Ian Morris teaches classics, history, and archaeology at Stanford University. Born in Stoke-on-Trent in 1960, he now lives in the Santa Cruz Mountains in California. He has directed excavations in Greece and Italy, and has published 11 books and more than 80 articles. His most recent book, "Why the West Rules--For Now: The Patterns of History, and What They Reveal About the Future" (Profile Books, 2010), tells the stories of East and West across 15,000 years, from the final days of the Ice Age into the 22nd century, explaining why the West came to dominate the rest--and what will happen next. His next book, called "War! What is It Good For?" will look at war from prehuman times to our own, making two controversial claims--first, that war has helped humanity as well as harming it; and second, that war is now changing out of all recognition.
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