Explores what gives an individual a sense of social responsibility, what leads to the development of care and compassion, and what it means to put the welfare of others ahead of one's own Having been saved himself from the Nazis at the age of 16, as the result of one non-Jewish family's altruism. Oliner has made a lifelong study of the nature of altruism. Weaving together moving personal testimony and years of observation, Oliner makes sense of the factors that elicit altruistic behaviour - exceptional acts by ordinary people in ordinary times.
Author Biography
Samuel P. Oliner is emeritus professor of sociology at Humboldt State University and founder-director of the university's Altruistic Personality and Prosocial Behaviour Institute.
Reviews
"You'll get a psychological lift reading about these people. What heroes have you known? There could be one next door."
