Severed: A History of Heads Lost and Heads Found

According to most cultures, the center of thought and being dwells in the head; thus, the most powerful trophy of a dead person is their head. This book sets out to explain the strange, almost unreal fascination with severed heads that has gripped nearly every culture (including this “modern” one), and the grisly method in which such absorbing trinkets are obtained, while interspersing intriguing tales from history to support the points made.

This book was quite fun. The narrative moves quickly and adroitly through a wide variety of topics, while still keeping the tone informative and adventurous; no knowledge of history is needed, for although topics are presented and discarded quickly, the text subtly builds your knowledge on the subjects at hand in order to give you the fastest and most comprehensive overview of severed heads, and severing heads, through the ages. The only point that might be improved is the flow of information from chapter to chapter; frequently, it seems like the transition between chapters, and occasionally paragraphs, is rather weak at best, and nonexistent at worst. Nevertheless, on the whole this book is an incredible study of a central, albeit often ignored, part of human nature and history.