"This thoughtful study journeys across time and disciplines to examine and sensibly explain human warfare, clarify its source and driving energy, and thoughtfully develop the prospect of a true and lasting peace."--Provided by publisher.

For over 12,000 years human beings have warred, slaughtering each other with persistence and brutality. From spear point to thermonuclear ordnance, humans' ingenuity has also proven their downfall. In the 20th century alone, wars claimed over ninety million lives. Yet war's origins, true meaning, and evolution over the centuries remain to this day a profound mystery. Why is warfare "almost" as old as man himself? How is it that a creature capable of producing great art, architecture, literature, medicine, and wondrous acts of compassion is simultaneously capable of such cruel and wanton slaughter? To answer these and other questions, this thoughtful study journeys across time and disciplines to examine and sensibly explain human warfare, clarify its source and driving energy, and thoughtfully develop the prospect of a true and lasting peace.