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Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History Paperback – August 29, 2008

by William H. McNeill (Author)

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Could something as simple and seemingly natural as falling into step have marked us for evolutionary success? In Keeping Together in Time one of the most widely read and respected historians in America pursues the possibility that coordinated rhythmic movement--and the shared feelings it evokes--has been a powerful force in holding human groups together. As he has done for historical phenomena as diverse as warfare, plague, and the pursuit of power, William H. McNeill brings a dazzling breadth and depth of knowledge to his study of dance and drill in human history. From the records of distant and ancient peoples to the latest findings of the life sciences, he discovers evidence that rhythmic movement has played a profound role in creating and sustaining human communities. The behavior of chimpanzees, festival village dances, the close-order drill of early modern Europe, the ecstatic dance-trances of shamans and dervishes, the goose-stepping Nazi formations, the morning exercises of factory workers in Japan--all these and many more figure in the bold picture McNeill draws. A sense of community is the key, and shared movement, whether dance or military drill, is its mainspring. McNeill focuses on the visceral and emotional sensations such movement arouses, particularly the euphoric fellow-feeling he calls muscular bonding. These sensations, he suggests, endow groups with a capacity for cooperation, which in turn improves their chance of survival. A tour de force of imagination and scholarship, Keeping Together in Time reveals the muscular, rhythmic dimension of human solidarity. Its lessons will serve us well as we contemplate the future of the human community and of ourvarious local communities.

Keeping Together in Time: Dance and Drill in Human History

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Product Details

Paperback: 220 pages
Publisher: ACLS Humanities E-Book (August 29, 2008)
Language: English
ISBN-10: 1597406740
ISBN-13: 978-1597406741
Product Dimensions: 6 x 0.5 x 9 inches
Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,358,543 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #7344 in Books > Humor & Entertainment > Pop Culture > General
- #50222 in Books > History > World
- #93128 in Books > Politics & Social Sciences > Social Sciences

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Dancing as the Engine of Human History

ByA customeron September 8, 1999

Format: Hardcover

If you are one of those people who reads in terms of things subversive or hegemonic, you will not like this book, because it so completely accepts the sort of mechanized vision of the universe so common to our age. However, if one should happen to be free of that particular affliction, then this is a fairly interesting book, for not only is it readable, rare for an academic book, but it also has something to say about human history. Mr. McNeill's thesis is that the interaction between music and dancing has had a very much greater impact on human history than has heretofore been realized, and many of his speculations are well worth pondering. For students of dance, and what is perhaps now becoming a legitimate line of academic query, a subject that may someday become known as "kinesthetics," this book is a must-read. A recent book from France about the French use of church bells appears to echo many of the themes developed here, which is to say that this book may well be looked back upon as an important first step. Of course, to a politically-minded critic, such work is utterly reactionary, and perhaps it is an escape into a fantasy of other times and places, and certainly the almost uncritical way in which McNeill accepts the current Darwinistic world view is disturbing, yet nevertheless there is much to be gained here. The long analysis of the impact of close order drill on European armies is alone work of the first water, of interest to anyone working on not just European political history, but also students of European imperialism. If this book is understood aright, much of our current thought is going to have to be revised.

0Comment 26 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

It has changed my view of history and the world's prospects for peace.

Byguy wilcoxon December 14, 2013

Format: Kindle EditionVerified Purchase

It distresses me that I have not heard of this book until recently and have not heard of any impact it may have had or may currently be having, either in the academy or in politics, national or international. His insights appear to have been developed during an impressively thorough historical study of dance and drill. His conclusions are consistent with my own intuitions and experience. The people apt to benefit most from it are likely not to get through the first chapter without scoffing or feeling uncomfortable. If I had one book to suggest be read (and thoroughly discussed) by the world, I think this would be the one.

11 comment 6 people found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

I was glad to track down a copy of this fascinating academic ...

ByBlizzard lizardon February 19, 2016

Format: Paperback

I was glad to track down a copy of this fascinating academic book through the American Council of Learning Societies print on demand service. This sliver of a book somehow manages to capture the importance of dance and drill through human history. McNeill draws on chimpanzee behaviour, dance in religious ceremonies, Greek phalanxes, Nazi Germany and Japanese callisthenics to support his thesis: 'Moving our muscles rhythmically and giving voice consolidate group solidarity by altering human feelings'. He calls this 'muscular bonding'.

Although this is an academic book, it is written in lively, limpid prose, as if McNeill is drawing his expressiveness from the activities he describes - things that are 'felt, not talked about'. His describes his own time in the army where during close order drill he experienced 'A strange sense of personal enlargement; a sort of swelling out, becoming bigger than life, thanks to participation in a collective ritual'.

It could be argued that this feeling of boundary loss, of 'I' becoming 'We' is the purpose of any ritual. But McNeill embeds the phenomena in the muscular and draws on studies showing the brain's physiological response to movement. He describes ancient oarsman rowing in pairs to the beat of the drum, keeping perfect time to avoid the danger that any modern rower will recognise: a 'deviation of more than a few inches, and missing by a fraction of a second, meant a tangle of oars and loss of momentum'. Keeping together in time is about more than just bonding - it's about keeping efficient and staying safe.

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

An Original and Stimulating Hypothesis

ByDr. Milo Joneson October 14, 2006

Format: PaperbackVerified Purchase

This absorbing work exposes an immense gap in the literature about and our understanding of the past, and offers a huge canvas for further speculation. Highly recommended!

0Comment One person found this helpful. Was this review helpful to you?YesNo

Three Stars

ByJanet Jaffeon July 27, 2014

Format: HardcoverVerified Purchase

Like the topic. I was expecting a little more.

0CommentWas this review helpful to you?YesNo

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