Pickett examines the causes of the unprecedented escalation of conflict and violence in our age and links them to the major justifications for authority in the modern world. These justifications—liberalism, nationalism, and socialism—are anchored in an 18th-century anthropology exemplified by the works of Herder and Goethe. The author focuses on Germany as an exemplary case study of the development of nationalism. This study reflects the new emphasis on developing cultural and intertextual studies.