Now that the authors have presented their cases, it is time for us, the editors, to offer a few parting comments. What do we know about character attacks? What did we learn from all these chapters covering different epochs, events, and personalities? As we suggested on the first pages, there are several common or, as we call them, "central" features in character attacks. They tend to appear in most historic settings, and they probably reflect most significant, consistent, and maybe universal qualities of the human mind and behavior. There are also "peripheral" features of character attacks that are rooted in specific historic contexts and individual circumstances. Technology, culture, and politics play a vital role in determining the form, the contents, the complexity, and the swiftness with which character attacks are delivered.