The Psychology of War : Comprehending Its Mystique and Its Madness [Paperback]

Lawrence LeShan (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: January 1, 2002

Our wars have become more lethal, yet the affinity for war hasn't changed. Why? As the entire world anticipates a lengthy war against terrorism, this intriguing study provides a new understanding of why people fight wars so frequently and ferociously. Former military psychologist Lawrence LeShan's piercing analysis reveals why war is often chosen over more peaceful solutions? and why it is so easy to get into a war and so hard to get out. Can peace be planned? How can we devise an "early warning system" for war? Are some government structures more prone to war than others? First published in 1992, this timely book is now brought back into print with a brand-new introduction.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

LeShan, a clinical psychologist and author of Cancer as a Turning Point , argues that wars are an aspect of human behavior. War--widespread, easy to start, difficult to control--he maintains, fulfills psychological needs and eases tensions by creating an alternate reality structure, a binary vision of good versus evil. Like a mythic event, war makes the lives of individual participants more intense and more meaningful, at the same time creating the sense of a collective engaged in a noble enterprise. LeShan's explanations of war's appeal are more convincing than his ideas for calling on psychology and other social sciences to make us less susceptible to warmongering. Educational reforms to foster self-acceptance and government reforms to encourage peace-seeking appear fragile barriers against the powerful forces LeShan describes.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal

The author of 11 books on psychology, including the recent Cancer as a Turning Point ( LJ 4/15/89), Shan turns here to the question of war. He centers his explanation on the psychological phenomenon of shifting from one conception of reality to others, and especially to "mythic reality." Once this shift has been made, the checks and balances of sensory reality are discarded and humans begin to see reality as a clash of good and evil that allows for no shadings or subtlety. LeShan argues that such thinking is used to justify initiating war and committing atrocities--acts that are unthinkable in other circumstances. By glorifying past wars and preparing for future wars, society reinforces this mindset. War is even welcomed, for it allows individuals to project inner hatreds, displace aggression, find a transcendental purpose in life, and achieve a sense of belonging in a group. LeShan suggests that to address the question of war, we must recognize the temptation of mythic thinking, educate individuals to find fulfillment outside the satisfactions of war, and restructure governments to seek peace with as much vigor as they prepare for armed conflict. Written in an accessible style with solid scholarship, this slender volume is recommended for public and academic libraries.
- Richard B. Finnegan, Stonehill Coll., North Easton, Mass.
Copyright 1992 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 192 pages
• Publisher: Helios Press; Enlarged edition (January 1, 2002)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1581152388
• ISBN-13: 978-1581152388
• Product Dimensions: 9.1 x 6.1 x 0.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 11.2 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #748,978 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

23 of 25 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars You Need this Book, November 16, 2003

By 

"whateverhappenedtoprivacy" (Madison, Wisconsin United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Psychology of War : Comprehending Its Mystique and Its Madness (Paperback)

There are plenty of good books on strategy and the history of warfare. But a good, easy to follow book on the psychology of war is the proper place to begin.

LeShan's The Psychology of War is a useful, short non-scholarly book. The first hardcover edition lacked a general bibliography and an index. An Index has been added to the new expanded edition. For those others of you having only the 1st edition, The Psychology of War is now a searchable book here on Amazon. I should say that the book does have good footnotes, all gathered together at the end, and which list many useful sources.

I am not surprised by the negative reviews this book has received here. These reviewers appear to be in the grips of the very sort of thinking that LeShan describes as "mythical." No one is immune from mythical thinking, even psychologists.

Get with it, people. War maybe makes you feel good, like you're doing something, but it doesn't really create good.

Ask yourself what need does the war fulfill? Is it the need to be in control? The need to belong to a powerful group? The need to spread democracy? The need to end terrorism? The need to immolate others and ourselves for a vague, long-term, impossibly utopian end?

Then ask yourself what in our life has failed that we need this particular war? Have we really been failed by homeland security? Has the UN failed us? Has religion failed us, failed to make us feel secure and happy?

Violent solutions like war come out of known human impulses. They range from greed to loneliness, to sadism, to a search for justice. A little self-examination on a national level might reveal some of these impulses, and I bet they aren't pretty. Remember, I'm talking about impulses, not the noble, official stories.

LeShan's book is an excellent introduction. You won't look at the news or listen to political speeches the same way after you've read it. And if it has an obvious bias, it's the bias of reason and analysis applied to the universal problem of war.

11 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Wakeup Call from Dr. LeShan, November 22, 2006

By 

P. Lee "the bear dreamer" (Rapid City, SD USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Psychology of War : Comprehending Its Mystique and Its Madness (Paperback)

While doing my post-graduate work I happened on Dr. LeShan's book in our public library. It rode on the seat next to me for several days and then two planes drove into the Twin Towers. I picked up the book and read. It was uncanny the way that LeShan describes the shift from a sensory-based reality to a mythical reality. In the days following 9/11 I watched his words come to life as we widened the gap between Us and THEM. His book offers solid, well-thought out and well-researched ideas on why human beings make war. I was astounded by this book and have since read many of Dr. LeShan's other books. The man is truly one of the great minds of this age.
Jamie Lee, author of Re-Visioning Adolescence and the Rite of Passage

21 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Why Won't People Read This?, July 15, 2002

By 

Eric Tang (Katy, TX United States) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Psychology of War : Comprehending Its Mystique and Its Madness (Paperback)

I read this book several years ago and I was immediately struck by how brilliant it was. I recommended it to all my friends, and I just can't understand why this isn't required reading yet. One of the best and most important books of our time and virtually nobody is reading it.

Could it be that Noam Chomsky and Gore Vidal are right? Our government thrives off of war? Is this book being intentionally held distant from a public long tired of fighting wars for the rich and the powerful?