As the number of serial killers worldwide has risen steadily - from the emergence of Jack the Ripper in 1888 to Harold Shipman and Ivan Milat, the backpacker killer of the Australian outback - the need to understand mass murder is becoming more urgent.
Colin Wilson has been a major influence in the area of true crime. His career has spanned the publication of over 60 books, including The Occult, A Criminal History of Mankind and From Atlantis To The Sphinx.