Encyclopaedia Of Modern Murder 1962 82

Creatively and intellectually there is no other species that has ever come close to equalling humanity?s achievements, but nor is any other species as suicidally prone to internecine conflict. We are the only species on the planet whose ingrained habit of conflict constitutes the chief threat to our own survival. Human history can be seen as a catalogue of cold-hearted murders, mindless blood-feuds, appalling massacres and devastating wars, but, with developments in forensic science and modern psychology, and with raised education levels throughout the world, might it soon be possible to reign in humanity?s homicidal habits? Falling violent crime statistics in every part of the world seem to indicate that something along those lines might indeed be happening. Colin and Damon Wilson, who between them have been covering the field of criminology for over fifty years, offer an analysis of the overall spectrum of human violence. They consider whether human beings are in reality as cruel and violent as is generally believed and they explore the possibility that humankind is on the verge of a fundamental change: that we are about to become truly civilised. As well as offering an overview of violence throughout our history ? from the first hominids to the twenty-first century, touching on key moments of change and also indicating where things have not changed since the Stone Age ? they explore the latest psychological, forensic and social attempts to understand and curb modern human violence. To begin with, they examine questions such as: Were the first humans cannibalistic? Did the birth of civilisation also lead to the invention of war and slavery? Priests and kings brought social stability, but were they also the instigators of the first mass murders? Is it in fact wealth that is the ultimate weapon? They look at slavery and ancient Roman sadism, but also the possibility that our own distaste for pain and cruelty is no more than a social construct. They show how the humanitarian ideas of the great religious innovators all too quickly became distorted by organised religious structures. The book ranges widely, from fifteenth-century 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 and Sherlock Holmes and the invention of forensic science; from the fifteenth-century Taiping Rebellion in China, in which up to 36 million died to the First and Second World Wars and more recent genocides and instances of `ethnic cleansing?, and contemporary terrorism. They conclude by assessing the very real possibility that the internet and the greater freedom of information it has brought is leading, gradually, to a profoundly more civilised world than at any time in the past.

While there is no easy way to define terrorism, it may generally be viewed as a method of violence in which civilians are targeted with the objective of forcing a perceived enemy into submission by creating fear, demoralization, and political friction in the population under attack. At one time a marginal field of study in the social sciences, terrorism is now very much in center stage. The 1970s terrorist attacks by the PLO, the Provisional Irish Republican Army, the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine, the Japanese Red Army, the Unabomber, Aum Shinrikyo, Timothy McVeigh, the World Trade Center attacks, the assault on a school in Russia, and suicide bombers have all made the term "terrorism" an all-too-common part of our vocabulary. This edition of Political Terrorism was originally published in the 1980s, well before some of the horrific events noted above. This monumental collection of definitions, conceptual frameworks, paradigmatic formulations, and bibliographic sources is being reissued in paperback now as a resource for the expanding community of researchers on the subject of terrorism. This is a carefully constructed guide to one of the most urgent issues of the world today. When the first edition was originally published, Choice noted, "This extremely useful reference tool should be part of any serious social science collection." Chronicles of Culture called it "a tremendously comprehensive book about a subject that any who have anything to lose--from property to liberty, life to limbs--should be forewarned against." Alex P. Schmid received his Ph.D. from the University of Zrich, Switzerland, and is a professor in the Department of Political Science at Leiden University. He is the coauthor, with Albert J. Jongman, of Soviet Military Interventions since 1945, available from Transaction. Albert J. Jongman is principal researcher for PIOOM, the Interdisciplinary Research Programme on Causes of Human Rights Violations, and has been a research assistant at the SIPRI in Sweden. He is the author of Monitoring Human Rights Violations (State Violence, State Terrorism, and Human Rights).Irving Louis Horowitz is Hannah Arendt Distinguished University Professor Emeritus of Sociology and Political Science at Rutgers University, and the chairman and editorial director of Transaction Publishers.

This new edition of Volume II (last published in 1994) has been extensively expanded and revised in all areas. Fully updated, the new edition includes major changes and covers a span of topics from archaeology through medieval history to statistics. It includes philosophy, psychology, religion, social sciences, geography, biology and history. All areas have been completely updated with additional material in economics, business and management.

Volume 2 of this guide contains descriptions of 8300 plus critically evaluated & recommended reference resources available in all formats. Organized by Universal Dewey Classification, the topics covered are those usually found in the 100s--Philosophy & Psychology, 200s--Religion, 300s--Social Sciences, & the 900s--Geography, Biography & History. This volume particularly reflects the proliferation of travel & tourist guides, & reference works on Eastern Europe & Central Asia following the collapse of communism. Over the last few years an enormous expansion has also been noted of reference works in both religion & philosophy. Volume 1 covers Science & Technology. Volume 3 covers Generalia, Languages & Literature, & the Arts. Recommended in: Choice, Reference Reviews, American Reference Books Annual.