Will Black

Will Black has a background in social anthropology, working in specialist psychiatric services and journalism. His 2015 book, Psychopathic Cultures, drew on clinical experience and an anthropological perspective. Beyond the End of the World was based on postgraduate research into apocalyptic movements and goes beyond religion to examine how apocalyptic ideas and the charisma seen in cult leaders is embedded in politics and other areas of life.

Veneer of Civilisation (2018) brings together conflict studies, anthropology, politics and psychology to examine ways in which human civilisation can be eroded or violently torn away. It includes topical areas, such as the rise of Donald Trump and resurgence of the far-right, Daesh, the use of plundered data to manipulate voters, hybrid warfare and popular uprisings, as well as perspectives from the history of anthropology and psychiatry that help explain how we got to where we are.

He lives in Cambridge, England, and can be found on Twitter as @WillBlackWriter