You can now get a sneak peek at the first chapter of Mike McCullough's upcoming book, Beyond Revenge: The Evolution of the Forgiveness Instinct, which will hit the bookshelves next month. In the new book, McCullough, a professor of psychology and religious studies at the University of Miami, argues that "humans' capacity to forgive is every bit as natural as our tendency to seek vengeance" and that "an evolutionary approach to understanding both of these basic human traits can reveal new ways we can go about trying to make the world a more forgiving, less vengeful place," he says.
"McCullough approaches stories of extraordinary forgiveness with clear-eyed inquiry rather than misty-eyed reverence," reads the positive review in Publishers Weekly. "What conditions, he asks, are most likely to lead to forgiveness instead of revenge? How can we create those conditions at a societal, even global level? ... Accessible but unsentimental, this book will appeal to all who wish to better understand forgiveness and how to engender it." —Heather Wax