War Before Civilization
War Before Civilization by Lawrence Keeleyby Lawrence Keeley
Shares rank 49 of 51 history books by recommenders
Recommended as a grounded account of what archaeology and anthropology can reconstruct about prehistoric and pre-colonial warfare, and as a view that still reflects the field's mainstream thinking.
Recommended as a grounded account of what archaeology and anthropology can reconstruct about prehistoric and pre-colonial warfare, and as a view that still reflects the field's mainstream thinking.
2 people gave an opinion
- recommend it
- 2
- criticize it
- 0
- approval share
- 100%
Recommended in 2 of 13 months
- November 2025: not recommended
- December 2025: recommended
- January 2026: not recommended
- February 2026: not recommended
- March 2026: not recommended
- April 2026: not recommended
- May 2026: recommended
- June 2026: not recommended
- July 2026: not recommended
- August 2026: not recommended
- September 2026: not recommended
- October 2026: not recommended
- November 2026: not recommended (month in progress)
Why it doesn’t carry the badge
- 2 people recommend itNeeds 10 or more, not met.
- Nobody criticizes itNeeds 2 to 1 or better, met.
- Recommended in 2 of 13 monthsNeeds 4 or more, not met.
The same three rules apply to every product, and the badge can’t be bought. How the badge works
What people say about it
The reasons people give, with the number of comments that give each one. Open a reason to read what they said.
Why people recommend it
Each mark is one comment
Reflects mainstream anthropological perspective
“Last I checked there hadn’t been major shifts away from the perspective this represents, in anthropology.”
Comment from 4 Dec 2025 in “How elites could shape mass preferences as AI reduces persuasion costs” Useful view of pre-colonial America
“A good read for some perspective on what we can piece together about what pre-colonial America was like”
Comment from 23 May 2026 in “DHS Quits Granting Green Cards–Almost”
Other history books people recommend
The four most recommended other history books, with the same counts for each, so you can compare like for like. The tick on each bar marks the 2 to 1 line the badge needs.
| Product | Recommend | Criticize | Approval | Months | Owned | Badge |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| The Dawn of Everythingby David Graeber and David Wengrow | 23 | 5 | 82% | 10 | — | Approved |
| Cadillac Desertby Marc Reisner | 18 | 0 | 100% | 11 | — | Approved |
| The Boxby Marc Levinson | 16 | 0 | 100% | 8 | — | Approved |
| Sapiensby Yuval Noah Harari | 13 | 9 | 59% | 8 | — | — |
| War Before Civilizationby Lawrence KeeleyThis page | 2 | 0 | 100% | 2 | — | — |
What people said
All 2 comments that mention it, newest first. Each links to the original comment.
“A good read for some perspective on what we can piece together about what pre-colonial America was like”
“Last I checked there hadn’t been major shifts away from the perspective this represents, in anthropology.”
Counts come from 1,795,640 Hacker News comments, November 2025 to November 2026. How we count. Report a mistake.