Review: Violence: A Modern Obsession, Richard Bessel

Violence is a terrible thing. Many of us love war movies, first-person-shooter computer games and other violent spectacles, but we know the difference between real and simulated blood. Even schoolchildren can translate what Wilfred Owen called in his most famous First World War poem the “old lie”: “ Dulce et decorum est/ Pro patria mori.” To be civilised is to abhor violence. But why have modern societies become so sensitive to violence? Why is it no longer tolerated or considered an inevitable part of human life as it was in the past? These are the questions that historian Richard Bessel asks in his brilliant new book, Violence: A Modern Obsession. In civic life, aggressive behaviour is regarded as offensive; corporal punishment of children is no longer simply a private matter but a public concern; men and women are expected to treat each other with respect. Even state violence has become objectionable. Bessel is not denying that we still live in violent times. But violence is widely assumed to be evidence that a person or institution has failed in some way. It is viewed in a negative light. With precision, elegance and wit, Bessel sets forth reasons for this extraordinary change in our attitudes. The bloody violence that erupted in the first half of the 20th century has, he argues, has drawn attention to the depths of depravity to which humans can sink. But Bessel calls upon us not to become complacent, lest our children forget that it is neither sweet nor fitting to kill.