Includes bibliographical references and index.

Affiliation and recognition -- What a society isn't (and what it is) -- What vertebrates get out of being in a society -- On the move -- Individual recognition -- Anonymous societies -- Ants and humans, apples and oranges -- The ultimate nationalists -- Anonymous humans -- Hunter-gatherers until recent times -- Band societies -- The nomadic life -- Settling down -- The deep history of human anonymous societies -- Pant hoots and passwords -- Functioning (or not) in societies -- Sensing others -- Stereotypes and stories -- The great chain -- Grand unions -- Putting kin in their place -- Peace and conflict -- Is conflict necessary? -- Playing well with others -- The life and death of societies -- The lifecycle of societies -- The dynamic "us" -- Inventing foreigners and the death of societies -- Tribes to nations -- Turning a village into a conquering society -- Building and breaking a nation -- From captive to neighbor...to global citizen? -- The rise of ethnicities -- Divided we stand -- Are societies necessary? -- Conclusion: identities shift and societies shatter -- Acknowledgments -- Notes -- References -- Index.