Editor’s note:  I purposely chose this book as a companion to this month’s “News Cyclone” article.  Pinker’s well-supported theory that violence has continually declined over the centuries is a pretty powerful antidote to the media drenching that makes us think that violence is up dramatically.  Punch line: Violence is down, news coverage of violence is up (dramatically).

Favorite excerpt:

In describing the Flynn effect, Pinker says, “an accelerating escalator of reason has carried us away from impulses that lead to violence”