"Honey out of the lion": Peace research emerging from mid-20th-century violence

In the 18th century it was assumed that the primitive state of mankind was one of Arcadian peace, joy, and contentment.1 In the 19th century the assumption went over to the other extreme-that the primitive state was one of universal warfare. This, like the former notion, is a great exaggeration. Man in the most primitive and civilized state known to us does not practice war all the time; he dreads it; he might rather be described as a peaceful animal (Sumner 1911:3).