This is an investigation into the nature of good and evil, and the different ways in which they can be manifested. The book examines the fundamental questions of why we are as we are, why we care for one another and why we can be kind as well as selfish and cruel. According to science, we are prisoners of our genetic inheritance. Are our impulses therefore to some extent inescapable, compelling us to behave in a certain manner, irrespective of the guidelines imposed by instinct or civilization? Or can we determine our individual patterns of behaviour? Do we really have a choice? A diverse multitude of examples, from St Francis of Assisi, Audrey Hepburn, Bruce Chatwin and Bob Geldof to the Marquis de Sade, Adolf Hitler, Peter Sutcliffe and the juvenile killers of Jamie Bolger, are used to help examine these questions. By the winner of the CWA Gold Dagger for Killing for Company.