About this title: A philosophical inquiry into the origins and motivation of war. Ehrenreich, a biologist at Rockefeller University, considers the urge to war to be rooted in primitive drives toward blood sacrifice and hunting.
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Description: Acceptable. Dust Jacket present. ACCEPTABLE with noted wear to cover and pages. Binding intact. May contain highlighting, inscriptions or notations. We offer a no-hassle guarantee on all our items. Orders generally ship by the next business day. Default Text. read more
Description: Fair. Purchasing this DVD supports the North Central Regional Library. Thriftbooks and NCRL have partnered to help raise additional funds for the library system. Library ID found on DVD and case. Ex-Library book-will contain library markings. Millions of satisfied customers and climbing. Thriftbooks is the name you can trust, guaranteed. Spend Less. Read More. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Virago Press Ltd
Date Published: 2008
ISBN-13:9781844085743ISBN:1844085740
Description: Good. Our aim is to create value for our customers through the provision of low cost, affordable products and an overall satisfying buying experience. read more
Binding: Paperback
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
Date Published: 1998-05-15
ISBN-13:9780805057874ISBN:0805057870
Description: Very Good. *WITHDRAWN LIBRARY COPY* with customary stamps and stickers; No markings in text; Being sold on consignment for the library. This is an OVERSIZE item and can only ship priority or outside the USA by special arrangement. read more
Binding: PAPERBACK
Publisher: Holt Paperbacks
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780805057874ISBN:0805057870
Description: Very Good. 0805057870 Pub date: 1998. Condition: Very Good. Has some shelf wear highlighting, underlining & or writing. Great used condition. We are a tested and proven company with over 400, 000 satisfied customers since 1997. Choose expedited shipping for much faster deliver. read more
Edition: First Edition, 1st Printing
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Metropolitan Books, New York
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780805050776ISBN:0805050779
Description: Good in Very Good jacket. 0805050779 x + 292 pp, acknowledgments, foreword, 2 parts / 14 chapters, notes, bibliography, index. Previous owner has underlined sentences or phrases, and made a few notes in margin. externally, near fine. 6.1" x 9.25" black & red papered boards in black DJ (20 oz) read more
Edition: First Edition, First Printing
Binding: Board
Publisher: Metropolitan Books
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780805050776ISBN:0805050779
Description: Very Good+ in Very Good+ jacket. This is a red & black hard back History / Sociology book omn the nature of war. "...Barbara Ehrenreich confronts a subject that has challenged thinkers from Homer to Freud: What draws our species to war and even makes us see it as a kind of sacred undertaking? " from the jacket. This is a very clean & bright book. The condition is Very Good+, and the Jacket is also Very Good+. c1997, 1st edition, 1st printing. This book has tight & white pages which are also ... read more
Edition: First Edition
Binding: Trade Paperback
Publisher: Metropolitan Books
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780805057874ISBN:0805057870
Description: Near Fine. 8vo-over 7¾"-9¾" tall. NF, Trade, clean and tight. "The author confronts the mystery of human attraction to violence. What draws our species to war and even makes us see it as a kind of sacred understanding? The book takes us on an original journey from the elaborate human sacrifices of the ancient world to the carnage and holocaust of 20th century. " read more
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Henry Holt & Company
Date Published: 1998
ISBN-13:9780805057874ISBN:0805057870
Description: Good. No dust jacket as issued. Moderate wear on Cover/Interior Pages. (W3) Trade paperback (US). Glued binding. 256 p. Audience: General/trade. read more
Binding: Hardcover
Publisher: Metropolitan Books
Date Published: 1997-05-15
ISBN-13:9780805050776ISBN:0805050779
Description: Good. All books in Acceptable-Good condition. Books may NOT include Online Access Codes (InfoTrac, MyEconLab). Books MAY contain highliting/bent pages. We ship M-F. read more
Description: First edition hardback x+292 pp. Near Fine (bottom of spine slightly rubbed) in near Fine dust jacket (tiny repaired tear at bottom of jacket spine) read more
Edition: Advance Reading Copy. Stated first with full numberline.
Binding: Trade paperback
Publisher: Metropolitan Books
Date Published: 1997
ISBN-13:9780805050776ISBN:0805050779
Description: Very good. No dust jacket as issued. Advanced Reading Copy. First edition. Softcover. Glued binding. Paper over boards. 292 p. Audience: General/trade. NF condition copy of May 1997 Advanced Readers Copy. Unmarked. Table of Contents not yet paginated. read more
Ehrenreich is attempting here (or so it seems) to walk the thin line between academic rigor and readability; she has not succeeded in the latter, and, as a self-described amateur, she undoubtedly has also fallen shot of the former. It's a shame, really. Ehrenreich can be an insightful and clever commentator, but by attempting to please both audiences, she has created a dull read.
Part of the problem here may be that she has only one basic premise, and has attempted to flesh out this single idea to book length. Let me save you the trouble:
The premise of this book is that we go to war and participate in other bloody rituals primarily to act out the legacy of a time when we had to be aggressive to avoid being eaten by predators. After all (her thinking goes) only those of our ancestors most prone to violence (and perhaps foolhardiness) in the face of, say, a sabertooth tiger attack would have live to pass their genes on to us. The rest of the book is either a recapitulation or illustration of this theme.
Which is not to say she doesn't make some other fascinating arguments. One which particularly struck me was that men are the fighters of our species not because of superior strength, but because they are essentially disposable. Reproductively, a male's contribution is negligible, the matter of a few moments. She also points out that the difference in strength between men and women would have been entirely meaningless when faced with the attack of a predator of far greater strength than either.
Ehrenreich details, too, how we have made war sacred, a secular religion propped up by quasi-religious rituals and traditions such as those underlying July 4th or Memorial Day.
Perhaps I am spoiled, and want all my reading to be entertaining as well as informative (eg, Omnivore's Dilemma or Maps and Legends). I did not find this book to be much of either."
"I read this for a class in college title "The History of Greek Warfare". This book not only shed light on commonly placed myths about warfare of our ancestors, it gave me a new perspective on how we have come to fight our wars today. I would highly recommended reading this book for a different insight to the history of war."
"This is a fascinating and tremendously ambitious exploration of the origins of war. I read it almost 10 years ago and it's still with me. Ehrenreich draws on biology, anthropology, and theology (among other -ologies) in her efforts to understand the complicated nature of the subject. This is an oversimplification of her astonishingly creative theory, but she traces the roots of religion and war back to the same thing: the human experience of being prey. Our religious rituals began as a reenactment and celebration of our triumphant transformation from prey to predators. The blood rites became sacred. These rituals have the same origin, whether they involve animal sacrifice or a symbolic sacrifice like that of Jesus Christ. She argues that modern warfare stems from the latest and most sophisticated religion: nationalism. Man, this book was awesome. Don't trust my oversimplification-- just read it."
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