As a war historian I was pessimistic about human nature. Writing the history of the mind has changed me | Paul Ham

Humans have always been willing to slaughter each other in the name of our beliefs. But history has also shown that a peaceful world order can prevail

Having written 10 histories of war, I'd become inured to the idea that war is probably inevitable and violence intrinsic to human nature. I no longer believe that. Spending six years writing 260,000 words on the history of the human mind has compelled me to contemplate the possibility of a new path for humankind free of the terror that drives violent nationalism, religious intolerance and ideological madness.

And it has changed me from being a minstrel of doom into a steely eyed optimist.