Evil is here.
Get your copy of the international bestseller now.
Are you evil? A smart and highly readable exploration of why we do bad things.
In her international bestseller, Shaw uses a compelling mix of science, popular culture, and real life examples to break down timely and important issues. How similar is your brain to a psychopath's? How many people have murder fantasies? Can A.I. be evil? Do your sexual proclivities make you a bad person? Who becomes a terrorist?
This is a wide-ranging exploration into a fascinating, darkly compelling subject.
Is there such a thing as an evil person or are we really just a species with a huge potential for evil? Dr. Julia Shaw reckons it's the latter, but it's not all bad news. Dr Julia Shaw is author of the 2019 popular science book "Making Evil: The science behind humanity's dark side".
Book Reviews & Comments
“Julia Shaw has crafted a brilliant panorama that elucidates humanity's dark side in her masterpiece, EVIL. This science-based foundation for studying the minds of sadists, mass murderers, freaks and creeps, as well the new role of tech in promoting evil is presented in a totally engaging fashion... for understanding the many evils around us (and sometimes in us) along with the monumental evil of mass apathy of doing nothing when we should stand up, speak out, and take wise and effective actions” - Phillip Zimbardo, author of The Lucifer Effect
“If you are interested in evil, the science behind evil, there are so many studies contained within this book. But don’t worry it’s not just like someone’s dissertation, it is a very entertaining book about evil.” - BBC Radio 5
“most of it is unsettling, shocking or disturbing. It’s also rational, intelligent and necessary… It is when Dr Shaw starts to lay out the evidence in support of her position that her book becomes really fascinating and convincing... Is this controversial? Maybe, but it’s compassionate too and, most importantly, it’s based on sound, if sometimes disturbing, science” - The Herald
“Making Evil is a romp through the more disturbing of recent studies on rape, serial killing, and sex trafficking. This is a book that will provide you with the kind of anecdotes I cherish, but will make you a terrifying date on Match.com” - The Times
“The book is warmly, chattily written, and its preference for “realistic harm reduction” over wanton vilification of others is laudably humane” - The Guardian
“Curious readers will be riveted by Shaw’s deliberate, rational discussions of such taboos as cyberbullying, homicide, pedophilia, and the ways money and power corrupt the souls of formerly good men and women…Capably written with a smooth mix of scientific insight and theoretical thought, the book will hopefully inspire empathy and understanding rather than hysteria and condemnation… A consistently fascinating journey into the darker sides of the human condition that will push on the boundaries of readers’ comfort zones” - Full review at Kirkus
“Shaw presents a stimulating and provocative challenge to the traditional meaning of evil. Stimulating and provocative” - Library Journal
“Sober-minded, academically rigorous examination of an oft-sensationalized subject” - Publishers Weekly.
“Great read. Buy this book” TV presenter Tim Lovejoy
“In her new fascinating book Dr Julia Shaw explores some of the darker and more compelling topics, from how similar our brains are to that of a psychopath, to how many people have fantasies of murdering people, to who has the potential to become a terrorist... absolutely fascinating” - TV presenter and journalist Richard Madeley on TalkRadio