On Killing

$27.99

The Psychological Cost of Learning to Kill in War and Society

Rated “4.5-Stars” on amazon with over 2,500 reviews!  US Marine Corps “Commandant’s Required Reading List.”  Audio Book narrated by Lt. Col. Grossman.

Over half-a-million copies sold in English and translated and published in 7 languages.

One of the great scholarly works of our time:  GoogleScholar says it has been cited in scholarly articles and books over 3,300 times (as of 2022).

On Killing was Amazon’s #1 best seller in: “History” (2022), “Military Science History” (2021, ’22), “Violence in Society”(2021, ’22), “Military Science”(2021, ’22), “Criminology” (2021, ’22), “Law Enforcement Politics” (2021), “Politics and Social Sciences” (2021), and “Law Enforcement”(2021).

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Description

The revised and updated edition of Lt. Col. Dave Grossman’s modern classic about the psychology of combat, hailed by the Washington Post as “an illuminating account of how soldiers learn to kill and how they live with the experiences of having killed.” In World War II, only 15 to 20 percent of combat infantry were willing to fire their rifles. In Korea, about 50 percent. In Vietnam, the figure rose to more than 90 percent.

The good news is that most soldiers are loath to kill. But armies have developed sophisticated ways of overcoming that instinctive aversion. The psychological cost for soldiers, as evidenced by the increase in post-traumatic stress, can be devastating. This landmark study brilliantly illuminates the techniques the military uses to help soldiers kill and raises vital questions about the implications of escalating violence in our society.

“Powerfully argued…Full of arresting observations and insights.” —New York Times

Additional information

Weight 12 oz

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