Constant Battles: Why we fight (St. Martin's Griffin, 2003) is a book by Steven LeBlanc, a professor of archaeology at Harvard University who specializes in the American Southwest. The book explores the myth of the "noble savage", and demonstrates a long pattern of violence through human history from nearly all parts of the globe.
 | |
| Author | Steven LeBlanc |
|---|---|
| Language | English |
| Subject | Warfare |
| Publisher | St. Martin's Griffin |
Publication date | 2003 |
| Media type | |
| Pages | 230 |
| ISBN | 9780312310905 |
Contents
editMuch of the book explores debunking the myth of the "noble savage",[1] which the evidence of archaeological exploration from around the globe does not support (a peaceful ancient human existence). LeBlanc's data supports that as many as 25% (conservatively estimated) of adult males perished as a direct result of warfare and murder in pre-agricultural times. Chapter 2 titled, "Was There Ever an Eden?" explores this notion further.
As one review from The Wall Street Journal highlighted:
About 1,000 people die in local wars around the world each day. That's two people every three minutes or so, in places like the Balkans, Central Africa and Timor. It may sound like a lot of killing, but in fact the planet has never been more peaceful. The past is much bloodier.[2]
LeBlanc explains that resource scarcity leads to war and conflict. Scarcity involving access to reproductive capacity including women, food and water, and the required elements involved in creating and holding shelter. When these resources become scarce, warfare and bloodshed tend towards becoming increasingly likely.[3]
In the "Was There Ever an Eden?" chapter, LeBlanc demonstrates evidence, such as the "Buffalo jump", where hundreds to thousands of buffalo would be driven off a cliff, with only some of the killed being able to be used or harvested for their meat and hides, to show that Native and Indigenous persons in the America's were often very wasteful in their hunting practices, and that it is a myth that such groups and cultures were "conservationists" with regard to all of their interactions with nature, wildlife, and their ecology.[4]
Reception
editThe book received mostly positive reviews including from St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Scientific American,[5] The Washington Times,[6] The Harvard Crimson,[7] and National Review.[8]
See also
edit- War Before Civilization by Lawrence H. Keeley (1996)
- The Better Angels of Our Nature by Steven Pinker (2011)
References
edit- ^ "Constant Battles book review". www.vhemt.org. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ Miller, John J. (20 May 2003). "War of All Against All". The Wall Street Journal. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ LeBlanc, Steven (2020), Fagan, Garrett G.; Fibiger, Linda; Hudson, Mark; Trundle, Matthew (eds.), "The Origins of Warfare and Violence", The Cambridge World History of Violence: Volume 1: The Prehistoric and Ancient Worlds, The Cambridge World History of Violence, vol. 1, Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp. 39–57, ISBN 978-1-316-34124-7, retrieved 9 July 2024
- ^ LeBlanc, Steven (2003). Constant Battles: Why We Fight. New York, NY: St. Martin's Griffin. p. 32. ISBN 9780312310905.
- ^ Shermer, Michael (1 January 2016). "Did This Extinct Human Species Commit Homicide?". Scientific American. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ Windschuttle, Keith (16 August 2003). "Enduring myth of 'noble savage' vs. a species at continuous war?". The Washington Times. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ "LeBlanc's Book Explores Warfare Through the Ages | Arts | The Harvard Crimson". www.thecrimson.com. Retrieved 9 July 2024.
- ^ "Ignoble Savages". National Review. 25 May 2006. Retrieved 9 July 2024.