$15 off when you spend $100 with code SPRING15 at checkout* - T&Cs apply - Limited time only
Track My Order
Help Centre
Likes
My Wish ListsLogin / Join
Booktopia
Australia's local bookstore
Get Free Shipping on orders over $79
Darwinism, War and History : The Debate Over the Biology of War from the 'Origin of Species' to the First World War - No Information Available

Darwinism, War and History

The Debate Over the Biology of War from the 'Origin of Species' to the First World War

By: No Information Available

Paperback | 16 May 1994

At a Glance

Paperback

RRP $85.95

$78.99

or 4 interest-free payments of $19.75 with

 or 

Ships in 5 to 7 business days

While much has been written upon Social Darwinism, the historical impact of Darwinism upon theories of war and human aggression has been sadly neglected. This book is the first to study this discourse in depth. It challenges the received view that Darwinism generated essentially aggressive and warlike social values and pugnacious images of humankind. Paul Crook reconstructs the influential discourse of 'peace biology', whose liberal vision was of a basically free humanity, not fettered by iron laws of biological necessity or governed by violent genes. By exploring a gamut of Darwinian readings of history and war, mainly in the English-speaking world to 1919, this study throws new light upon militarism, peace movements, the origins of World War I and British social thought.
Industry Reviews
"Crook substantiates a sophisticated argument with exhaustive research covering every major writer and most of the minor figures who contributed to the debate...an extremely useful and nuanced examination of the extent to which writers on the relationship between war and human progress labored to make Darwin's work support their views." Journal of Military History "In this valuable work, Paul Crook presents a comprehensive review of the debates over the biological causes and effects of war, stimulated by Darwinism, Mendelian genetics, and eugenics. ...a highly useful and informative work..." American Historical Review "...a superb study in the biological semantics of human conflict. Here 'Darwinism' not only stands for 'one of the great scientific revolutions of modern times', but it is also seen as a theoretical legacy..." James Moore, The Times Higher Education Supplement "The principal strength of Crook's book is the careful, comparative textual analysis that characterizes Crook's treatment of the ideas he examines...this is first rate, old fashioned, intellectual history, which means it is both readable and comprehensible...this is a book that adds so much to our understanding of the origins of controversial, modern sociobiological thought." Richard A. Soloway, Comptes rendus

You Can Find This Book In

Non-FictionHistoryMilitary HistoryFirst World War HistoryGeneral & World HistoryReference, Information & Interdisciplinary SubjectsInterdisciplinary StudiesPeace Studies & Conflict ResolutionWarfare & DefenceBiographies & True Stories BiographiesScience, Technology & Medicine Biographies
Sociology & AnthropologyAnthropologySociety & CultureCultural StudiesHistory of IdeasPolitics & Government

More in History of Ideas

Sand Talk : How Indigenous thinking can save the world - Tyson Yunkaporta

Sand Talk

How Indigenous thinking can save the world

Paperback

RRP $24.99

$19.75

21%
OFF
Start With Why : How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action - Simon Sinek

Start With Why

How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$20.75

23%
OFF
Leaders Eat Last : Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't - Simon Sinek

Leaders Eat Last

Why Some Teams Pull Together and Others Don't

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$20.99

22%
OFF
Sapiens : A Graphic History: Volume 1 - David Vandermeulen

Sapiens

A Graphic History: Volume 1

Hardcover

RRP $39.99

$31.75

21%
OFF
How to Be Stoic : An Ancient Guide to Keeping Calm - Marcus Aurelius

How to Be Stoic

An Ancient Guide to Keeping Calm

Hardcover

RRP $29.99

$26.75

11%
OFF
Sapiens : A Brief History of Humankind - Yuval Noah Harari

Sapiens

A Brief History of Humankind

Paperback

RRP $27.99

$21.75

22%
OFF
Made to Stick : Why some ideas take hold and others come unstuck - Chip Heath

Made to Stick

Why some ideas take hold and others come unstuck

Paperback

RRP $29.99

$24.99

17%
OFF
Kierkegaard, Statecraft and Political Theology - Dr. Christopher B. Barnett

Kierkegaard, Statecraft and Political Theology

Hardcover

RRP $170.00

$151.75

11%
OFF
Homo Deus : A Brief History of Tomorrow - Yuval Noah Harari

Homo Deus

A Brief History of Tomorrow

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
Normal Women : 900 Years Of Making History - Philippa Gregory

Normal Women

900 Years Of Making History

Paperback

RRP $29.99

$24.99

17%
OFF
The Infinite Game : From the bestselling author of Start With Why - Simon Sinek

The Infinite Game

From the bestselling author of Start With Why

Paperback

RRP $29.99

$23.75

21%
OFF
Talking to My Daughter : The Sunday Times Bestseller - Yanis Varoufakis

Talking to My Daughter

The Sunday Times Bestseller

Paperback

RRP $26.99

$22.99

15%
OFF
The Human Condition : Second Edition - Hannah Arendt

The Human Condition

Second Edition

Paperback

RRP $42.95

$33.99

21%
OFF
Sapiens A Graphic History, Volume 2 : The Pillars of Civilization - Yuval Noah Harari

Sapiens A Graphic History, Volume 2

The Pillars of Civilization

Hardcover

RRP $39.99

$31.75

21%
OFF
The History of Sexuality: 1 : The Will to Knowledge - Michel Foucault

The History of Sexuality: 1

The Will to Knowledge

Paperback

RRP $29.99

$24.99

17%
OFF

This product is categorised by