Heart of Darkness: Psychology of Human Cruelty

Who or what drives ordinary people to be cruel?
Using historical sources, the author searches for the cause of human cruelty.
The heart of darkness descends deep into the darkest caverns of our minds. Cruelty dwells within each of us. In some it surfaces, in others it remains mercifully hidden.
Who or what drives ordinary people to be cruel? How can someone commit atrocities and still swear to their innocence? What do murderers feel when they see death in the eyes of their victims? And what inspired the scientists who worked on weapons of war - the atomic bomb, for example? How do victims cope with the pain they suffered and the memories?
Jan de Laender starts from historical sources from the period of the Second World War. From there he searches for an answer to the question: 'For God's sake, why are we cruel?'
JAN DE LAENDER, criminologist and doctor in psychology, taught at Lessius University College Antwerp and at EHSAL Brussels.
'The portraits that De Laender paints of several American presidents, of Churchill, Hitler... are thought-provoking. And that he manages to tell a rather complex subject in a fluent language, so that one reads the book in one breath, is no small achievement! A fluently accessible and highly interesting study.' (Standaard der Letteren)