In Blood Rites, Barbara Ehrenreich confronts the mystery of the human attraction to violence: What draws our species to war and even makes us see it as a kind of sacred undertaking? Blood Rites takes us on an original journey from the elaborate human sacrifices of the ancient world to the carnage and holocaust of twentieth-century "total war." Sifting through the fragile records of prehistory, Ehrenreich discovers the wellspring of war in an unexpected place — not in a "killer instinct" unique to the males of our species but in the blood rites early humans performed to reenact their terrifying experience of predation by stronger carnivores. Brilliant in conception, rich in scope, Blood Rites is a monumental work that will transform our understanding of the greatest single threat to human life.
Blood Rites: Origins and History of the Passions of War
Barbara Ehrenreich
Barbara Ehrenreich (August 26th, 1941 - September 1st, 2022) was an American essayist, author and political activist. She was the author of innumerable articles and essays for various publications as well as the author of 21 books, including Nickel and Dimed (2001). She has been engaged in activism on the topics of health care, peace, women’s rights and economic justice. She founded United Professionals in 2006 and was an honorary co-chair for Democratic Socialists of America.