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Colin Wilson
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A Criminal History of Mankind Hardcover – November 1, 2005

by Colin Wilson (Author)
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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 Rome the ‘razor king of the Mediterranean’, the mindless destruction of the Vandals, the mass slaughter of Genghis Khan, Tamurlane, Ivan the Terrible, Vlad the Impaler and more. Each age has a unique characteristic pattern of crime. In the past three centuries crime has changed and evolved until the sex killer and the mass murderer have become symbols of all that is worst about our civilization. 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 a completely new approach to the history and psychology of human violence.
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  1. Print length
    702 pages
  2. Language
    English
  3. Publisher
    Mercury Books
  4. Publication date
    November 1, 2005
  5. Dimensions
    6.5 x 2.25 x 9.25 inches
  6. ISBN-10
    1845600029
  7. ISBN-13
    978-1845600020
  8. See all details
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Editorial Reviews

About the Author

Colin Wilson lives in Cornwall with his wife. He was born in Leicester in 1931 and left school at sixteen working in several jobs before becoming a full-time writer with the publication of ‘The Outsider’. He is a renowned authority on the paranormal and is the author of over fifty books, with subjects ranging from mysticism to criminology. He has also written articles, plays and contributed to several newspapers and journals. He regards himself primarily as a philosopher concerned with the meaning of human existence, but unlike many ‘existentialists’, his outlook is basically optimistic.

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Mercury Books; 2nd edition (November 1, 2005)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Hardcover ‏ : ‎ 702 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 1845600029
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-1845600020
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 3.6 pounds
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.5 x 2.25 x 9.25 inches
  • Customer Reviews:

About the author

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Colin Wilson

Colin Wilson

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Colin Henry Wilson (26 June 1931 – 5 December 2013) was an English writer, philosopher and novelist. He also wrote widely on true crime, mysticism and the paranormal. Wilson called his philosophy "new existentialism" or "phenomenological existentialism", and maintained his life work was "that of a philosopher, and (his) purpose to create a new and optimistic existentialism".

Bio from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia. Photo by Tom Ordelman Thor NL (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY-SA 2.5-2.0-1.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5-2.0-1.0)], via Wikimedia Commons.

Customer reviews

4.2 out of 5 stars
90 global ratings

Top reviews from the United States

Richard Collins
5.0 out of 5 stars Never will be out of date
Reviewed in the United States on February 22, 2017
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This was not what I expected. It starts out as a catalogue of criminals and crimes, but then Wilson opens his view to include the whole of human history so that the reader can, as he has, see the entire picture of human development. The concept of "the Right Man", who seems so in control, but who completely loses it when insulted, or when he thinks he has been insulted, or blocked in some way, and who becomes a slavering beast, an out of control monster whose revenge is totally out of proportion to the initial incident. This can be an Alexander of Macedonia or an Adolph Hitler, but it can also just as well be a common (if there is such a thing) criminal.
Wilson takes us from ancient Sumer on through the Greek city-states, illuminating the decline of Athens along the way, and on to Rome, the rise of Christianity (and how it lost its way as well), to Mohammed and the rise (yes, and fall) of Islam, to Luther and Calvin and the splintering of Christianity (which allowed a new world of freedom of thought ironically) and into the games and contests of Europe's kings that brought us to today's world. And now we're back to crime and the patterns of crime and how this is a miniature of the larger picture of the history it plays out against.
Finally Wilson looks at what can be done to bring us to a saner world, one where crime is finally seen as a failed attempt to satisfy man's needs (a la Maslow) and we all can live fulfilling lives without being a threat to each other.
Although he has passed on, his insights into the motives and motivations of men either in power or striving for it could unlock the mess we find ourselves in here at the beginning of the Twenty First Century.
This is a book that all should read. I am definitely passing it on to my own children and to theirs as well.
11 people found this helpful
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Truth Seeker
5.0 out of 5 stars Sweeping Panorama of History Like You've Never Seen Before
Reviewed in the United States on September 20, 2016
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One of the most fascinating books I have ever read. I've never seen anything like it. Admittedly, you will wade through lots of blood and gore when you read it, but the man tells it like it really was down through history. This book is not just about individual criminals but about the incredible savagery and butchery that went on in the name of conquest by people of every race and creed all over the world. After reading this I will never romanticize any king, queen or emperor of the past ever again.

The author explains why people were so incredibly savage for so many centuries. To my mind, fixing the problem may take many more unless we get another jump in evolution at another point in history, as he discusses happened in the past, although he couldn't explain how it happened. I don't believe any conventional materialist could. I have my own ideas about that, but it requires thinking outside the box . Even so, compared to people of the past, we seem light years ahead civilization-wise right now.

You can't read this book fast, but it is well worth the trouble. I will never forget what I read here and will keep it as a permanent reference book in my library. I wish everyone would or could read it.
8 people found this helpful
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D. Hill
5.0 out of 5 stars Wonderful prose and research
Reviewed in the United States on July 13, 2007
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I bought my initial copy of this book almost 30 years ago. I am drawn to re-read it every four to five years and everytime, am overwhelmed by the effortless blending of research and information into an exceptionably readable style. An academic myself, I know how difficult it is to explain complex ideas in simple terms, so I salute Colin Wilson for his fluid style and readability.

Essentialy, Mr Wilson's argument asks: "Can people be bad?" His discussion and evidence suggests firmly that, yes, people can be; which negates the "Nature Vs Nurture" debate which has raged steadily for so many years. His annecdotal examples support his hypothsis in a believable and compelling manner. I find this a facinating insight into the pychological make up of the distanced person, who views their fellow human almost as an abstract, whilst thinking: "As I am above this, I shall and can, do as I please."

A truly insightful study into the human mind and its depths. Essential reading for anyone who has ever wondered about the fundamental nature of humankind.
10 people found this helpful
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Knight
5.0 out of 5 stars Wish I had knew what can be learned from this book 35 years ago.
Reviewed in the United States on September 17, 2015
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This is an excellent synopsis of the ugly side of what I think of as fairly common aspects of the human condition. I wish I had read this about 35 years ago when I was a young man. The subjects of this book are classic examples of among other things, narcissistic, megalomaniacs and despots. These characteristics, particularly narcissism and megalomania, are a matter of degrees and are frequently found in lesser degrees in the general population. The insights gleaned from this book would have been a big help in understanding, dealing with, or just coping with many of the most difficult people I've encountered throughout life, especially in my career. The knowledge in this book has many applications beyond understanding the criminal mindset. To the extent that power corrupts and absolute power absolutely corrupts the application of this knowledge spans politics, religion, business and nearly any situation or organization where those in or aspiring to leadership positions are somewhat motivated by the control embodied in leadership.
3 people found this helpful
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Applied Historian
5.0 out of 5 stars Great Introduction in Crime and Criminals through history.
Reviewed in the United States on June 6, 2019
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This book is loaded with information about crime and criminals. The first time I read it in 1984 I was amazed at the quality and quantity of information contained in it's pages. If you need information on the Criminal History of Mankind, this is the book. The only drawback is there has been no update since the middle 80's that I can find.
The in time periods covered it is a phenomenal resource.
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars A Must to Read for Understanding Human Interaction
Reviewed in the United States on November 29, 2015
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I have the book and have read it 3 times. Could not find the book, so I bought the book to read on my Kindle. As always happens, after buying the Kindle version, I found the book:) . Kindle Version is a lot easier and handier to read. Back to the content of the book. The book is very well organized. Starts with why book was written, to phases of human development, to the History of Human Criminal Activity with actual historical accounts. Reading this book had been an aid for me. It helps me in my perspective of Human interaction.
4 people found this helpful
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Top reviews from other countries

Rallen
5.0 out of 5 stars My Desert island book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on February 14, 2019
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This is simply my favourite book of all time and would be my ‘Desert Island choice’ if I was marooned and could only pick one book – it would be this one. Breath-taking in scope and time – it really is an epic piece of work, but being Colin Wilson it’s so easy to read and so accessible. Taking as it’s premise a quote from George Bernard Shaw that ‘An artist is judged by his highest achievements and a criminal by his lowest’ Wilson doesn’t just dwell on the worst elements of the various civilisations but also the art and literature. It is fascinating to read about how the very first novel blew peoples mind and completely changed how people thought and felt. He even writes about the first person who climbed a hill just to look at the view, this is hard to fathom as we do this all the time now – however no one had ever thought to actually do this at one point in history – this was actually a radical intellectually evolutionary jump.

In some ways I think this title is reductive – yes there is a lot of crime in here and how different types of crime came into being as mankind evolved and civilisations developed (sex crime is a relatively recent crime) and its explained how it all came about but this feels more of a general (and rip roaring) history of the world via all the famous murders, writers, Kings, Queens, Popes, visionary’s, philosophers, wars. Religion and guru’s (the Renaissance is my favourite bit) It is quite simply the best book (not fiction) I have ever read*

*favourite fiction book - Rebecca - best fiction - The Sea the Sea
5 people found this helpful
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Amazon Customer
5.0 out of 5 stars One of the best books I've read
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on December 13, 2017
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One of the best books I've read. I read it in the 80's and now re-reading it and it's not lost any of its original impact. A page turner for sure
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dai bin
5.0 out of 5 stars In their heads.
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on May 4, 2018
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A really useful book for my course.
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Robert Potter
4.0 out of 5 stars A great entertaining read, and an interesting take on the development of criminality
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 8, 2011
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I actually bought this for one of my sons, and haven't read it for some years, although I have my own copy and it is on my re-read list: so this review is culled from memory rather than fresh perusal.

Wilson starts from a thesis that criminal behaviour is essentially a childish form of behaviour, taking short cuts to get something for nothing rather than working rationally towards it. Alongside this, the type of crimes people commit can be understood in terms of Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs - physiological (ie food), security (shelter), belongingness and love needs (roots, feeling wanted), esteem (to be liked and respected) and self-actualisation (to know and understand things, create, solve problems for the fun of it). Thus, up until the 19th century or so, most crimes were concerned with meeting basic needs of survival: then, with many people having enough food and shelter, domestic murders became more common, as people looked to protect their security against wayward or unsatisfactory spouses. In the 20th century, we see crimes of self-esteem, such as Leopold and Loeb (who killed just to see if they could get away with it), or Charles Whitman (Austin tower shooter) and Charles Starkweather (rampage across Nebraska), taking revenge on society for imagined slights and not taking them seriously as the heroic figures they conceived themselves to be.

Wilson sees crime as related to left-brain dominance, which (very summarily) makes people orderly (even rigid), logical, practical, critical, perhaps unemotional (and less inclined to empathise with others). On a larger scale, Wilson views empire-building as an expression of left-brainedness, often in past driven by extreme left-brained people who obliterated dissent. This historic perspective stretches from Assyria to Stalin.

This is a very simplistic summary of about 650 pages in my hardback edition. Whether all of this is true, I cannot judge; but it is a very entertaining read and very wide-raging in scope. A codicil to Wilson's ideas (the book was published in 1984) may be seen in the number of rage murders (= expressions of self esteem/self-actualisation in Wilson's terms) which have taken place in the last 30 years or so, as people have reacted to what they see as an overbearing and oppressive society. For more on this, I thoroughly recommend Mark Ames's "Going Postal"  Going Postal: Rage, Murder and Rebellion in America .
5 people found this helpful
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peter
5.0 out of 5 stars Gr8 book
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 4, 2019
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Interesting
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