Evil: Inside Human Violence and Cruelty

Why is there evil, and what can scientific research tell us about the origins and persistence of evil behavior? Considering evil from the unusual perspective of the perpetrator, Baumeister asks, How do ordinary people find themselves beating their wives? Murdering rival gang members? Torturing political prisoners? Betraying their colleagues to the secret police? Why do cycles of revenge so often escalate?

Baumeister casts new light on these issues as he examines the gap between the victim's viewpoint and that of the perpetrator, and also the roots of evil behavior, from egotism and revenge to idealism and sadism. A fascinating study of one of humankind's oldest problems, Evil has profound implications for the way we conduct our lives and govern our society.

• The Lucifer Effect: Understanding How Good People Turn Evil
• The Science of Evil: On Empathy and the Origins of Cruelty
• Understanding Violence
• The Psychopath Whisperer: The Science of Those Without Conscience
• The Psychology of Prejudice: From Attitudes to Social Action
• The Social Psychology of Good and Evil, Second Edition
• Less Than Human
• The Anatomy of Evil
• Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength
• Prisoners of Hate: The Cognitive Basis of Anger, Hostility, and Violence