As most people would agree, the 20th century was marked by some of the bloodiest and most horrific events ever recorded in history. 'history. Why do words such as Hiroshima, Rwanda, The Final Solution, A Great Leap Forward, The Great Purge and many others conjure up such vivid images of blood, torture and murder in our minds? And despite these horrific images, what drives humans to commit such crimes against humanity again and again? These are the kinds of questions that critically acclaimed ethical philosopher Jonathan Glover attempts to answer in the book he spent more than a decade writing, Humanity: A Moral History of the 20th Century. Through humanity, Glover attempts to answer these questions in a way that will provide a solution as to how we can prevent ourselves from repeating these crimes in the future. Jonathan Glover, born in 1941, is a British philosopher known for his studies of ethics. Earlier in his career he was a fellow and tutor at New College, Oxford, but is currently a professor at King's College London. Much like Professor RJ Rummel (1932-2014) of the University of Hawaii who revived and redefined the term democide, he believes that humanity and morality have seen their worst and most questionable times during the 20th century. Throughout his book, Glover considers the moral predispositions that drive humanity to commit barbaric acts of genocide such as those committed by so many world leaders before this time. Each chapter of Glover's analysis focuses on a historical event that he tears apart and attempts to make sense of. Although this approach to the book can sometimes be a little distracting and confusing, it must be understood that a simple ethical and philosophical analysis of these horrific events is not enough...... middle of paper ......n L humanity Glover gives a somewhat frightening representation of the 20th century. Certainly, the 20th century was undoubtedly extremely bloody, but some professionals, such as psychologist Steven Pinker, a Harvard professor, argue Glover's opposite. Pinker, in his book The Better Angles of Our Nature: Why Violence Has Declined, argues that the 20th century was actually the least bloody in history because human nature changed dramatically. It presents figures intended to prove that tribal wars were nine times deadlier than genocide and war in the 20th century. Despite these counterarguments, Jonathan Glover gives an extraordinary analysis of humanity, morality, and ethics in the 20th century, which may give humans a solution for how we should all proceed to prevent genocide and the like. war crimes in the future of our species..