Sign-In
Cart
War Before Civilization
Paperback
AnthropologyGeneral Military History
Please select the version of book you would like to purchase.
ISBN10: 0195119126
ISBN13: 9780195119121
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: Dec 18 1997
Pages: 272
Weight: 0.52
Height: 0.53 Width: 5.35 Depth: 8.03
Language: English
ISBN13: 9780195119121
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Published: Dec 18 1997
Pages: 272
Weight: 0.52
Height: 0.53 Width: 5.35 Depth: 8.03
Language: English
The myth of the peace-loving noble savage is persistent and pernicious. Indeed, for the last fifty years, most popular and scholarly works have agreed that prehistoric warfare was rare, harmless, unimportant, and, like smallpox, a disease of civilized societies alone. Prehistoric warfare, according to this view, was little more than a ritualized game, where casualties were limited and the effects of aggression relatively mild. Lawrence Keeley's groundbreaking War Before Civilization offers a devastating rebuttal to such comfortable myths and debunks the notion that warfare was introduced to primitive societies through contact with civilization (an idea he denounces as the pacification of the past).
Building on much fascinating archeological and historical research and offering an astute comparison of warfare in civilized and prehistoric societies, from modern European states to the Plains Indians of North America, War Before Civilization convincingly demonstrates that prehistoric warfare was in fact more deadly, more frequent, and more ruthless than modern war. To support this point, Keeley provides a wide-ranging look at warfare and brutality in the prehistoric world. He reveals, for instance, that prehistorical tactics favoring raids and ambushes, as opposed to formal battles, often yielded a high death-rate; that adult males falling into the hands of their enemies were almost universally killed; and that surprise raids seldom spared even women and children. Keeley cites evidence of ancient massacres in many areas of the world, including the discovery in South Dakota of a prehistoric mass grave containing the remains of over 500 scalped and mutilated men, women, and children (a slaughter that took place a century and a half before the arrival of Columbus). In addition, Keeley surveys the prevalence of looting, destruction, and trophy-taking in all kinds of warfare and again finds little moral distinction between ancient warriors and civilized armies. Finally, and perhaps most controversially, he examines the evidence of cannibalism among some preliterate peoples.
Keeley is a seasoned writer and his book is packed with vivid, eye-opening details (for instance, that the homicide rate of prehistoric Illinois villagers may have exceeded that of the modern United States by some 70 times). But he also goes beyond grisly facts to address the larger moral and philosophical issues raised by his work. What are the causes of war? Are human beings inherently violent? How can we ensure peace in our own time? Challenging some of our most dearly held beliefs, Keeley's conclusions are bound to stir controversy.
Keeley is a seasoned writer and his book is packed with vivid, eye-opening details (for instance, that the homicide rate of prehistoric Illinois villagers may have exceeded that of the modern United States by some 70 times). But he also goes beyond grisly facts to address the larger moral and philosophical issues raised by his work. What are the causes of war? Are human beings inherently violent? How can we ensure peace in our own time? Challenging some of our most dearly held beliefs, Keeley's conclusions are bound to stir controversy.
Also in
General Military History
Viking Warrior Operations Manual: The Life, Equipment, Weapons and Fighting Tactics of the Vikings
Konstam, Angus
Hardcover
$14.99
Hero of the Empire: The Boer War, a Daring Escape, and the Making of Winston Churchill
Candice Millard
Hardcover
$10.99
The Last Full Measure: An American Family and How the United States Brought Home the Dead of World War II
Clarke, Kim
Hardcover
$27.95
The Fate of the Day: The War for America, Fort Ticonderoga to Charleston, 1777-1780
Atkinson, Rick
Hardcover
$39.90
The Demon of Unrest: A Saga of Hubris, Heartbreak, and Heroism at the Dawn of the Civil War
Larson, Erik
Hardcover
From $12.99
The Two Swords of Christ: Five Centuries of War Between Islam and the Warrior Monks of Christendom
Ibrahim, Raymond
Hardcover
$30.40
Band on the Run: Xenophon and the First Great Mercenary Army's Epic Escape from Persia
O'Connell, Robert L.
Hardcover
$26.10
From Resistance to Revolution: Colonial Radicals and the Development of American Opposition.....
Maier, Pauline
Paperback
$28.99
While Israel Slept: How Hamas Surprised the Most Powerful Military in the Middle East
Katz, Yaakov
Bohbot, Amir
Hardcover
$29.45
The Old Breed... the Complete Story Revealed: A Father, a Son, and How WWII in the Pacific Shaped Their Lives
Sledge, W. Henry
Hardcover
$33.25
Two World Wars and Hitler: Who Was Responsible?: Anglo-American Money, Foreign Agents and Geopolitics
MacGregor, Jim
O'Dowd, John
Paperback
$28.45
American Vikings: How the Norse Sailed Into the Lands and Imaginations of America
Whittock, Martyn
Hardcover
$12.99
KJV, Pew Bible, Large Print, Hardcover, Burgundy, Red Letter Edition (Large Print Edition)
Thomas Nelson
Hardcover
$23.74
NKJV, Value Thinline Bible, Large Print, Imitation Leather, Burgundy, Red Letter Edition (Large Print Edition)
Thomas Nelson
Hardcover
$28.49
Alexander at the End of the World: The Forgotten Final Years of Alexander the Great
Kousser, Rachel
Paperback
$19.79
Wrecked: The Edmund Fitzgerald and the Sinking of the American Economy
Nelson, Thomas M.
Podair, Jerald
Paperback
$28.45
Targeted: Beirut: The 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing and the Untold Origin Story of the War on Terror
Scott, James M.
Carr, Jack
Paperback
$19.95
The Shortest History of War: From Hunter-Gatherers to Nuclear Superpowers - A Retelling for Our Times
Dyer, Gwynne
Paperback
$15.15
The Code Book: The Science of Secrecy from Ancient Egypt to Quantum Cryptography
Singh, Simon
Paperback
From $11.99
The Men Who Lost America: British Command during the Revolutionary War and the Preservation of the Empire
O'Shaughnessy, Andrew J.
Paperback
$56.00
The History of the Medieval World: From the Conversion of Constantine to the First Crusade
Bauer, Susan Wise
Hardcover
$37.99
Targeted: Beirut: The 1983 Marine Barracks Bombing and the Untold Origin Story of the War on Terror
Scott, James M.
Carr, Jack
Hardcover
From $12.99
The Home Front: Revolutionary Households, Military Occupation, and the Making of American Independence
Duval, Lauren
Hardcover
$63.00
The Histories (Royal Collector's Edition) (Annotated) (Case Laminate Hardcover with Jacket)
Herodotus
Hardcover
$62.44
A Brief History of China: Dynasty, Revolution and Transformation: From the Middle Kingdom to the People's Republic
Clements, Jonathan
Paperback
$16.14
KJV, Pew Bible, Large Print, Hardcover, Blue, Red Letter Edition (Large Print Edition)
Thomas Nelson
Hardcover
$23.74
Toward Combined Arms Warfare: A Survey of 20th-Century Tactics, Doctrine, and Organization
House, Jonathan M.
Paperback
$43.13
Navy SEAL's Guide to Surviving Invasions, Civil War, and World War III
Emerson, Clint
Melton, H. Keith
Paperback
$26.24
American Biography: A History of the United States as Told Through the Lives of Ninety-Four Americans
Schweikart, Larry
Paperback
$31.89
The Ghost Army of World War II: How One Top-Secret Unit Deceived the Enemy with Inflatable Tanks, Sound Effects, and Other Audacious Fakery (Updated E
Beyer, Rick
Sayles, Elizabeth
Hardcover
$42.75
Scapegoats of the Empire: The True Story of Breaker Morant's Bushveldt Carbineers
Witton, Edward
Paperback
$9.94
Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: Autumn in the Heavenly Kingdom: China, the West, and the Epic Story of the Taiping Civil War
Platt, Stephen R.
Paperback
$18.00
The Birth of the Anglo-Saxons: Three Kings and a History of Britain at the Dawn of the Viking Age
Adams, Max
Hardcover
$33.25
Insignia of the Waffen-SS: Cuff Titles, Collar Tabs, Shoulder Boards & Badges
Michaelis, Rolf
Hardcover
$18.99
By the Spear: Philip II, Alexander the Great, and the Rise and Fall of the Macedonian Empire
Worthington, Ian
Paperback
$23.74
Black Soldiers, White Laws: The Tragedy of the 24th Infantry in 1917 Houston
Haymond, John A.
Hardcover
$27.00
Beirut Rules: The Murder of a CIA Station Chief and Hezbollah's War Against America
Burton, Fred
Katz, Samuel M.
Paperback
$18.99
American Vikings: How the Norse Sailed Into the Lands and Imaginations of America
Whittock, Martyn
Paperback
$18.95
The Sacred Band: Three Hundred Theban Lovers and the Last Days of Greek Freedom
Romm, James
Paperback
$19.00
Érase Una Vez Tenochtitlán: Entre Dioses Y Tlatoanis / Once Upon a Time in Tenochtitlán: Among Gods and Tlatoanis
Rosas, Alejandro
Paperback
$18.95
The Prince (Royal Collector's Edition) (Annotated) (Case Laminate Hardcover with Jacket)
Machiavelli, Niccolò
Hardcover
$49.94
The Other Trench: The WW1 Diary and Photos of a German Officer
Pfeifer, Alexander
Cross, Philipp
Paperback
$21.84
Il Fior di Battaglia by Fiore dei Liberi Facsimile: With translation by Guy Windsor
Windsor, Guy
Hardcover
$68.74
Iron and Blood: A Military History of the German-Speaking Peoples Since 1500
Wilson, Peter H.
Paperback
$23.70
Alexander at the End of the World: The Forgotten Final Years of Alexander the Great
Kousser, Rachel
Hardcover
$33.25
Map Reading And Land Navigation - FM 3-25.26 US Army Field Manual FM 21-26 (2001 Civilian Reference Edition): Unabridged Manual On Map Use, ... Releas
Us Department of the Army
Paperback
$19.99
John Stark of Rogers' Rangers: a Famous Ranger and His Associates During the French & Indian War: The Life of General John Stark of New Hampshire by H
Moore, Howard Parker
Stark, Caleb
Paperback
$21.11
The Savior Generals: How Five Great Commanders Saved Wars That Were Lost - From Ancient Greece to Iraq
Hanson, Victor Davis
Paperback
From $10.99
Foundational Description of the Art of Fencing: The 1570 Treatise of Joachim Meyer (Reading Edition)
Meyer, Joachim
Paperback
$37.49
America's Hidden Heroes: The History and Evolution of U.S. Navy Frogmen and SEALs
Hawkins, Tom
Paperback
$11.87