Selected by "The New York Times Book Review" as a Notable Book of the Year The author of "The New York Times" bestseller "The Stuff of Thought" offers a controversial history of violence. Faced with the ceaseless stream of news about war, crime, and terrorism, one could easily think we live in the most violent age ever seen. Yet as New York Times bestselling author Steven Pinker shows in this startling and engaging new work, just the opposite is true: violence has been diminishing for millennia and we may be living in the most peaceful time in our species's existence. For most of history, war, slavery, infanticide, child abuse, assassinations, pogroms, gruesome punishments, deadly quarrels, and genocide were ordinary features of life. But today, Pinker shows (with the help of more than a hundred graphs and maps) all these forms of violence have dwindled and are widely condemned. How has this happened?This groundbreaking book continues Pinker's exploration of the essence of human nature, mixing psychology and history to provide a remarkable picture of an increasingly nonviolent world. The key, he explains, is to understand our intrinsic motives- the inner demons that incline us toward violence and the better angels that steer us away-and how changing circumstances have allowed our better angels to prevail. Exploding fatalist myths about humankind's inherent violence and the curse of modernity, this ambitious and provocative book is sure to be hotly debated in living rooms and the Pentagon alike, and will challenge and change the way we think about our society.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

This text describes the behaviour, attitudes and environment of the Haute Auvergne region of France, where, due to a poor police force, disputes were often settled privately. It provides an insight into the brutal world of the Auvergnats as well as the workings of the royal criminal justice system.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)

• Preface--
• 1. The emergence of criminal justice--
• 2. The actors: executioners and their status--
• 3. The stagers: the authorities and the dramatisation of executions--
• 4. The watchers: spectators at the scaffold--
• 5. The victims: delinquents and their penalties in Republican Amsterdam--
• 6. The disappearance of public executions-- Conclusion-- Appendices-- Notes-- Bibliography-- Index.
• (source: Nielsen Book Data)

Present-day unease about the treatment of lawbreakers has deep historical roots. Pieter Spierenburg traces the long period of evolution that gave rise to the modern debate about punishment, and relates it to the development of Western European society. He argues that two elements, the public character of punishment and its infliction of physical suffering, were originally at the heart of the penal system. From the sixteenth century onwards, however, these elements began to decline. Spierenburg explains that this development reflected a wider change of attitudes which, in turn, was related to changes in society at large. The book deals successively with each of the parties involved in public executions: the hangman, the magistrates, the crowd, and the victim. Among the themes dicussed are the infamous reputation of the excutioner, the functions of ceremonial, and the social background of those about to suffer.
(source: Nielsen Book Data)