Drawing on ethnography, literature, psychotherapy, and the theory of René Girard, Mark R. Anspach explores some of the fundamental mechanisms of human interaction in this fresh look at vengeance, gift exchange, and the emergence of transcendence. From the peacemaking rituals of prestate societies to the paradoxical structure of consciousness, Anspach takes the reader on an intellectual journey that begins with the problem of how to deceive violence and ends with the riddle of how one can deceive oneself.

Mark R. Anspach is an American anthropologist and social theorist whose writings have appeared in nine languages. He is affiliated with the LIAS research team at the Institut Marcel Mauss, École des Hautes Études en Sciences Sociales, Paris.