The End of Violence

A Prescription for a Peaceful Society

Format:

Pre-order:

Amazon Blackwells Bookshop.org Foyles Hive Waterstones WHSmith

Drawing on decades fighting infectious disease as Director of Intervention at the World Health Organization, Dr Gary Slutkin reveals how violence behaves like other epidemics – spreading through exposure and social transmission, but also responsive to proven methods of interruption and prevention. By treating violence as a contagious illness rather than a moral failing, he reveals how people around the world have begun to heal themselves and their communities.

This essential book unveils the insidious way violence works on our bodies and brains – from exposure to contagion to epidemic – and shows how we can break the cycle of trauma by interrupting the spread. Incisive, far-reaching and ultimately hopeful, The End of Violence challenges the idea that violence is inevitable and points the way to a more peaceful world.

Gary Slutkin is one of the most important thinkers and activists in the vital effort to understand and reduce violent crime.
Steven Pinker

No more pressing challenge faces us today than the epidemic of violence. Surprisingly, there is a cure. In this all-important book, epidemiologist Gary Slutkin brings 25 years of deep experience and knowledge to show us how we can use the paradigm of public health to cure the world of this deadly epidemic. This book could not be more relevant or useful.
William Ury, New York Times bestselling Author of Getting to Yes, Co-founder of the Harvard Program on Negotiation and the International Negotiation Network with Jimmy Carter

About Gary Slutkin

Dr Gary Slutkin is a physician and epidemiologist and innovator in violence reduction. As the Founder and former CEO of Cure Violence Global, he is widely recognized for pioneering the epidemic control approach to violence prevention. Formerly the Director of Interventions at the World Health Organization, Dr Slutkin guided efforts to combat epidemics of tuberculosis, cholera, and AIDS in over twenty countries in Africa and Asia. Dr Slutkin has presented his solution-oriented understanding of the violence epidemic to the World Bank, the World Economic Forum, the State Department, Harvard Law School, the Institute of Medicine, MIT, the United States Congress, and the National Intelligence Council. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Financial Times, The Economist, CNN, BBC, and in the award-winning film, The Interrupters.

Details

Imprint: Torva
Published: 23/04/2026
ISBN: 9781911709121
Length: 304 pages
Price: £22.00

All editions

The End of Violence

A Prescription for a Peaceful Society

Format:

Pre-order:

Gary Slutkin is one of the most important thinkers and activists in the vital effort to understand and reduce violent crime.

Dr. Slutkin leads us down an entirely new path to a world beyond violence. This is an inspiring journey that leads us to see problems in a new light, and to tackle them in new ways.

Dr. Slutkin can predict violence and see it move from one person to another, like a contagion. And like disease transmission, he shows violence can be interrupted, and potentially cured. He gives hope to what has always felt like a hopeless issue.

Dr. Slutkin is revolutionizing the field entirely. This book does more than explain his discovery that violence is a communicable disease—it also offers extremely practical applications. The world needs this book now to change the tide of violence and build a world of peace.

The End of Violence is a visionary work. A must-read, not only for practitioners but also for everyday people who care about their families, their futures, and those around them.

About Gary Slutkin

Follow penguin

Follow ladybird

Follow puffin

Sign up to the Penguin newsletter