Blood of the Beloved

Book excerpt: Will it ever be possible to stop war, or is war an intractable problem? Combining the disciplines of history, psychiatry and neurology, the author probes this question in the tradition of C.P. Snow. Archeologists of the future reveal how purity is tied to violence, the existence of shame societies and guilt societies, bloody sacrificial rituals and why many women support war. Horrified by the death toll, the suicide bombers and the use of diabolic weapons of our times, they discuss how our society eventually abandoned war.