War Before Civilization:
The Myth of the Peaceful Savage
by Lawrence H. Keeley
Kindle
Hardcover
reviewed by T.J. NelsonIt is sometimes claimed that warfare among primitive (or to use the currently fashionable term, "preliterate") peoples, when it occurs, is usually short in duration, more like a feud that ends after only a few deaths, after which the natives return to their natural state of harmony with each other and grooving with Mother Nature. Many recent attempts at studying war, in elaborating this myth, are in reality little more than disguised Western civilization-bashing. This important book by Lawrence H. Keeley, a cultural anthropologist, provides evidence that thoroughly and devastatingly debunks the popular myth of the peaceful preliterate society.
September 4, 2006
