From the tragic workings of the Holocaust and Hiroshima to contemporary examples of genocide in Bosnia and Rwanda, this collection of original essays examines the enduring impact of such cataclysmic events on the modern human psyche. Inspired by the career of Robert Jay Lifton, the distinguished contributors to this volume acknowledge Lifton's profound influence on the study of our ability to survive and overcome catastrophic circumstances. Using a wide range of disciplinary and methodological approaches, "Genocide, War and Human Survival" probes society, culture and politics in the nuclear age and explores the therapeutic value of artistic expression to witnesses and survivors of mass violence. The essays convey a message of hope by displaying the remarkable diversity of human response to extreme adversity and by concluding that intellectuals and professionals have an abiding obligation to act responsibly in a world of violence and to provide healing images of transformation.