Due to a sudden, unexpected passing in the family a few years ago and another more recently and my subsequent (mental) health issues stemming from that, I was unable to download this book in time to review it before it was archived as I did not visit this site for several years after the bereavements. This meant I didn't read or venture onto netgalley for years as not only did it remind me of that person as they shared my passion for reading, but I also struggled to maintain interest in anything due to overwhelming depression. I was therefore unable to download this title in time and so I couldn't give a review as it wasn't successfully acquired before it was archived. The second issue that has happened with some of my other books is that I had them downloaded to one particular device and said device is now defunct, so I have no access to those books anymore, sadly.

This means I can't leave an accurate reflection of my feelings towards the book as I am unable to read it now and so I am leaving a message of explanation instead. I am now back to reading and reviewing full time as once considerable time had passed I have found that books have been helping me significantly in terms of my mindset and mental health - this was after having no interest in anything for quite a number of years after the passings. Anything requested and approved will be read and a review written and posted to Amazon (where I am a Hall of Famer & Top Reviewer), Goodreads (where I have several thousand friends and the same amount who follow my reviews) and Waterstones (or Barnes & Noble if the publisher is American based). Thank you for the opportunity and apologies for the inconvenience.

I was really happy to be approved to review a copy of this book by Netgalley.
It covers the super interesting topic of anger, and how it is treated/viewed within different fields, for example, psychology and theology.
There is no denying that this is an exceptionally well-researched book. The sheer breadth of information the author attempted to relay was astounding. However, it was far far too dense. To me, this read like a thesis/essay, and I struggled to read it for long periods of time. Had the writing been a bit lighter, then this would be a perfect introduction to a topic that most people wouldn't know a lot about, but I do think it could do with some editing down to make it easier to read.

Many thanks to the author, publisher, and Netgalley for sending me a copy of this book in return for an honest review.

This is an interesting concise history on the topic, where anger is treated in terms of psychology, philosophy, and theory. Rosenwein does a great job in providing interesting information and trying to fit it into a well researched book.

While this is a history book, it does drag a bit, to the point I could only read it in chunks at a time. I don’t think it’s as easy to read as it may aim to be, but for those who don’t know much on the topic or want to go more into detail than this is perfect.

Request approved and then book archived within several hours so did not get chance to download or read it.

This was very well written and structured, although I knew a lot of the stuff mentioned (my fault because I studied psychology). But if you are new to the subject then this is a concise and easy-to-read introduction into emotions and in particular anger within society.

This is an extremely comprehensive investigation into the emotion of anger - something we will all claim to know about, but I was certainly unaware of the vast majority of information in this book. It provides a detailed history of the treatment of anger, and an exploration into the many theoretical, psychological, scientific and philosophical approaches to the emotion.

This book encourages the reader to challenge their default response to anger, or to at least examine where our responses come from. Reading about the Buddhist response, I found that it particularly tested my inability to let go of anger and it revealed a much ignored area for growth.

This really is a history book, which is not exactly what I was expecting. It did briefly venture into the more “lab-based” ideas of anger, but this was a small part of a much wider and incredibly dense historical investigation. At times the density was too much for me, and I found myself unengaged at certain points. It felt like an information overload, which may be exactly what some readers are looking for, but I personally struggled with the wealth of information presented.

What I loved about this book, is how it highlighted the complexity of the human existence. We cannot pin down emotions, or fit them into neat and tidy boxes. Language, personal experience, historical changes and the flexible and ever-changing nature of emotion make it pretty much impossible to establish a solid concept of anger. Thus, this book presented many of the ideas surrounding it, both past and present, providing options and ideas of how we as individuals may choose to approach anger, and all other emotions for that matter.
The book linked past theory with present ideas really well, tracing the origins of many current psychotherapeutic approaches.

The conclusion of this book suggests a summary of much of the thought explored in this book. It celebrates the naming and labelling of emotion, but acknowledges the problematic nature of the umbrella term. It suggests that “morality is at the centre of most discussions of anger” - is it wrong of right to feel anger? Does it help or hinder? I think this book shows brilliantly that there isn’t really an answer to these questions. And perhaps that is completely ok.


Either way, my biggest takeaway is that I’m called to the Eskimo life - avoiding confrontation, making a joke out of everything and embracing my passive aggressive side.

While this takes its lead from history of the emotions research, it seems more teleological as it heads towards anger in current (at the time of writing) politics: feminist activism, Black LIves Matter, Trump. It's certainly interdisciplinary as it draws on philosophy (Seneca, Aristotle, Descartes), anthropology, medical science, psychology, psychotherapy. It positions anger as a social construct, an emotion shaped by history and 'emotional communities'; and focuses firstly on anger as vice, something to be avoided or managed (buddhism, stoicism); and anger as virtue, especially in fuelling moves for social justice (even though, 'justice' is itself a historicised word with multiple meanings according to social matrices).

Interesting and wide-ranging though less analytical than I expected: this summarises a lot of philosophical thinking without adding anything new and mixes it up with personal stories from Rosenwein's own upbringing, a therapy case-study, and current issues on anger in public and political life.