Portraits of Violence by Brad Evans and Sean Michael Wilson is a wonderfully concise introduction to ten important thinkers on the topic of violence.

Each thinker is given ten pages and while the style is text heavy there is a fine balance between letting the words speak for themselves while also having the illustrations highlight and sometimes give nuance to the words. This is not, nor was it intended to be, a thorough analysis of each thinker's thoughts. Even when multiple works are mentioned the focus is primarily on the most relevant text to the topic. That said, in Foucault's chapter, for instance, there is much more of an overview of works because his work all addressed to some degree the idea of violence perpetrated on marginalized peoples. So this book does what seems best for each of the chapters.

I would readily have used this text when I was teaching as a way to offer a semester beginning, or more likely a unit beginning, overview. From this text students would likely have formed questions and opinions from which we could jump directly into the task of close reading and a better understanding. It is as just such a springboard, but for any general reader, where I think this book will serve its greatest purpose.

I would have liked for the book to have included a bibliography of at least the important primary sources cited throughout and ideally a thorough bibliography with some important secondary sources as well. Perhaps, in the effort to not turn away any general readers, they chose specifically to exclude such a listing. These are, after all, famous thinkers and will be easy to look up based on the body of the book. If leaving the bibliography out manages to increase the general readership then I am perfectly content with that. The information here is just that important in the current social and political environment so more readers is very important.

I would recommend this to anyone who cares about what is happening in the world. There is plenty here to spark debate between those all along the spectrum, well, those who are willing to actually engage and debate.

Reviewed from a copy made available by the publisher via Edelweiss. ( )

Portraits of Violence: An Illustrated History of Radical Critique by Brad Evans and Sean Michael Wilson and illustrated by several artists including Inko and Carl Thompson brings together ten of the most renowned academics and thinkers on the subject including Paolo Friere, Michel Foucault, Noam Chomsky, and Susan Sontag as well as a foreword by Henry A. Giroux. Using the graphic form, it gives a short overview of the theories on violence put forth by each. This is a compelling, challenging, and timely introduction to both the contributors and the subject. It makes clear the need for more education and critical thinking on this issue and is an important read for everyone who wishes to better understand it. It should be stressed that this is only a very small introduction to critiques on violence but it is a good introduction for anyone who is looking for more sources on the subject but is not sure where to look.

Thanks to Edelweiss and New Internationalist for the opportunity to read this book in exchange for an honest review ( )