# Recommend some books on the dark side of human nature **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Created:** [March 24, 2002, 7:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-books-on-the-dark-side-of-human-nature/99880 "2002-03-24T19:09:24Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 4\ **Page:** 3
**Author:** ![Erofeev](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/a88e57/32.png) [@Erofeev](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Erofeev)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 8:17pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-books-on-the-dark-side-of-human-nature/99880/41 "2002-03-25T20:17:20Z")
What comes to mind immediately is _From Moscow to Petushki_, by Venedikt Erofeev, which I finished just before registering on these boards, hence the user name. Unfortunately, I have been unable to find a translation into English. Perhaps the Russophiles on the SDMB have some info on this. This book initially makes you laugh out loud, and gets progressively darker until a rather disturbing conclusion. ---
**Author:** ![tisiphone](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/t/bbe5ce/32.png) [@tisiphone](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/tisiphone)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 11:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-books-on-the-dark-side-of-human-nature/99880/42 "2002-03-25T23:30:31Z")
Oooh yes. Wanna be really creeped out? The for-real stuff is good for that. _The Evil That Men Do_ by Stephen Michaud and Roy Hazelwood, _Dead Men Do Tell Tales_ by Michael Browning and William Maples, and of course the John Douglas books mentioned by the estimable **dropzone** , _Mindhunter_ and _Journey Through Darkness_. Then there’s _The Serial Killers: A Study of the Psychology of Violence_, by Colin Wilson and Donald Seaman, and a number of anthologies by Anne Rule. The Colin Wilson book and the John Douglas books are the best for a clinical examination of the issues, with some theories presented as to why this has only become an issue since the eighteen hundreds or so. ---
**Author:** ![artemis](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/91b2a8/32.png) [@artemis](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/artemis)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 11:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-books-on-the-dark-side-of-human-nature/99880/43 "2002-03-25T23:39:56Z")
My two top non-fiction choices for the “Makes you want to stick your head in the oven and turn the gas on” award goes to: _The Nazi Doctors: Medical Killing and the Psychology of Genocide_ by Robert Jay Lifton - a searing indictment of my profession, and it completely explodes the notion that monstrous crimes MUST be committed by monstrous people. _The Destruction of the European Jews_ (the unabridged, three-volume edition) by Raul Hilberg. This is an academic work, so it’s heavy reading, but it examines the systematic way the German state planned and carried out the Holocaust. Mass murder as a mere bureaucratic problem. What can I say - after you read these two works, the next time you watch _Armageddon_ or _Deep Impact_ , you’ll find yourself rooting for the big rock. ---
**Author:** ![Niobium\_Knight](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/bc8723/32.png) [@Niobium\_Knight](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Niobium_Knight)\ **Post date:** [March 25, 2002, 11:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-books-on-the-dark-side-of-human-nature/99880/44 "2002-03-25T23:59:51Z")
_Cities of the Red Night_ by William Burroughs [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-some-books-on-the-dark-side-of-human-nature/99880.md?page=2)