"Shame: A Brief History takes the reader on a breathtaking journey examining shame and shaming practices around the globe and through the ages. Stearns deftly delineates continuities and discontinuities across time and culture, integrating key perspectives from psychology, sociology, anthropology, economics and more. This masterful work is delightfully written and thought provoking, exploring the uses of shame across multiple domains "education, childrearing, penology, international politics, to name a few. For better or worse, shame is with us "past, present, and future."--June P. Tangney, coeditor of Shame in the Therapy Hour "Stearns is a leading authority in the field of American emotions. The depth and breadth of his knowledge is unrivaled. This is a wonderful book, a careful, in-depth study of one of the most important emotions of the current period."--Joanna Bourke, author of The Story of Pain: From Prayer to Painkillers

Peter N. Stearns is University Professor of World History and the provost emeritus of George Mason University. His many books include Peace in World History and World History: The Basics , and he is the coeditor of Doing Emotions History .