A Grim View of the History of Human Conflict
War Before Civilization: The Myth of the Peaceful Savage by Lawrence H. Keeley
My rating: 5 of 5 stars
This book is a tough look at conflict between pre-state cultures, and how they differ from the common story we hear in anthropology texts of warfare among tribes and bands being little more than ritualistic shows of force. One of the most important points the author makes at the beginning is the problem that, at the simplest form of human organization, there's often no clear way to distinguish between warfare and ordinary interpersonal conflict ending in homicide.
Also, the author notes in several chapters the way in which the view of primitive warfare may be correct in the specific details, but that the conclusions often are erroneous because of certain invisible assumptions. For instance, casualty numbers may be low -- but if low-grade warfare goes on for months or years, even one or two deaths per battle can soon deplete a tribe's fighting strength to dangerous levels (similar to the way that World War II had the highest casualty numbers, but the Thirty Years' War was the most deadly per capita, for the simple reason that there weren't as many people in Europe in the 1600's).
Much of primitive warfare involves raids and skirmishes rather than fixed battles, with fighters attacking and then melting back into the wilderness. Interestingly enough, it has often proven astonishingly effective against modern technology-heavy armies (Vietnam, Afghanistan, etc) -- and civilized armies at a power disadvantage have often found it most effective to adopt those tactics and techniques (the Minutemen in the American War of Independence).
It's also a disturbing book, particularly when the author investigates the evidence of massacres and wholesale destruction of the communities and cultures of the vanquished.
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