VOLLMANN, William T. Rising Up and Rising Down. San Francisco: McSweeney's Books. 2003.
8vo. 7 vols. Original black cloth-backed brown boards lettered in gilt to fronts and spines, in original maroon slipcase; illustrated throughout with b&w photos; fine.
First edition. The work of twenty years, this monumental study of the causes and consequences of violence takes in profiles of historical figures, reportage, diagrams, photographic evidence and essays that seek to explain the justifications for violence. Much of the material is taken from the war journalism that Vollmann produced in countries such as Cambodia, Iraq and Somalia. The first volume is dedicated to a moral code that lays out the conditions under which violence is justified, generally only in self-defence or defence of the weak. It is an astonishing work, encompassing all of the most negative human traits of fear, anger and aggression in an attempt to build a comprehensive account of our race's urge to kill.
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