Citation

Lawler A. Science 2012; 336(6083): 829-830.

Copyright

(Copyright © 2012, American Association for the Advancement of Science)

DOI

10.1126/science.336.6083.829

PMID

22605751

Abstract

With its world wars, genocides, and innumerable revolutions and civil wars, the 20th century was the bloodiest in human history. World War II alone left some 60 million dead—2.5% of the world's population, or the total number of people who lived in Europe during the Middle Ages. Yet a group of researchers argues that complex industrialized societies, even Nazi Germany or Stalin's Russia, are far safer places to live than among smaller groups of hunter-gatherers or farmers, in which tribal feuds and homicide typically felled more than 10% of the population.

Language: en