Junger is better discussing the troops coming home from Afghanistan and the Middle East with the difficulties of adjustment necessary when moving from the tribe of the military, a 'boy's club' back into the mainland and family 'tribe' and especially if they had been physically or psychologically damaged.

But then Junger is not concerned about women at all, this, like War is a book about men. Similarly the position of women within the tribes varied from near-equality to utter subjugation. He ignores the fact that each tribe had a different culture and a great many were warlike and peace was often kept between different tribes because their methods of torture were so extreme.

romantic and New Age and spiritual and even paleo. Their life was so idyllic that even white prisoners would refuse to return to their communities etc. Junger has his head in the clouds about Native American tribes. Well-researched and compellingly written, this timely look at how veterans react to coming home will reconceive our approach to veteran’s affairs and help us to repair our current social dynamic. But can the government ever truly eliminate the challenges faced by returning veterans? Or is the problem deeper, woven into the very fabric of our modern existence? Perhaps our circumstances are not so bleak, and simply understanding that beneath our modern guises we all belong to one tribe or another would help us face not just the problems of our nation but of our individual lives as well. Though these numbers present an implicit call to action, the government is only just taking steps now to address the problems veterans face when they return home. Drawing from history, psychology, and anthropology, bestselling author Sebastian Junger shows us just how at odds the structure of modern society is with our tribal instincts, arguing that the difficulties many veterans face upon returning home from war do not stem entirely from the trauma they’ve suffered, but also from the individualist societies they must reintegrate into.Ī 2011 study by the Canadian Forces and Statistics Canada reveals that 78 percent of military suicides from 1972 to the end of 2006 involved veterans. These are the very same behaviors that typify good soldiering and foster a sense of belonging among troops, whether they’re fighting on the front lines or engaged in non-combat activities away from the action. There are ancient tribal human behaviors-loyalty, inter-reliance, cooperation-that flare up in communities during times of turmoil and suffering. Sebastian Junger, the bestselling author of War and The Perfect Storm, takes a critical look at post-traumatic stress disorder and the many challenges today’s returning veterans face in modern society.

Tribe by Sebastian Junger