Key points

A classic social-psychology study left out culture and so suffers from bias.

Halloween, famous for spookiness, is also about sharing and generosity.

Adult Halloween fears have more to do with fraying neighborhood ties than with real threats.

The main characters of Lord of the Flies, William Golding’s gripping post-war novel, were children evacuated for refuge from wartime British cities that had fallen under indiscriminate Nazi bombardment. En route, their plane, shot down by a Luftwaffe fighter, crashed on a remote and uninhabited island, killing the pilot, and leaving the young castaways alone to organize their survival and fend for themselves.

The book has sold 150 million copies since its publication in 1954 and has passed from hand to hand to captivate many millions

See Full Page