Bursts : the hidden pattern behind everything we do, from your e-mail to bloody crusades

Includes bibliographical references (p. 271-295) and index.

The best bodyguard in the business -- A pope is elected in Rome -- The mystery of random motion -- Duel in Belgrade -- The future is not yet searchable -- Bloody prophecy -- Prediction or prophecy -- A crusade at last -- Violence, random and otherwise -- An unforeseen massacre -- Deadly quarrels and power laws -- The Nagylak Battle -- The origin of bursts -- Accidents don't happen to crucifixes -- The man who taught himself to swim by reading -- An investigation -- Trailing the albatross -- "Villain!" -- The patterns of human mobility -- Revolution now -- Predictably unpredictable -- A diversion in Transylvania -- The truth about LifeLinear -- Szekler against Szekler -- Feeling sick is not a priority -- The final battles -- The third ear -- Flesh and blood.

Outlines a theory of how to predict behavior, drawing on seven years of research while demonstrating the mathematical properties of seemingly random events, from the spread of epidemics to the history of wars.