This book probes the complex interweaving, across time and cultures, of violence and non-violence from the perspective of the present. One of the first of its kind, it offers a comprehensive examination of the interpenetration of violence and non-violence as much in human nature as in human institutions with reference to different continents, cultures and religions over centuries. The essays cover a wide cultural-temporal spectrum - from Vedic sacrifice, early Jewish-Christian polemics, the Crusades, and medieval Japan to contemporary times. They explore themes such as war, jihad, death, salvation, religious and philosophical traditions, texts, and ethical imperatives.