This title is shortlisted for the Samuel Johnson Prize 2012. This acclaimed book by Steven Pinker author of The Language Instinct" & " The Blank Slate" argues that contrary to popular belief humankind has become progressively less violent over millenia & decades. Can violence really have declined? The images of conflict we see daily on our screens from around the world suggest this is an almost obscene claim to be making. Extraordinarily however Steven Pinker shows violence within & between societies
- both murder & warfare
- really has declined from prehistory to today. We are much less likely to die at someone else's hands than ever before. Even the horrific carnage of the last century when compared to the dangers of pre-state societies is part of this trend. Debunking both the idea of the 'noble savage' & an over-simplistic Hobbesian notion of a 'nasty brutish & short' life Steven Pinker argues that modernity & its cultural institutions are actually making us better people. " One of the most important books I've read
- not just this year but ever... For me what's most important about " The Better Angels of Our Nature" are its insights into how to help achieve positive outcomes. How can we encourage a less violent more just society particularly for the poor? Steven Pinker shows us ways we can make those positive trajectories a little more likely. That's a contribution not just to historical scholarship but to the world". (Bill Gates). " Brilliant mind-altering... Everyone should read this astonishing book". (David Runciman " Guardian"). "A supremely important book. To have command of so much research spread across so many different fields is a masterly achievement. Pinker convincingly demonstrates that there has been a dramatic decline in violence & he is persuasive about the causes of that decline". (Peter Singer " New York Times"). "[A] sweeping new review of the history of human violence...[ Pinker has] the kind of academic superbrain that can translate otherwise impenetrable statistics into a meaningful narrative of human behaviour.. .impeccable scholarship". (Tony Allen-Mills " Sunday Times"). " Written in Pinker's distinctively entertaining & clear personal style...a marvellous synthesis of science history & storytelling". (Clive Cookson " Financial Times"). " Pinker's scholarhsip is astounding.. .flawless.. .masterful". (Joanna Bourke " The Times"). Steven Pinker is the Johnstone Family Professor in the Department of Psychology at Harvard University. Until 2003 he taught in the Department of Brain & Cognitive Sciences at MIT. He conducts research on language & cognition writes for publications such as " The New York Times" " Time" & " Slate" & is the author of six books including " The Language Instinct" " How the Mind Works" " The Blank Slate" & " The Stuff of Thought"."