When we think of serial killing, we tend to think of it as a perversion of contemporary society. The Human Predator makes an eye-opening case for the existence of serial killers throughout time--the motives and methods, the societies that spawned them, and the historical periods in which they lived . . . and killed. From Ancient Rome and the Dark Ages to the open roads of America, from the exploits of French religious zealot Gilles de Rais to such high-profile monsters as Jeffrey Dahmer and Aileen Wuornos, Katherine Ramsland offers a complete chronological record of the serial-killer phenomenon--and the parallel development of psychology, forensic science, and FBI profiling in the serial killer's evolving manifestation throughout human history. INCLUDES PHOTOGRAPHS