Rating: 
Summary: In Trying to Understand Seemingly Incomprehensible Atrocity
Review: This book will simply give readers an idea of where and how violent, incomprehensible acts come to pass, how the perpetrators become capable of such things, and how best, as a society, to deal with them. After a tragedy we ask "why?". This wonderful book sheds some light on a world that is very foreign to us, but that we will gain much from understanding.
Rating:
Summary: A Service to Humankind
Review: This is an important work written in a clear and accessible manner. It is anecdotal and interpretive in style. Typically, one or more chapters tell a war story including details which may not be generally known; then the end of each section develops lessons to be learned.Glover's book is a terrible indictment of war and other atrocities in the 20th Century. It is sometimes a tough read but is much more focused on the "whys and wherefores" than on the gruesomeness of the underlying subject matter. In other words it examines the psychology, politics and philosophy of war. The book is not comprehensive. We can all think of history which is not covered here. I guess I still have not quite figured out what criteria Glover used to include or exclude material. However, his themes are rationally developed. Some wars are shown to have been tribal in nature, some based on a belief system. Sometimes objective truth was abandoned and a cycle of self-deception ensued. Glover shows how one's moral identity can be systematically eroded allowing us to slide into participation. Tools may include innuendo, ambiguous intentions, the "cold joke", the imposition of belief systems, the abandonment of objective truth, the spiral of hate, the use of precedent, the confusing of ends and means, physical distance (frequently enabled by technology), and the fragmentation of responsibility. Rectitude and honor were part of the "innocence" (i.e. part of the trap) that led to the First World War trenches. These can all lead to the abandonment of objective truth and a cycle of self-deception can ensue. Sometimes bureaucracy together with distance and division of labor can shrivel human response. To resist, we need to keep our humanity alive. People need imaginative awareness and the democratic habits of tolerance, persuasion and compromise; also the abilities to accept ambiguity, to apply skeptical inquiry and to think critically. Moral identity is a key resource. We need to maintain self-respect and autonomy. We also need to notice small things and to guard against a slide into participation. The first step is to not look away and there is great value in early protest or refusal. Reading this has been a growing experience for me and I now own an authoritative reference (more than 900 items in the bibliography) to help me write letters next time government leaders move us in uncomfortable directions. Thank you Professor Glover. Your book is a service to humankind.
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