Dark Nature

At a time when violence threatens to become epidemic, and genocide takes the place of diplomacy in many regions of the world, it is no longer plausible to dismiss the darkest and most violent acts as simply part of "human nature".

But what is the foundation of the evil that lurks in the hearts of men?

How can humans account for abominations such as the Holocaust, ethnic cleansing, or the daily terrors of theft, rape, and homicide?

In 'Dark Nature' Lyall Watson sets out a controversial and original exploration of the origin and nature of evil. Plotting the evolution of human evil from earth's earliest creatures to the complex society we have become today, in Dark Nature Watson redefines good and evil in biological terms.

Drawing on the latest insights of evolutionary ethology, anthropology, and psychology, he takes a fresh look at the problems our species faces as a result of being too numerous, too greedy and too mobile.

Watson uses a variety of sources from Charles Darwin to Annie Dillard to examine the motivations and driving forces behind evil behaviour as well as the invisible order that preserves the delicate balance between "civilised" society and anarchy.

'Dark Nature' is a groundbreaking and fascinating work that takes evil out of the realm of monsters and demons and puts it squarely back where it belongs - in nature and in our lives.

'A fluid, elegant study of what it means to be bad...A book to be read with deliberateness - sentence by sentence... every bit yielding something fascinating to chew on.' Kirkus Reviews

Lyall Watson was a South African born writer, and the author of bestsellers including Supernature, Beyond Supernature and The Nature of Things.

Endeavour Press is the UK's leading independent publisher of digital books.