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Sons of Cain : a history of serial killers from the stone age to the present / Peter Vronsky.

By: Material type: TextTextPublisher: New York : Berkley, 2018Copyright date: ©2018Edition: First editionDescription: viii, 423 pages ; 21 cmContent type:
  • text
Media type:
  • unmediated
Carrier type:
  • volume
ISBN:
  • 9780425276976
  • 042527697X
Subject(s):
Contents:
I. On the origin of the species: the evolution of serial killers. Serial killers: a brief introduction to the species ; Genesis: the stone age reptilian zombie serial-killer triune brain ; Psychopathia sexualis: the psychology of the lust serial killer in civilized society -- II. Serial killer chronicles: the early forensic history of monster. The dawn of the less-dead: serial killers and modernity ; Lupina insania: criminalizing werewolves and Little Red Riding Hood as victim, 1450-1650 ; Malleus maleficarum: the great witch hunt as a serial-killing-woman hunt ; The rippers before Jack: the rise of modern serial killers in Europe, 1800-1887 ; Back in the USA: the rise of the modern American serial killer ; Slouching toward Whitechapel: sex crimes in Britain before Jack the Ripper -- III. The new age of monsters: the rise of the modern serial killer. Raptor: Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel murders, 1888 ; The French ripper: the forensics of serial murder in the Belle Epoch, 1897 ; Red tide rising: serial killers in the first half of the twentieth century, 1900-1950 ; American gothic: the "golden age" of serial killers, 1950-2000 ; Diabolus in cultura: serial-killing rape culture "sweats," the "greatest generation," and their sons of Cain -- Conclusion: Pogo syndrome: thinking herds of crazies in the twilight of the golden age of serial killers -- Afterword: "Serial killers need hugs too".
Summary: "From the author of Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters...an in-depth examination of sexual serial killers throughout human history, how they evolved, and why we are fascinated by their horrifying crimes"--Back cover.
Holdings
Item type Home library Collection Call number Materials specified Status Date due Barcode Item holds
Adult Book Adult Book Main Library NonFiction 364.1523 V984 Available 33111009253887
Total holds: 0

Enhanced descriptions from Syndetics:

From the author of Serial Killers- The Method and Madness of Monsters comes an in-depth examination of sexual serial killers throughout human history, how they evolved, and why we are drawn to their horrifying crimes.

Before the term was coined in 1981, there were no "serial killers." There were only "monsters"--killers society first understood as werewolves, vampires, ghouls and witches or, later, Hitchcockian psychos.

In Sons of Cain --a book that fills the gap between dry academic studies and sensationalized true crime--investigative historian Peter Vronsky examines our understanding of serial killing from its prehistoric anthropological evolutionary dimensions in the pre-civilization era (c. 15,000 BC) to today. Delving further back into human history and deeper into the human psyche than Serial Killers --Vronsky's 2004 book, which has been called the definitive history of serial murder--he focuses strictly on sexual serial killers- thrill killers who engage in murder, rape, torture, cannibalism and necrophilia, as opposed to for-profit serial killers, including hit men, or "political" serial killers, like terrorists or genocidal murderers.

These sexual serial killers differ from all other serial killers in their motives and their foundations. They are uniquely human and--as popular culture has demonstrated--uniquely fascinating.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 367-410) and index.

I. On the origin of the species: the evolution of serial killers. Serial killers: a brief introduction to the species ; Genesis: the stone age reptilian zombie serial-killer triune brain ; Psychopathia sexualis: the psychology of the lust serial killer in civilized society -- II. Serial killer chronicles: the early forensic history of monster. The dawn of the less-dead: serial killers and modernity ; Lupina insania: criminalizing werewolves and Little Red Riding Hood as victim, 1450-1650 ; Malleus maleficarum: the great witch hunt as a serial-killing-woman hunt ; The rippers before Jack: the rise of modern serial killers in Europe, 1800-1887 ; Back in the USA: the rise of the modern American serial killer ; Slouching toward Whitechapel: sex crimes in Britain before Jack the Ripper -- III. The new age of monsters: the rise of the modern serial killer. Raptor: Jack the Ripper and the Whitechapel murders, 1888 ; The French ripper: the forensics of serial murder in the Belle Epoch, 1897 ; Red tide rising: serial killers in the first half of the twentieth century, 1900-1950 ; American gothic: the "golden age" of serial killers, 1950-2000 ; Diabolus in cultura: serial-killing rape culture "sweats," the "greatest generation," and their sons of Cain -- Conclusion: Pogo syndrome: thinking herds of crazies in the twilight of the golden age of serial killers -- Afterword: "Serial killers need hugs too".

"From the author of Serial Killers: The Method and Madness of Monsters...an in-depth examination of sexual serial killers throughout human history, how they evolved, and why we are fascinated by their horrifying crimes"--Back cover.

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