From the bestselling author of The Outsider, an exhaustive historical true crime survey. Colin Wilson, co-author of the bestselling Encyclopedia of Murder, has written a definitive volume on the world's major cases of violent murder. In doing so, he traces the history of violence from its beginnings. From Sawney Bean and his cannibal family to Ed Gein, the Wisconsin Necrophile, Wilson illustrates the ';changing fashions of murder' and indicates some hope for the future.