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“The authors, through a monumental synthesis of anthropological and historical studies, dismantle the “myth of primitive warfare” and challenge the linear evolutionist narrative that associates the development of social complexity with state coercion and hierarchy. On the contrary, they show how many societies have developed sophisticated forms of non-authoritarian governance, managed conflicts with ritual and non-violent tools, and often consciously alternated periods of vertical structuring with phases of horizontality and rejection of permanent authority. Central is the valorisation of women’s role as mediation agents, as well as attention to cultural practices that promoted peace as a political choice and not as a mere absence of conflict.”