth_of_violen...
You may be right about absolute numbers, but absolute numbers are pointless here. From what I've seen before, in terms of the relative number of people killed in war compared to the overall population, this is the most peaceful time known. If 2x as many people get killed in wars, but there are 4x as many people alive, that world is more peaceful, not less.
That's a little unfair. They're rarely covered on submission/popularity-driven news sites, either. People tend not to care unless it figures into their usual political arguments. I notice this a lot with terrorism: people in the US seem to think it's mythical because it doesn't happen to them very often, even if it's unfortunately common globally. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_terrorist_incidents,_Ja...
By the way, there's a lovely book on the subject: http://www.amazon.com/Who-Hates-Whom-Well-Armed-Intractable/...
Let's look at the evidence:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_ongoing_military_confli...
The only reason we aren't aware of the number of military conflicts taking place is because they aren't on the evening news.
And yes, by any objective measure, this is a more warlike time than any in prior history, simply because there are more people available and willing to fight.