This is the most important post-9/11 analysis of war and it comes none too soon. Every politician should read this book before deciding on war. In the 20th century, 170 million human beings have died in wars. That makes 4630 casualties a day, 193 every hour, and 3 every minute. While 1035 billion dollars were spent on warfare in 2004, only 78.6 billion were spent on aid to developing countries. Russia and the U.S. boast 3.6 and 5.9 wars each generation respectively - that is 49.3 and 48.3 years of warfare for each generation. The Most Dangerous Animal takes the reader on a journey through evolution, anthropology, and psychology and asks what about human nature makes war possible. Meticulously researched and far-reaching in scope, Smith delivers a sobering lesson for an increasingly dangerous world.