A brilliant synthesis of history, psychology and storytelling, written in a clear and accessible style. Drawing on diverse sources, Pinker makes the bold and nuanced argument that we are living in the most peaceful time in our species' history. Debunking both the idea of the 'noble savage' and an over-simplistic Hobbesian notion of a 'nasty, brutish and short' life, Steven Pinker argues that modernity and its cultural institutions are actually making us better people