Description
A New York Times Notable BookAn ALA Notable Book
Original and illuminating. --The Washington Post
What draws our species to war? What makes us see violence as a kind of sacred duty, or a ritual that boys must undergo to become men? Newly reissued in paperback, Blood Rites takes readers on an original journey from the elaborate human sacrifices of the ancient world to the carnage and holocaust of twentieth-century total war.
Ehrenreich sifts deftly through the fragile records of prehistory and discovers the wellspring of war in an unexpected place -- not in a killer instinct unique to the males of our species, but in the blood rites early humans performed to reenact their terrifying experiences of predation by stronger carnivores.
Brilliant in conception and rich in scope, Blood Rites is a monumental work that continues to transform our understanding of the greatest single threat to human life.
Author: Barbara Ehrenreich
Publisher: Twelve
Published: 01/07/2020
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.20w x 1.00d
ISBN13: 9781455543700
ISBN10: 1455543705
BISAC Categories:
- Technology & Engineering | Military Science
- Literary Collections | Essays
- Social Science | Violence in Society
Original and illuminating. --The Washington Post
What draws our species to war? What makes us see violence as a kind of sacred duty, or a ritual that boys must undergo to become men? Newly reissued in paperback, Blood Rites takes readers on an original journey from the elaborate human sacrifices of the ancient world to the carnage and holocaust of twentieth-century total war.
Ehrenreich sifts deftly through the fragile records of prehistory and discovers the wellspring of war in an unexpected place -- not in a killer instinct unique to the males of our species, but in the blood rites early humans performed to reenact their terrifying experiences of predation by stronger carnivores.
Brilliant in conception and rich in scope, Blood Rites is a monumental work that continues to transform our understanding of the greatest single threat to human life.
Author: Barbara Ehrenreich
Publisher: Twelve
Published: 01/07/2020
Pages: 384
Binding Type: Paperback
Weight: 0.60lbs
Size: 8.00h x 5.20w x 1.00d
ISBN13: 9781455543700
ISBN10: 1455543705
BISAC Categories:
- Technology & Engineering | Military Science
- Literary Collections | Essays
- Social Science | Violence in Society
About the Author
Barbara Ehrenreich is the author of over a dozen books, including the New York Times bestsellers Nickel and Dimed and Natural Causes. She lives in Virginia.