Evil: Inside Human Cruelty and Violence [first edition]

A social psychologist tackles one of the most perplexing and persistent questions in human history: Why is there evil? Considering evil from the perspective of the perpetrator, Baumeister attempts to understand how otherwise seemingly decent people come to participate in evil acts. He contends that many of our attitudes about evil especially our belief in the myth of pure evil have greatly hindered our ability to deal with today's problems of violence, oppression, and suffering. Annotation c. by Book News, Inc., Portland, Or.