Customer Reviews

The Mammoth Book of the History of Murder

5 star:		(2)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I was able to find more than a couple of crimes that I was unfamillar with - unusal due to the amount of reading on the subject I've done. Doesn't bog the reader down with too much information on any one crime but gives you a good 'picture' of each. My only complaint is that when looking for info on a specifc crime, the reader may have to search more than one section of the book for all the information avaliable.

It's unfathomable the evil that man is capable of. Yes, I've read the sensational headlines of serial killers, mass murderers, etc. but this book gives full details of the realization of these crimes. To read blow by blow descriptions of the paths that these individuals take is shocking to say the least; especially the descriptions of the cannibalism. I like gory, horror stories but true life horror and gore is terrifying. A book not for the feint hearted. Even though I cringed throughout the book, it was like looking at a scary movie with my hands over my eyes - I had to keep peeking just to see what would happen. Truth is stranger than fiction.

Clocking in at just over six hundred pages, this is a book for serious students of murder.

But be prepared, its pages give new meaning to the term gruesome as the writer, Colin Wilson, describes murder after murder in the same loving, lurid detail that William Shakespeare himself reserved for his love sonnets.

From my perspective, the parts of this book I liked the best were the ones where Wilson attempted to step back from his topic and see the forrest instead of the trees...those broad patterns that instilled evil intentions in the hearts of others and the circumstances that let those intentions make themselves known.

Generally, Wilson believes that the modern type of Jack the Ripper, Ted Bundy serial killer we now have is but another product of modern times. If these killers were forced to use their free time merely to survive then maybe we would be spared their horrors.

I don't know if this is true but one certainly becomes inclined to agree as one learns of the details of where such purposeful thrill motivated murders are taking place.

But be that as it may, one cannot deny that this is a book written by a guy who's really thought about his topic...a typical sign that what the person has to say just might be worth listening to.

I thought that this book was insightful and very informative...it may not have gone to every detail of each of the murders, murderers and crimes...it kept me reading on and on...and I still read...If I can still read the book over and over, then to me its a very good book.

The History of Murder is a book that tells a lot of tales of crimes through the centuries in roughly chronological order. Though called a history, there is not much real historical education that one can get from this book. Instead, we get tales of the more sensational crimes with just enough vague discussion about trends in homicide to justify the "history" title.

That might have been okay. I actually picked up this book for the sensational aspects, not really hoping for any great insights. Unfortunately, the author Colin Wilson is not a very good writer, and he drains a lot of the life out of this work, making it not more than a two-star effort.

Wilson's biggest problem is that he thinks he's a better writer than he really is. So what we get is a lot of shallow sociological and psychological commentary that is of doubtful value and is generally boring. He also interjects himself into the book quite a bit, removing any objectivity a work like this should have. In addition, he can be redundant.

Add to this the lack of an index or any sort of notes or bibliography, and this book is neither good as a history or as entertainment. The stories themselves often merit enough interest to make the book semi-readable, but generally, this is a book to not even start.

The topic of serial killers (and others) is the kind that I can read in one book or two and then say, "Once I've read it, I've read it all." I am being harsh in my giving the book a rating of '1', although it is at most a '2', is because most of the information on serial killers, cannibals, and several other murderers have already been talked about in "The Killers Among Us: Motives Behind Their Madness" and "The Killers Among Us Book II: Sex Madness and Mass Murder" by the same author along with his son Damon Wilson. Actually, if I had to recommend you a book to spend on instead of "The Mammoth Book of the History of Murder" (a.k.a. "The History of Murder"), it's the other two books I mentioned because they are better written, more interesting, less meandering, and more to the point. In contrast, "The History of Murder" gets way off the topic and is wildly chaotic. Observe the title of the book: "The History of Murder." Colin Wilson fails to cover the basics of other types of murder (suicide bombers, matricide, infantide, mothers/wives at point of insanity, to name few). Rather, he throws in many random obscure cases, usually simple and redundant, throughout the book while he gets the chance to include the already notorious killers (mostly because they have not been captured in their lifetimes or they redefined the word "murder"). Those cases have oft been stated in countless of other true crime books. Colin Wilson theorizes and rationalizes his way out after describing some of the cases and explains some of their motives. That's almost saying that he belabors the descriptions of the cases, taking up a lot of space, without being on track. Again, the same theories have already been stated in "The Killers Among Us: Motives Behind Their Madness" and "The Killers Among Us Book II: Sex Madness and Mass Murder." Now, I am sure those two books were written much later after the completion of "The History of Murder." In other words, the writings of the two books are much clearer and more focused than the latter book. I spent two bucks on "The History of Murder" and was bored out of my mind while reading the book, and I eventually sold the book for a profit of a buck. That's actually saying that Colin Wilson paid me a buck to read it, and it wasn't even worth it. On a side note, Colin Wilson paints one Japanese cannibal killer as a guy perfectly safe for you to introduce to your mother (I am not making this up, and I am not joking at all). Let me rephrase that...he says that this cannibal is harmless, and it's okay for you to be friends with him. I keep in mind that Colin Wilson shamelessly extends fame to mass of already big-time losers by writing "The History of Murder" but has absolutely no respect for the victims. I don't know who leads a more pathetic life: the serial killer's or Colin Wilson's.

I found this book in the sociology section, but it belongs among works of fiction. For instance, although the book is over 600 pages long, it contains no footnotes, a red flag to a critical reader. Alas, the author looses all credibility when he asserts that mentally ill people may not be ill at all; rather, they have telepathic abilities beyond society's ken. This book, however, is not a total waste; it is lurid and macarbe. Steven King fans would be delighted.

I found this book in the sociology section, but it belongs among works of fiction. For instance, although the book is over 600 pages long, it contains no footnotes, a red flag to a critical reader. Alas, the author looses all credibility when he asserts that mentally ill people may not be ill at all; rather, they have telepathic abilities beyond society's ken. This book, however, is not a total waste; it is lurid and macarbe. Steven King fans would be delighted.