Tag Archives: book review

Welcome to the 2022 Summer Book List. As in years past, the summer book list is a chance to peruse a collection of the most compelling behavioral science books published so far in the year.  There are 26 titles for you to wander and explore. You’ll find books that illuminate new research and those that investigate complex social issues. Others offer a chance to look into the past or imagine a distant future. There are practical titles that might help you “get it done” in your...

It's hard to come to peace with the idea that your society won't overcome its struggles in your lifetime. But collective delusion won't speed anyone along the path to peace. (S. 293 aus dem u. a. besprochenen Buch) Christopher Blattman, Professor für Konfliktstudien an der Universität Chicago hat sich mit dem Thema seines neuen Buches ein ehrgeiziges Ziel gesetzt. Denn die Kriegsursachenforschung, allgemein und auf Details bezogen, hat seit ihrem Beginn mit Quincy Wright und Lewis Richardson...

By the way, this is not just a rule of thumb for the rare violent and threatening tweets, but rather for the far greater number of tweets where a member of your own group is enraging you about the actions of an adversary. This could be events in Ukraine, identity politics, etc

Placeholder while article actions loadWhen he wrote “Why We Fight: The Roots of War and the Paths to Peace,” economist Christopher Blattman could not have known that Russian President Vladimir Putin would soon invade Ukraine, setting off the deadliest war in Europe since 1945. Putin’s war also created exactly the kind of natural experiment that social scientists like Blattman seek. We therefore have an opportunity to test whether Blattman’s thesis helps us to understand why Putin started such...

A member of the Ukrainian special forces in the city of Kharkiv on March 30, 2022. Photo: FADEL SENNA/AFP/Getty Images By Adam Kuper May 6, 2022 11:05 am ET...

Apr 23rd 2022Listen to this story.Enjoy more audio and podcasts on iOS or Android.Your browser does not support the <audio> element.Listen to this storySave time by listening to our audio articles as you multitaskOKWhy We Fight. By Christopher Blattman. Viking; 400 pages; $32 and £18.99AS WHAT COULD end up as Europe’s bloodiest war since 1945 grinds on, this is an apposite time for a book explaining why and when human beings fight and, at least as importantly, why they do so rarely. A...

The best history of AprilChris Schluep | April 4, 2022The books in the best history of April are all of a theme. Usually, the monthly list includes a few titles that could be considered less historical, more esoteric. For instance, a book about the history of the mosquito comes to mind (it’s an important, if not immediately obvious, history by the way). But this month the books are all very historical. Is that what happens when you feel like you are watching history play out in real time on...

Nothing could be more relevant today than war and peace. Why We Fight (Viking, £18.99) by Christopher Blattman of the University of Chicago is an outstanding and original book on this topic. Blattman turns what most of us think about violence on its head. It is not frequent; it is rare. There are thousands of potential conflicts. But mostly they do not become violent, because fighting is costly and the outcome is unpredictable. It is far better to rub along together in mutual loathing...

Critic Bethanne Patrick recommends 10 promising titles, fiction and nonfiction, to consider for your April list.April is the kindest month, the season when novels spring forth from the richest literary soil. Beloved novelists return to push their particular talents in bold new directions (and one, Ocean Vuong, returns to poetry). These recommendations include amazing books on some dark and difficult subjects, but there is always joy in great writing.FICTION Sea of TranquilityBy Emily St. John...

Book Review, Mr Keynes’ Revolution: A Novel, E. J. Barnes, 2020, Greyfire publishing. In Mr Keynes’ Revolution, Emma Barnes makes Keynes the subject of a novel, and does so brilliantly. I cannot recommend the book highly enough to anyone interested in Keynes and wanting to get a sense of what he – and his economics – is about. I am no literary critic, but found the story-telling dramatic, highly engaging and touching. Above all (for me) Barnes has a powerful and sophisticated sense of the...