Includes bibliographical references and index.

When incidents of extreme violence flare in America, all too often they are framed as isolated aberrations. Nothing could be further from the truth, as the author argues in this book. The unpleasant fact, as he reveals in this study, is that American violence is inextricably woven into the fabric of our national heritage and experience. He traces our modern day conception of violence from the struggle to survive on the American frontier, through evolving gender roles in recent centuries, to the hysteria surrounding video and role playing games and the more recent disturbing phenomenon of school shootings. He shapes nothing less than a profound meditation on American violence and a "primer" on understanding what can often appear to be a profoundly dangerous nation. In addition to serving as an overview of the state of violence in America, the book also suggests ways of combating the trends that lead to tragedy.

Introduction: thinking violence -- The violence of American masculinity -- Televiolence -- Gun crazy -- Red, black, and blue -- Conclusion: rethinking violence.