This ambitious and magisterial work asks questions about the history of  violence and presents rich case materials to illustrate broad trends and  nuances of the culture of violence over most of human history. As a key  theme throughout history, violence has played a central role in, one  could argue, most events, movements and countries. This collection  considers how violence can offer an insight into societies of the past.

In  a work that spans 6 periods, 8 key themes within the history of  violence are considered by 54 experts and can be followed through the  ages. Individual volume editors ensure the cohesion of the whole, and  its structure allows the reader to either hone in one particular period,  or trace a specific theme across the ages through each of the volumes.

The  six volumes cover: 1. Antiquity (500 BCE to 800 CE); 2. The Middle Ages  (800 to 1450); 3. The Renaissance (1450 to 1650); 4. Age of  Enlightenment (1650 to 1800); 5. Age of Empire (1800 to 1920); 6. Modern  Age (1920 to the present).

Themes (and chapter titles) are:  understanding and defining violence, sacred violence, spaces of  violence, authority and violence, persecution, oppression and  subjection, emotion and violence, representations of violence, and  technologies of violence.

The page extent for the pack is approximately 1630pp.