The political flexibility of our species is formidable: we can be quite egalitarian, we can be quite despotic. This book traces the roots of these contradictory traits in chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, and early human societies. Boehm postulates that egalitarianism is in effect a hierarchy in which th...

The political flexibility of our species is formidable: we can be quite egalitarian, we can be quite despotic. This book traces the roots of these contradictory traits in chimpanzee, bonobo, gorilla, and early human societies. Boehm postulates that egalitarianism is in effect a hierarchy in which the weak combine forces to dominate the strong.