In the modern world, human nature is seldom taken into account by those who would reshape society. Nicholas Wade argues that’s a terrible mistake. Human nature, in the view of the progressive left, is easily ignored or else shaped into whatever the latest political doctrine may require. But the conservative view, that social engineering can never change human nature for the better, is not true either.   In this deeply researched survey of biological and political history, Wade reveals the effect of ideologies that ignore human nature. Marx and Engels proposed to eliminate the family as a social unit. Their followers have sought to overturn the patriarchy and divert allegiance from the family to the state. In reality, while some policies influence human nature for the better, like those that have abolished tribalism, others, such as socialism, conflict with human nature and undermine the operation of a society. Combining the scope of Yuval Noah Harari with the political savvy of Francis