How War Began (Texas a&M University Anthropology Series) |
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How War Began (Texas a&M University Anthropology Series)
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by Keith F. Otterbein
Sales Rank: 214196
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$13.80
At Amazon
on 6-21-2008.
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Features
Cover Type: Paperback with 310 pages
Published by: Texas A&M University PressEdition: 1st Edition December 29, 2004
Written in: English
ISBN 10 Number: 1585443301
ISBN 13 Number: 978-1585443307
Book Dimensions:
9.4 x 5.9 x 1 inches
Weighs: 15.8 ounces
Robert B. Edgerton, University of California
". . . a major contribution to the understanding of how and why warfare came into being."
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Book Description
Have humans always fought and killed each other, or did they peacefully coexist until organized states developed? Is war an expression of human nature or an artifact of civilization? Questions about the origins and inherent motivations of warfare have long engaged philosophers, ethicists, and anthropologists as they speculate on the nature of human existence. In How War Began, author Keith F. Otterbein draws on primate behavior research, archaeological research, and data gathered from the Human Relations Area Files to argue for two separate origins. He identifies two types of military organization: one that developed two million years ago at the dawn of humankind, wherever groups of hunters met, and a second that developed some five thousand years ago, in four identifiable regions, when the first states arose and proceeded to embark upon military conquests.
In careful detail, Otterbein marshals evidence for his case that warfare was possible and likely among early Homo sapiens. He argues from comparison with other primates, from Paleolithic rock art depicting wounded humans, and from rare skeletal remains embedded with weapon points to conclude that warfare existed and reached a peak in big game hunting societies. As the big game disappeared, so did warfare--only to reemerge once agricultural societies achieved a degree of political complexity that allowed the development of professional military organizations. Otterbein concludes his survey with an analysis of how despotism in both ancient and modern states spawns warfare.
A definitive resource for anthropologists, social scientists, and historians, How War Began is written for all who are interested in warfare, whether they be military buffs or those seeking to understand the past and the present of humankind.
--This text refers to the
Hardcover
edition.
Reader Reviews
This is a masterful work that can be savoured by the professional historian and educated layperson alike. In this book, Otterbein challenges the notions that there was no warfare before the Neolithic period, that early agriculturalists engaged in warfare and that military conquest led to the first, pristine, states. He identifies an evolutionary sequence that goes from no war, to internal conflict, to combat between elite warriors and to battles between massed infantry. In short, he provides us with a framework to understand the way the spread of Homo Sapiens, the origin of war, the origin of agriculture and the origin of the state are inextricably intertwined (to put it in a nutshell, PLANTS plus SOIL AND WATER plus NO WAR led to THE STATE). Besides, the book is not a difficult reading (content: 5 starts; pleasure of reading: 4 to 3). Other books I would recommend to read are the following: - above all, the masterful "War in human civilization", by Azar Gat; - and then, "The Origins of War. From the Stone Age to Alexander the Great", by Arther Ferrill, "War before Civilization. The Myth of the Peaceful Savage", by Lawrence Keeley; and "Historical Dynamics. Why states rise and Fall", by Peter Turchin.
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How War Began (Texas a&M University Anthropology Series)
Available from Amazon
Price: $13.80
Updated on 6-21-2008.
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