"This book takes a first step toward globalizing the history of lynching. Covering fourteen countries and five continents, it demonstrates that lynching has neither been a uniquely American phenomenon, nor did it exclusively target racial and ethnic minorities. But what appears to be common to vigilantism and extralegal punishment around the globe is the ideology of popular justice, the idea that lynching represents a form of communal self-defense against crimes that are unchecked by the state. The multidisciplinary and multiregional approach of this volume will lay the groundwork for a more thorough understanding of mob violence and extralegal punishment in the United States and the world"--