Attention all college professors and students! This book is now available on Kindle (click here.)
Love and Warpresents the readerwith the evidence for two serious challenges mankind will have to face towards the end of this century – environmental collapse and the possibility of nuclear war – and argues that these two threats are going to be very difficult to avoid. The reason for this is that our emotional lives, drives, and behaviors are the result of many millennia of natural selection for survival of those who exploited nature to their own advantage and fought wars at the expense of others. These two major aspects of human nature are deeply ingrained in our psyches and are the cause of the crisis we will soon face. Our only way out, argue the authors Dr. Harsen and Dr. Welles, is to consciously and rationally focus on another aspect of human nature: love. This may be the only emotion we can count on to convince the majority of mankind to turn the road to disaster around.
Endorsements:
Love and War: Human Nature in Crisis provides a comprehensive analysis of nothing less than the prospects for the future of the human race. The authors are not only deep thinkers, but they are also experienced observers of humans and other animals. The book is full of compelling stories based on their own experiences and studies in as disparate places as Borneo and Banks Island in the Canadian arctic. Their argument concerning the urgency of changing our ways as myopic, self-indulgent consumers is indisputable.
If we can learn to love other life on this planet, we might have a chance to save it and ourselves.
– Robert Bateman, World famous wildlife artist, naturalist and author
Love and War: Human Nature in Crisisis a priceless gift to humanity. We know the ravages of war within the world and within ourselves. This book is a reminder of love's universal and eternal embrace, offering hope – a great guide for cultivating the seeds of love and eliminating the weeds of war. Read this book, look in the mirror and allow change in your life.
– Phil Jordan, internationally recognized psychic consultant
Love and War deepens our understanding and brings us one step closer to that distant day when we will lay down our sword and shield and deserve the name Homo sapiens—wise human beings.
–Sam Keen, Best-selling author of Faces of the Enemy
This book is an excellent and well-researched integration of biology and psychology and of science and fascinating personal experiences. It will inspire us, every reader, to analyze our personal behavior and strive to be more compassionate persons if we desire to survive this century and leave our progeny a sustainable planet.
– Peter Kolassa, Esquire, Director of Hoffman Institute / Canada
You will receive valuable insights into modern biology, practical psychology and original research from reading this book, as well as enjoy amusing anecdotes and nice poetry. Most of all you will be touched by the enthusiasm, honesty, and internationalism of the writers as they argue for a new way of living to create a new world order. To readers in the developing world, Asia, Africa, Arabia, and Latin America, such voices from America and Canada are heartwarming and encouraging. A better world is possible.
–Dr. Harbans Nagpal, Psychoanalyst Psychiatrist, Paris and Delhi, India
The book Love and War by R. Harmsen & P.S. Welles:
This is a perceptive and insightful exploration of the two greatest features of being human. And, these will rule the future, for better or worse. To understand them is crucial to the long-term survival of our species.
The academic content of this book is exceptional—accurate and well described for comprehension, but I love the personal stories! They add the perfect touch to inspire us to take the action needed to understand the crisis we have created and the critical need for us to change before another war destroys our world.
–Jarmila Peck, Renowned Paleontologist, Czech Republic and Canada
Love and War is a stunning tour de force which traces the darkest shadows of our progenitors on humankind’s evolutionary journey through individual, societal, communal, and nation-state relationships.It is a compelling and wonderfully readable analysis of how innate latent noble and fearsome factors in the human psyche surface in varying circumstances.In demonstrating how the latter can collectively lead to hostilities to achieve tribal or national goals, this book provides profound psychological insights as to why nations in the twenty-first century still employ war as an instrument of national policy.The authors specify what we must do, as nations and individuals, to create a global community working in concert to deal with the now-recognized universal threats to life on Earth.
– Harry J. Petrequin, Jr., Retired U. S. Senior Foreign Service Officer
Former Faculty Member, National Defense University
Active member of Veterans for Peace
A REVIEW from READER VIEWS
Love and War: Human Nature in Crisis
Rudolf Harmsen, Ph.D., & Paddy S. Welles, Ph.D.
Robert D. Reed Publishers (2010)
ISBN 9781934759462
Reviewed by Vicki Landes for Reader Views (12/10)
“Authors Rudolf Harmsen and Paddy Welles take on the colossal subject of human emotion and the psychology behind our actions in their book, Love and War: Human Nature in Crisis.This in-depth study probes the ‘why’ of our reaction to the various ‘love’ and ‘hate’ stimuli and attempts to put it into both animal world and current event perspectives. The result is a fascinating analysis that is both enlightening and hopeful.
“Harmsen and Welles take an extremely intelligent and organized approach to their presentation; their ideas are grounded in published literature and peer-reviewed articles which support every point they make. Each chapter builds upon the previous one, explaining and breaking down examples all the while. I did find the overall tone to be rather politically biased; from the Obama quote at the very beginning, utilizing a benign adjective like ‘sovereign’ when discussing Iraq, and the obvious negative language when discussing past Republican presidents gave more of an ‘agenda’ feel to the book. However, this tone did not overwhelm or distract from the study; I simply found it only mildly irritating because I do not share the same political views. However, with political views aside, Love and War: Human Nature in Crisis is about delving into the human psyche and succeeds in explaining its theories remarkably well.
“Written by two exceptionally educated authors, Love and War: Human Nature in Crisis exudes experience and intelligence from its pages. The combination of Harmsen’s and Welles’ extensive and respective backgrounds in biology and psychology, the pair utilizes the animal world to parallel human nature. I especially liked how they brought the book full circle at the end; they do more than just present their findings on the ugliness of human behavior. The last couple of chapters concentrate on ‘Shaping a Sustaining and Peaceful Future’ and ‘Transforming our Destiny.’ Regardless of political views, these chapters are worth serious consideration for long-term peace.
“A must read for those looking for psychological explanations to current global affairs! Highly intelligent and profoundly detailed, authors Harmsen and Welles went well above and beyond what I expected to find in this book. I walked away from Love and War: Human Nature in Crisis the same way I walked away from Daniel Goldman’s Emotional Intelligence after reading it for the first time: ‘WOW!’”
“We each need to consider the price we are willing to pay for peace,” say Drs. Rudolph Harmsen and Paddy Welles. While war may be ingrained in the human psyche through evolution, they argue, peace remains possible. Like war, it just comes at a cost.
In their book Love and War: Human Nature in Crisis, Harmsen and Welles explain the insights biology, evolutionary theory, and psychology provide into why humanity rages war. Through evolution, they assert, people have developed the need to fight for survival. This leads to battles for resources and for greater opportunities to pass along one’s genes. Both the animal kingdom and tribal societies reveal how this has played out over time.
However, humanity also evolved the ability to love and to think beyond our immediate needs, the authors say. We can understand that working together peacefully provides better for everyone. By loving each other, caring for the needs of others, and talking through differences, humans can enjoy a world without war.
To support these arguments, the authors draw from their respective fields. Harmsen, a professor, biologist, and evolutionary ecologist, shares his knowledge of animal societies and his experience with primitive cultures. Welles, a professor and practicing family therapist with degrees in psychology and sociology, offers insights into how human evolution impacts behavior today.
Together, the authors provide a number of fascinating and insightful stories, ranging from chimpanzee political fights to how one tribal village avenges another’s past aggression. These stories, which include examples of modern-day family and gang feuds, add sparkle to a book that covers both scientific and rather philosophical subjects.
And the book offers a thought-provoking perspective: perhaps war and other forms of killing have an evolutionary basis. This should interest anyone in the fields of politics, sociology, or psychology. Unfortunately, unnecessary political jabs and the promotion of particular social policies seem to shadow that message with a larger agenda.
More significantly, the authors provide no real solutions. They call for peoples and nations to love one another, talk through their differences, and sacrifice for the greater good. However, they fail to offer serious proposals for how this is to be done, leaving the reader with what can feel like a utopian dream. Nevertheless, the book offers a fresh theory on the source of conflict in the world, one that proves fascinating to ponder. (September 2010) Diane Gardner
Review Date: October 2010.
ABOUT THE AUTHORS (see their photos by clicking on book cover on top of this page)
Dr. Rudolf Harmsenreceived his Ph.D. from Cambridge University, Cambridge, Great Britain. He is a Professor Emeritus of Biology on the faculty of Queens University in Canada. He has written for many distinguished journals, books, and encyclopedias and has produced popular television programs to help children understand the animal world.
Paddy S. Welles, Ph.D., is the author of two books, To Stand In Love (Geist & Russell Companies / 2000) and Are You Ready for Lasting Love? (Marlowe & Co. / 2002). She holds a Ph.D. in Child and Family Studies from Syracuse University and is a skilled marriage and family therapist and former university professor. Dr. Welles lectures through- out the year at universities and colleges.
These two highly-educated and well-traveled authors each have memories of war from their childhoods, Rudolf Harmsen living in Nazi-occupied Holland as a child, and Paddy Welles in North Carolina huddling with her family during air raid drills of WWII. Combining Harmsen’s expertise in evolutionary ecology and Welles’ expertise in psychology, along with their personal stories and insights, Love and War is monumental in its depth and sophis- tication in understanding the human condition.
Love and War: Human Nature in Crisis by Rudolf Harmsen, Ph.D.
& Paddy S. Welles, Ph.D. Psychology / Science / World Affairs
ISBN: 978-1-934759-46-2
Soft cover, 6 x 9, 312 pages, $17.95
World Rights Available
DISTRIBUTION: Midpoint Trade, NYC
Gazelle, Europe
FOREIGN RIGHTS:
Sylvia Hayse Literary Agency
E-mail: hayses@caat.com
This book would be an outstanding text for several different college courses.
May the word spread.
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