The Anatomy of Peace

Resolving the Heart of Conflict

By: Arbinger Institute

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 7 hrs and 8 mins

Publisher's Summary

Through an intriguing story of parents struggling with their troubled children and with their own personal problems, The Anatomy of Peace shows how to get past the preconceived ideas and self-justifying reactions that keep us from seeing the world clearly and dealing with it effectively.

Yusuf al-Falah, an Arab, and Avi Rozen, a Jew, each lost his father at the hands of the other's ethnic cousins. As the story unfolds, we discover how they came together, how they help warring parents and children to come together, and how we too can find our way out of the struggles that weigh us down.

The choice between peace and war lies within us. As one of the characters says, "A solution to the inner war solves the outer war as well." This book offers more than hope - it shows how we can prevent the conflicts that cause so much pain in our lives and in the world.

©2006 Arbinger Properties, Inc. (P)2008 BBC Audiobooks America

Everyone Should Read This Book

Every person, organization, community and nation can benefit from the ideas and principles set forth in "The Anatomy of Peace". Each of us will undoubtedly recognize our own patterns of justification as we enter into conflict with others around us whether they be our loved ones, our coworkers or our neighbors. This relatively short book is told from the viewpoint of a father who reluctantly attends a workshop for parents of "troubled teens". Through him and the others running or attending the workshop, we learn to recognize unproductive patterns in our behavior which are caused and perpetuate a "heart at war". As if we are attending the workshop ourselves, readers are given the framework to recognize these patterns and to ultimately work toward a "heart at peace". I'm recommending this to my family and friends, but I would also encourage our leaders (religious, commercial, and political) to read and heed as well!

BTW... first time I've been so compelled to write a review!

A Heart of Peace...

Like its forerunner, "Leadership and Self Deception", this book will take you on a journey of self discovery and guide you into looking at how you are "being" in the world and to one another. "The Anatomy of Peace" will show you how to turn your warring heart into a peaceful heart. Listening to the audio is like attending one of the live training sessions. And the fact that it is told in fable form makes it an awesome experience.

FANTASTIC!

What was one of the most memorable moments of The Anatomy of Peace?

Agent of Change: By working the bottom of the pyramid, I can influence changes at the top and all around me.

Which character – as performed by Oliver Wyman – was your favorite?

Carol, Lou's wife. She felt like a very strong woman, and at the end, she learned how to be a better wife and mother.

Any additional comments?

This book is fantastic! I got so much out of it! I plan on listening to it again and am considering buying the paperback edition so I can make notes. I am asking several family members to take a look at it and I have talked to my therapist about it. I really feel more Peaceful, since starting to work the ideas from this book.

Awesome Book

This was an easy listen! The material is easy to follow and beneficial. Anyone who works in the public forum, is related to anybody, or even has interactions with human beings should read this book. It will change your interactions and show you who you really are!

life changing

This is a life changing, simple, but not easy concept. Bring it from your head to your heart, life will become an amazing adventure in seeing the choice of a "heart of love" or a "heart of war"

An absolute MUST read/listen for everyone!

This book and the material it covers could be the key to world peace.

I am so grateful for what it has taught me. The only regret is that I didn't get to learn this in school 40 years ago.

The performance was flawless, captivating and engaging and the story weaved the material into a comprehensible and captivating tale having me long for more... I guess it is time to revisit The Leadership and Self Deception now 🙂

Very helpful book!

I read this book years ago. It had a profound impact on the way I saw things then, just as it has now. The unique framework presented here offers a way out of conflict with others. If you are struggling with a family member, a friend, or someone you work with, I highly recommend this book.

The only challenge with the audiobook version, is that you can't see the visual aids. So I picked up another hard copy of the book as well.

I have a feeling that I'll be rereading it again and again.

Poor chapter arrangement in Audible

Why aren't the chapters broken out to match the book? The Audible chapters are a poor arrangement.

amazing

this is the best book I've ever read on how to build meaningful influential lasting relationship

Nice approach for teaching.

If you could sum up The Anatomy of Peace in three words, what would they be?

The book is written as a story and via the story intends to teach a method for being at peace with yourself.
Half way through the book I felt I learned nothing and intended to jump to my next learning.
BUT,
Because the book is written as a story I was tempted to keep listening.
And then the story made me cry, twice!
So I completed the book.
I feel I have learned a new concept which I started considering on my day to day interaction.
I can also understand why the concept is more teachable via a story.
And overall I'm happy to have read the book.
However I don't know if I would recommend this to others as I'm not sure many would like this story approach for teaching.

a timely and timeless book.

One of those rare books that can actually effectuate change. A guide not only for individuals, but also for families and societies.

Great book and wonderful lesson.

Digs deeper into the lessons established in the first book, leadership and self deception. The audio is enjoyable with a great speaker and a good range of voices for the different characters

review

loved it and helped me understand my struggles and start seeing them in a different way

Interesting content but felt the story format was a bit patronising

This book was recommended to me and whilst the message and process has merit and is useful the fact that it needed a story (I still have no idea if it is factual or fictional) which at times was a bit cringeworthy was a bit patronising. Also, the narrators vocal talents and characterisation showed promise, at times it was a bit scary...

Upshot is don't be put off by the format or strange voices, persevere because there is some important stuff in here.

great follow-up which deepens understanding

What did you like most about The Anatomy of Peace?

The book built on the principles taught in Leadership and Self-deception and deepened the understanding whilst at the same time broadening the subject matter to cover non-work matters.

What did you like best about this story?

It was a genuine story which you could believe.

What aspect of Oliver Wyman’s performance might you have changed?

I thought the different voices were great and added something to the book.

Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?

It really made me think.

Any additional comments?

It would be really useful in this and a number of other books to have some diagrams which could shown in the app as well when they are being described in the audio.

Made impenetrable by long, poor story narrative

What would have made The Anatomy of Peace better?

This book aims to teach valuable conflict management tools via the means of a complex and contrived narrative between a set of characters, generally based on mid-east conflict issues. But though the learning points are good - I felt they were completely obscured by a poor attempt at narrating an imagined group based discussion. Personally, I found this narrative style boring, irritating and a bit patronising. I'd have preferred teaching points followed by examples, rather than a very long and boring fake drama narrative that tries to get learning points across. The author is simply not good at writing this type of drama based narrative. I struggled to force myself to finish. What a shame.