Zimbardo, P. G. (2007). The Lucifer Effect – How Good People Turn Evil. Random House, Inc. A book that attempts to answer the question why good people perpetrate acts of evil. Zimbardo gives his answer and incorporates this in the larger context of history. His conclusion is based primarily on the events that transpired in the basement of Stanford University and became known as the Stanford Prison Experiment. His conclusions are clear: people are highly sensitive in their behavior to the immense power of situational forces, mostly due to underestimating the situation and its effects. Evil acts come when the situation allows for their appearance. Following in the footsteps of this conclusion, Zimbardo describes his role in another event that placed a powerful stamp on recent history: the abuse of prisoners by soldiers in the Abu Ghraib prison. A book that can be seen as the confession of the author, a detailed account of one of the worlds’ most famous social psychological experiments, an attack on a government which allowed a terrible situation to unfold despite knowledge on its consequences, a retribution after injustice, a warning about how situations can form our behaviors, but also a hopeful message that the same forces that drive people into committing evil deeds, can also drive people into great acts of goodness, or at least avoid the influence of evil forces. A pleasant read with an important message. Recommended by Arno van Voorst, M. Sc.