"Fineman’s brief, questioning book is both a history and, by and large, a justification of revenge. It is, he argues, a primal human urge. . . . This is a thoughtful and thought-provoking book. It shows that blanket condemnations of revenge are over-hasty, and it leaves you feeling that what we call justice is not so much the opposite of revenge as a way of legalizing it."

Sunday Times

"More compendium than treatise. . . . The compulsion to avenge ‘threats to one's well-being, territory, pride, honor, esteem, identity, or role’ is, Fineman writes, ‘fixed in our biosocial make-up and triggered by strong emotions: sorrow, grief, humiliation, anger, or rage.’ It is a legacy of our primate origins, or perhaps more accurately a reminder of our primate essence. Like chimpanzees and macaques, our species combines social reciprocity with a capacity for long memory. We merely perfected the capacity to hold a grudge—and to repay it with interest, using tools (weapons) more dangerous than anything available to primal chimp justice."

Scott McLemee | Inside Higher Ed

"Fineman argues, very persuasively, that revenge is a dish we really should serve—whether cold, hot or as a lukewarm canapé. ‘Our compulsion to avenge a wrongdoing is among the most primal of human urges,’ he explains. ‘Getting even shows there is a price to pay.’ I raced through this book, cackling—and relishing in particular the pages pointing out how, throughout history, and still in some areas of the world, mine is the sex that has been persistently maltreated and oppressed and that it’s jolly nice finally to be getting our own back."

Emily Hill | Spectator

"The premise of Fineman's book is that the revenge instinct is the key to understanding our violent times as well as those of the past, and each short chapter is a lively romp through the various ways in which revenge is manifested."

Times Literary Supplement

“A compelling and relevant book, examining how revenge is not only affecting the world around us, but is remaking history, too.”

Niki Panteli, Royal Holloway, University of London

"In this highly entertaining and illuminating book, Fineman reveals how this powerful human urge to get our own back plays out in a wide range of settings—from the family and the workplace to within communities and between nations. Through the careful and nuanced analysis of historical and contemporary examples he shows how both revenge and forgiveness are not as straightforward as often depicted. Don’t get mad, get Fineman’s book."

Rob B. Briner, Queen Mary University of London