Bookraft

The Dark Side of Man: Tracing the Origins of Male Violence - Michael Ghiglieri
Helix Perseus Books, 321 pages - $15 at Amazon

I have had this book for about a year - I got it from a Miss Anthrope. I have been reluctant to read it. But my sister who works as a Social Worker in Calgary told me a story about 2-3 years ago which induced me to accept the book, if not read it. Then the the tribal and political violence in Darfur seemed to have a tribal echo in Kenya these past few months. So I put in on my LIFO stack of things to read. Finally, a NRA approved gungmen shot five people plus himself in an eerie echo of Virginia Tech just a year ago.

So I started to glance at the book. The opening chapter, Born To Be Bad ??, catches your attention with a first hand harrowing tale of getting out of Uganda during the horrific reign of Idi Amin (see the Last King of Scotland for some of the scorching details). Tis is tribal massacres on the order of what will shortly occur just up the way in Rwanda. And did occur in Cambodia. And are occurring in Shia on Sunni violence in Iraq. And are recurring in ....

Clearly there is a dark side to men.

Now if you are Blank Slater and believe that Man is the product solely of cultural, educational, and family/societal influences .... well either you will want to ignore this book or maybe join the NRA. Otherwise be prepared to watch a careful enfolding of how the basic instincts in men, male of the gender, predispose them to aggressive behaviors. And not just one or two - but an across the board orientation towards alphaness.

Now I am not completely through the book, but I can see where it is going - and the evidence piled up by Ghiglieri (there 47 pages of reference notes) is very compelling on the exact nature and origins of the Dark Side of Men. I have yet to complete the chapters on War, Genocide and Who Me? When I finish those I will finish this review.

But in the meantime, on the day after Valentine's Day, I felt compelled to Raise the Red Lantern on this powerful book.