 | VIOLENCE AND PUNISHMENT
VIOLENCE AND PUNISHMENT
Pieter Spierenburg
VIOLENCE AND PUNISHMENT -
CIVILIZING THE BODY THROUGH TIME
This book is an update of my thoughts about the long-term trends in violence and punishment up to the present. It extends the discussion from Europe to the United States and Asia, next to dealing with related subjects like festivities and death. It draws on Norbert Elias' theories of civilizing processes and power, while also providing a reassessment of my views about Michel Foucault.
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 | A HISTORY OF MURDER
History of Murder-Pieter_Spierenburg
Pieter Spierenburg
A HISTORY OF MURDER -
PERSONAL VIOLENCE IN EUROPE FROM THE MIDDLE AGES TO THE PRESENT
The ultimate synthesis of seven centuries of homicide and serious violence in Europe. Murder transformed from an often accepted means of revenge to a tragic event producing widespread anxiety. All the while the incidence of murder declined dramatically, despite a slight rise since 1970. Transformations in male honor as well as the handling of emotions are a key to these developments. This book is also available in Turkish and Korean.
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 | THE SPECTACLE OF SUFFERING
The Spectacle of Suffering-Pieter Spierenburg
Pieter Spierenburg
THE SPECTACLE OF SUFFERING -
EXECUTIONS AND THE EVOLUTION OF REPRESSION: FROM A PREINDUSTRIAL METROPOLIS TO THE EUROPEAN EXPERIENCE
Following its original appearance in 1984, specialists immediately hailed this book as an alternative to Foucault's ideas about the penal system. Key features are the gradual privatization of punishment and its decreasing association with hurting the body. These developments are expressions of civilizing processes, in particular the tendency to hide disagreeable aspects of life backstage. This book was out of print for some time, but in 2008 Cambridge UP published a paperback reprint.
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 | THE PRISON EXPERIENCE
Pieter Spierenburg
The Prison Experience
DISCIPLINARY INSTITUTIONS AND THEIR INMATES IN EARLY MODERN EUROPE
Electronic reprint (2007) by Amsterdam UP of the original edition of 1991. Hard copy available on demand. Reviewer David Garland termed this "the other half" of my thesis about long-term changes in the penal system: the rise of the prison as the principal mode of punishment. The focus is on the penal workhouses of early modern Europe with their régime of forced labor. It was the first time ever that a historian paid serious attention to the perspective "from below," that of inmate lives and the rise of a prison subculture.
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 | WRITTEN IN BLOOD
Written in Blood-Pieter Spierenburg
Pieter Spierenburg
WRITTEN IN BLOOD -
FATAL ATTRACTION IN ENLIGHTENMENT AMSTERDAM
This book tells two sensational stories of fatal attraction ending in murder. Taking place in 1766 and 1775, these are as fascinating to us as they were to Amsterdamers at the time. One is a love triangle: a man from a respectable family and his lover kill his wife in their house. They face the problem of how to dump a body when there are no cars; and they are surprised! The protagonist in the second story has failed as an actor, surgeon and suitor. He falls in love with a prostitute, who insincerely promises to marry him. A letter written in blood is of no avail. He intends to commit suicide in front of her, but the knife turns the other way.
For a tour of old Amsterdam along the main sites of these love crimes,
go to...⇨ ⇨ fatal love - a virtual tour.
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 | THE BROKEN SPELL
The Broken Spell-Pieter Spierenburg
Pieter Spierenburg
The Broken Spell -
A CULTURAL AND ANTHROPOLOGICAL HISTORY OF PREINDUSTRIAL EUROPE
This book provides a synthesis of developments in "low" culture in Europe from the late middle ages to about 1800. It deals with subjects such as the family, popular culture, witchcraft, madness and attitudes toward death. Published in 1991 by Rutgers UP in the United States and Macmillan in England, it is a translation of the first Dutch edition of 1988. Those interested who can read Dutch should consult the revised edition of 1998.
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