I haven't read Pinker's book, but I've read Tolstoy recently.

Tolstoy doesn't present any data or historical evidence, just shares his deep intuitive wisdom.

He predicted the rise of communism and the world wars, but also inspired Ghandi and Martin Luther King and many others... .

And at times it's really scary how much similarity there exists between the popular ideas back then (which he discusses) and the ideas of today. The almost fanatic belief in human superiority over nature, the power of Reason, the scientific method, the powerful religious groups, the armies, the police, the banks..

One would think that after 2 world wars and countless experimentation with social order and extreme technological advancement, we would have evolved to a higher level of thinking.

But no, there are some principles which stay the same. We still eat, we still drink, we still hate, we still love.