The theme of vengeance is one which runs through the history of crime, and of social relations in Europe more generally, from antiquity to the present day, and is one which is of special relevance to historians of violence. As well as the sometimes fascinating findings of research into individual case studies, the historical phenomenon of vengeance is enmeshed to in two broad themes. The first of these is the role of the state, and of how (to use Weberian terminology) the monopoly of physical...