The Better Angels of Our Nature

In this monumental work, cognitive scientist Steven Pinker makes a startling argument: that we may be living in the most peaceful era in human history. Marshalling data across millennia, from tribal warfare to modern homicide rates, he charts a long decline in violence and asks what forces of reason, commerce, and empathy pulled us away from our worst impulses. Sweeping and provocative, it reframes how we see progress. Mark Zuckerberg picked it for his A Year of Books reading challenge.