The Psychology of War - Comprehending its Mystique and its

This book first appeared in the aftermath of the Gulf War and this second edition came out in early 2002 following 9/11. LeShan reviews the normal explanations for war - psychological, social and economic, as well as the mystique of heroism and transformation that it implies. He highlights a number of trends that indicate the path to war, including the idea that the enemy nation embodies evil, 'and that if it were defeated, the world would become paradise'. This leads onto the central insight of the book, already developed in LeShan's other work, that there is a change of perception of reality from the sensory to the mythic in times of war. The essence of this shift is that Good and Evil becomes Us and Them, so you are either for us or against us - not to put too fine a nuance on it! Of course they act from a will to power and we are only acting from common decency and self-defence. LeShan's answer is education, but this really needs to be a qualitative shift in attitude that can truly override our default tribalism - there are signs that this is happening, but we have a long way to go.