"In fascinating detail, Amato explores how the concept of twos--contrasts, comparisons, polarities, dualities and contradictions--has been fundamental to human thought from infant development to national identities. In Amato's telling, two becomes, literally, who we are. His wide-ranging mind ranges across history, religion, art, philosophy, war, politics, and language. The book devotes significant space to essential figures who've considered those topics at length: Montaigne, William James and Isaiah Berlin. Here, too, are Aristotle, Augustine, Aquinas, Descartes, Dostoevsky, and Freud."--Publisher's website.