The Scottish Enlightenment shaped a new conception of history as a gradual and universal progress from savagery to civil society. Whereas women emancipated themselves from the yoke of male-masters, men in turn acquired polite manners and became civilized. Such a conception, however, presents problematic questions: why were the Americans still savage? Why was it that the Europeans only had completed all the stages of the historic process? Could modern societies escape the destiny of earlier empires and avoid decadence? Was there a limit beyond which women's influence might result in...

The public execution of criminals has been a common practice since ancient times. Adriano Prosperi identifies a crucial period when concepts of vengeance and justice merged with Christian beliefs in repentance and forgiveness, to eventually give political authorities a moral rationale for encoding the death penalty into law.