This four-volume set represents the most extensive guide available to past and current research on religion and violence from ancient times to the present (though with an emphasis on the contemporary period). Contents have been selected bearing in mind certain criteria: solid scholarship, range of empirical subject matter and theoretical perspectives, and range of influential and relatively unknown articles. Primary sources, including excerpts from sacred texts, and classical theological statements supplement the scholarly articles, providing readers with a range of sources to draw upon in their own research.

The volumes form an essential reference source, to be used by students and academics from a variety of different disciplines (sociology, religious studies, anthropology). Religion and Violence is fully indexed and includes a comprehensive introduction, newly written by the editor.