Summary

Why, in this supposedly rational, early twenty-first century, do large groups of people hate other groups of people and murder them wholesale? Pick up the paper any day of the week: Terrorists, torturers, mass murderers in and out of uniform, extremists of all nationalities, races, ethnic groups, and religions. How do such people justify their violence? What motivates them? What social conditions contribute to climates of hatred? How do those victimized by bigotry fight back? In The Hate Handbook: Oppressors, Victims and Fighters Martin Oppenheimer sets out to answer these questions in clear, conversational, and at times shockingly frank prose. Oppenheimer focuses on cases in recent history, from incidents of police brutality to Nazi executions, from wartime aerial bombing to suicide bombers, in order to shed sociological and psychological light on the behavior of both perpetrators and victims. Heralded by many as a terrific book for the layman and scholar alike, The Hate Handbook is an important core text for sociology, social psychology, history and political science courses, especially those focusing on minorities, conflict and social movements.