The Anatomy of Peace

By: Arbinger Institute

Narrated by: Oliver Wyman

Length: 7 hrs and 12 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!

11 of 12 people found this review helpful

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.

8 of 9 people found this review helpful

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!

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

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"

7 of 8 people found this review helpful

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.

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Eye Opening & Life Changing

This is a very insightful book. It helped me open my eyes to my own actions.

3 of 4 people found this review helpful

Can't recommend enough.

So far, I have read this twice.
I will probably read it again.
There is alot to consider here.

great lesson. well told and explained great book

I loved it I really got alot of good out of it. learned who I am

Awesome

Awesome book. A must read for every human being. A truly amazing book. Thank you for this Arbinger Institute.

transformative

I love both how simple and complex these teachings are. They handle the most complex issues and struggles by leading us to the lowest common denominator... our way of being.

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.