Colin Wilson tells the story of human 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 the Romans 'razor' kings of the Mediterranean, the mass slaughter of Genghis Khan, Tamurlane, Ivan the Terrible, Vlad the Impaler and the mass murderers of today. But this is not just a study in human depravity: it is an attempt to place crime in perspective against human discovery, exploration and invention. The result is an understanding to the history and psychology of human violence. The book, which was originally published in 1983, has been updated and illustrations added. In addition it covers the change that has evolved until the sex killers and the mass murderers have become symbols of all that