Creatively and intellectually, no other species has ever come close to the achievements of humanity, yet no other species is as prone to internal conflict. We are the only species on the planet whose inherent habit of conflict constitutes the primary threat to our survival. Human history can be seen as a catalog of cold-blooded murders, blind vendettas, horrifying massacres, and destructive wars, but with developments in forensic science and modern psychology, as well as rising levels of education worldwide, is it possible to curtail our humanitarian habits? Decreased levels of violence worldwide seem to indicate that this might indeed be happening.

Colin and Damon Wilson, who have covered the field of criminology for over fifty years, offer an analysis of the full spectrum of human violence. They examine whether humans are actually as cruel and violent as is commonly believed and explore the possibility that humanity is on the brink of a fundamental change: that we are about to become truly civilized. From examining violence throughout our history - from the first hominids to the twenty-first century - touching on defining moments of change and suggesting where things have not changed since the Stone Age, they explore the latest psychological, criminological, and social efforts to understand and curb modern human violence.

Some of the questions they examine include: Were the early humans cannibals? Did the birth of civilization bring about the invention of war and slavery? Did priests and kings offer social stability, but were also the founders of the first mass murders? Is wealth ultimately the absolute weapon? They delve into slavery and Roman sadism, but also the possibility that our own repulsion for pain and cruelty is nothing more than a social construct.

They show how the humanitarian ideas of great religious innovators were quickly distorted by organized religious structures. The book spans widely, from the fifteenth century with Baron Gilles de Rais, "Bluebeard," the first known and possibly most prolific serial killer in history, to Victorian domestic murder and the invention of psychiatry, Sherlock Holmes and the invention of forensic science. From the Taiping Rebellion in China, where up to 36 million people lost their lives, to the First and Second World Wars and more recent genocides and cases of "ethnic cleansing" attacks, as well as modern terrorism.

They conclude by assessing the very realistic possibility that the internet and the greater freedom of information it has brought are gradually leading to a truly more civilized world than ever before in history.

Pages: 592, Year of Publication: 2015, Dimensions: 15x15cm