The Butcher’s Tale considers the problem of collective violence in an era that defined itself on the basis of scientific rationality, of respect for the individual and the law, and of faith in economic progress. It explores an instance of what seems to be collective irrationality and reveals it to be an event with a unifying logic, comprehensible within the right framework. It also incorporates sustained discussion of how historians can begin to approach and understand such phenomena, and why it is particularly valuable to do so.
