A criminal history of Mankind

Colin Wilson tells of violence from Peking Man to the Mafia, taking into account the calculated sadism of the Assyrians, the opportunism of the Greek pirates, the brutality that made Rome the ruler of the Mediterranean, the mindless destruction of the Vandals, the mass slaughter of Genghis Khan, Tamurlane, Ivan the Terrible, Vlad the Impaler & more. Each age has a unique characteristic pattern of crime. In the past three centuries crime has changed. The sex killer & mass murderer are symbols of all that is worst about our civilization. But this is not just a study in human depravity. It's an attempt to place crime in perspective against discovery, exploration and invention. The result is a new approach to the history & psychology of violence.