On Violence (Harvest Book) First Edition,

In this essay, Hannah Arendt examines violence and political power in response to the escalation of global warfare during the 1960s. She observes that the glorification of violence has become widespread beyond militant and extremist circles, noting that public opposition to violence following World War II has diminished, as have the nonviolent philosophies of the early civil rights movement. Arendt investigates how this shift occurred and its potential consequences by exploring the relationship between war and politics, violence and power. She analyzes the nature of violent behavior and its various causes. Central to her argument is a challenge to Mao Tse-tung's assertion that "power grow out of the barrel of a gun." Instead, Arendt contends that "power and violence are opposite; where the one rules absolutely, the other is absent."