War crimes Books

Book SynopsisNEW YORK TIMES BESTSELLER • “[Timothy] Snyder identifies the conditions that allowed the Holocaust—conditions our society today shares. . . . He certainly couldn’t be more right about our world.”—The New Republic A “gripping [and] disturbingly vivid” (The Wall Street Journal) portrait of the defining tragedy of our time, from the #1 New York Times bestselling author of On Tyranny ONE OF THE BEST BOOKS OF THE YEAR—The Washington Post, The Economist, Publishers Weekly In this epic history of extermination and survival, Timothy Snyder presents a new explanation of the great atrocity of the twentieth century, and reveals the risks that we face in the twenty-first. Based on untapped sources from eastern Europe and forgotten testimonies from Jewish survivors, Black Earth recounts the mass murder of the Jews as an event that is still close to us, more comprehensible than we would like to think and thus all the more terrifying.  By overlooking the lessons of the Holocaust, Snyder concludes, we have misunderstood modernity and endangered the future. The early twenty-first century is coming to resemble the early twentieth, as growing preoccupations with food and water accompany ideological challenges to global order. Our world is closer to Hitler’s than we like to admit, and saving it requires us to see the Holocaust as it was—and ourselves as we are.  Groundbreaking, authoritative, and utterly absorbing, Black Earth reveals a Holocaust that is not only history but warning. New York Times Editors’ Choice • Finalist for the Samuel Johnson Prize; the Mark Lynton History Prize; the Arthur Ross Book Award

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Book Synopsis“A masterly work of military and judicial history.” —New York Times. Telford Taylor’s book is a defining piece of World War II literature, an engrossing and reflective eyewitness account of one of the most significant events of our century.In 1945, the Allied nations agreed on a judicial process, rather than summary execution, to determine the fate of the Nazis following the end of World War II. Held in Nuremberg, the ceremonial birthplace of the Nazi Party, the British, American, French, and Soviet leaders contributed both judges and prosecutors to the series of trials that would prosecute some of the most prominent politicians, military leaders and businessmen in Nazi Germany.This is the definitive history of the Nuremberg crimes trials by one of the key participants, Telford Taylor, the distinguished lawyer who was a member of the American prosecution staff and eventually became chief counsel. In vivid detail, Taylor portrays the unfolding events as he “saw, heard, and otherwise sensed them at the time, and not as a detached historian working from the documents might picture them.” Table of Contents:1 Nuremberg and the Laws of War 2 The Nuremberg Ideas 3 Justice Jackson Takes Over 4 Establishing the Court: The London Charter 5 The Defendants and the Charges: Krupp and the German General Staff 6 Berlin to Nuremberg 7 Nuremberg: Pretrial Pains and Problems 8 On Trial 9 The Nuremberg War Crimes Community 10 The SS and the General Staff—High Command 11 Individual Defendants, Future Trials, and Criminal Organizations 12 The French and Soviet Prosecutions 13 The Defendants: Goering and Hess 14 The Defendants: “Murderers’ Row” 15 The Defendants: Bankers and Admirals 16 The Defendants: The Last Nine 17 The Closing Arguments 18 The Indicted Organizations 19 The Defendants’ Last Words 20 The Judgments of Solomons 21 Judgment: Law, Crime, and Punishment Taylor describes personal vendettas among the Allied representatives and the negotiations that preceded the handing down of sentences. The revelations have not lost their power over the decades: The chamber is reduced to silence when an SS officer recounts impassively that his troops rounded up and killed 90,000 Jews, and panic overcomes the head of the German State Bank as it becomes clear that he knew his institution was receiving jewels and other valuables taken from the bodies of concentration camp inmates.

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Book SynopsisGenocide and war crimes are increasingly the focus of scholarly and activist attention. Much controversy exists over how, precisely, these grim phenomena should be defined and conceptualized. Genocide, War Crimes & the West tackles this controversy, and clarifies our understanding of an important but under-researched dimension: the involvement of the US and other liberal democracies in actions that are conventionally depicted as the exclusive province of totalitarian and authoritarian regimes. Many of the authors are eminent scholars and/or renowned activists; in most cases, their contributions are specifically written for this volume. In the opening and closing sections of the book, analytical issues are considered, including questions of responsibility for genocide and war crimes, and institutional responses at both the domestic and international levels. The central section is devoted to an unprecedentedly broad range of original case studies of western involvement, or alleged involvement, in war crimes and genocide. At a moment in history when terrorism has become a near universal focus of public attention, this volume makes clear why the West, as a result of both its historical legacy and contemporary actions, so often excites widespread resentment and opposition throughout the rest of the world.Trade Review'This exceptionally well selected, brilliantly edited collection of writings provides the most comprehensive treatment of Western responsibility for mass atrocity yet published. The cumulative impact of the volume is a devastating indictment of state terrorism as practised by the West, both historically, and now after September 11 in the name of "anti-terrorism." ' Richard Falk, Professor Emeritus, Princeton University 'In the names of millions of forgotten victims, from Wounded Knee to My Lai, a brilliant tribunal of scholars assail the himalayan hypocrisy of "Western humanitarianism." ' Mike Davis, author of Late Victorian Holocausts ‘Like communist and third world regimes, Western states have been opponents, bystanders, accomplices and perpetrators of genocide and war crimes. In different cases, they have also variously ignored, denied, covered up, re-examined, recanted, and refused to apologise for their roles. Is there a pattern here? "Genocide, War Crimes & the West" is definitely worth reading. In case studies and thematic essays, the authors offer a variety of answers and raise important new questions about democracy, foreign policy, and international law, uncovering the complexity along with the complicity in the West‘s relationships and approaches to genocide and war crimes.‘ Ben Kiernan, Yale University, and editor of Genocide and Democracy in Cambodia. 'This book documents one of the darkest chapters in recent history. It tells the story of what the "First World" - the Western democracies, most prominently the United States -- have done mainly against countries and peoples in the South and in the former socialist world. It is a history of aggression, indiscriminate bombing, war crimes, and massacres since the 1970s, the story of Western complicity in genocide in the South and East, and worse, it is about genocide committed by these democracies themselves. This path-breaking book fills a huge void; it carefully accounts for serious crimes that others have shamefully avoided, omitted or denied.' Christian P. Scherrer, Hiroshima Peace Institute, Japan; author of Genocide and Crisis. ‘A revealing compendium of studies regarding the crimes against humanity committed by "Western democracies." This book should give citizens a better sense of those parts of our history that remain largely unexamined and untaught.‘ Michael Parenti, author of "The Terrorism Trap" and "The Assassination of Julius Caesar: A People‘s History of Ancient Rome"Table of Contents Contents Part I: Overview 1. Introduction: Genocide, War Crimes and the West - Adam Jones 2. Shades of Complicity: Towards a Typology of Transnational Crimes against Humanity - Peter Stoett Part II: Genocide, War Crimes and the West 3. Imperial Germany and the Herero of Southern Africa: Genocide and the Quest for Recompense - Jan-Bart Gewald 4. Genocide by Any Other Name: North American Indian Residential Schools in Context - Ward Churchill 5. The Allies in World War Two: The Anglo-American Bombardment of German Cities - Eric Langenbacher 6. Torture and Other Violations of the Law by the French Army during the Algerian War - Raphaëlle Branche 7. Atrocity and Its Discontents: U.S. Double-Mindedness about Massacre, from the Plains Wars to Indonesia - Peter Dale Scott 8. Bob Kerrey's Atrocity, the Crime of Vietnam, and the Historic Pattern of U.S. Imperialism - S. Brian Willson Document 1 (1) Inaugural Statement to the Russell Vietnam War Crimes Tribunal (1966) -- Jean-Paul Sartre 9. Charles Horman et alia vs. Henry Kissinger: U.S. Intervention in 1970s Chile and the Case for Prosecutions - Mario I. Aguilar 10. The Wretched of the Nations: The West's Role in Human Rights Violations in the Bangladesh War of Independence - Suhail Islam and Syed Hassan 11. Indicting Henry Kissinger: The Response of Raphael Lemkin - Steven L. Jacobs 12. Crimes of the West in Democratic Congo: Reflections on Belgian Acceptance of "Moral Responsibility" for the Death of Lumumba - Thomas Turner 13. In the Name of the Cold War: How the West Aided and Abetted the Barre Dictatorship of Somalia - Mohamed Diriye Abdullahi 14. The Security Council: Behind the Scenes in the Rwanda Genocide - Linda R. Melvern 15. U.S. Policy and Iraq: A Case of Genocide? - Denis J. Halliday Documents 2 & 3 (2) Criminal Complaint against the United States and Others for Crimes against the People of Iraq - Ramsey Clark (3) Letter to the Security Council (2001) - Ramsey Clark 16. The Fire in 1999? The United States, Nato, and the Bombing of Yugoslavia - David Bruce Macdonald 17. Collateral Damage: The Human Cost of Structural Violence - Peter G. Prontzos Part III: Truth and Restitution 18. Institutional Responses to Genocide and Mass Atrocity - Ernesto Verdeja 19. International Citizens' Tribunals on Human Rights - Arthur Jay Klinghoffer 20. Coming to Terms with the Past: The Case for a Truth and Reparations Commission on Slavery, Segregation, and Colonialism - Francis Njubi Nesbitt Document 4(4) Declarations on the Transatlantic Slave Trade - World Conference against Racism: Part IV: Closing Observations 21. Afghanistan and Beyond - Adam Jones 22. Letter to America - Breyten Breytenbach Index

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Book Synopsis'GRIPPING' – THE TIMES 'FASCINATING, NO-HOLDS-BARRED' – THE SECRET BARRISTER How can you speak up for someone accused of a savage murder? Or sway a jury? Or get a judge to drop a case? William Clegg QC is a leading criminal lawyer in London. In this vivid memoir, he revisits his most notorious and intriguing trials, from the acquittal of Colin Stagg to the murder of Jill Dando, to the man given life because of an earprint and the first Nazi war crimes prosecution in the UK. All the while he lays bare the secrets of his profession, from the rivalry among barristers to the nervous moments before a verdict comes back — and how our right to a fair trial is now at risk. Under the Wig is for anyone who wants to know the reality of a murder trial. It's an intelligent crime read for fans of The Secret Barrister's books and Unnatural Causes by Dr Richard Shepherd. Well-known cases featured: Murder of Rachel Nickell on Wimbledon Common Chillenden Murders of Dr Lin and Megan Russell Lee Clegg, when Labour leader Keir Starmer was his junior Murder of Jill Dando First Nazi war crimes prosecution in the UK Murder of Joanna Yeates Rebekah Brooks Phone Hacking Trial Trade ReviewThis is a gripping memoir from one of our country's greatest jury advocates, offering a fascinating, no-holds-barred tour behind the scenes of some of the most famous criminal cases of modern times. — THE SECRET BARRISTER'Countless veteran lawyers have produced page-tuners based in the fictional world of law, but in Under the Wig William Clegg, QC, has distilled his extraordinary life in the criminal courtroom into a yarn equally as gripping.' — THE TIMES'My independent verdict is that I have never read a more accurate portrayal of our profession.' — Nigel Pascoe QC, Counsel magazine 'An absolute must read for anyone who aspires to join the legal profession — and anyone who already has. — Bob Marshall-Andrews QC'Bill Clegg's memoir draws on some of the most high-profile criminal prosecutions of recent years to illuminate the career of a defence lawyer at the peak of his success.' — Joshua Rozenberg QC Table of ContentsINTRODUCTION. An experienced murder case lawyer answers the question asked of criminal barristers in England: how can they represent 'murderers' and 'rapists'. Explains the different type of murder charge (homicide) such as acting in self-defence, diminished responsibility and mental incapacity THE WIMBLEDON COMMON MURDER. Clegg takes a phone call from a solicitor: will he represent a man accused of killing Rachel Nickell on heathland in London in July 1992? Colin Stagg, a local man, looks similar to a witness description. Convinced of his guilt, detectives set up a honeytrap operation PERRY MASON AND THE ART OF ADVOCACY. Growing up in a working-class home in Essex in 1960s England, Clegg loves the drama and showdowns of the American legal TV show Perry Mason and resolves to become a criminal barrister. He studies law at Bristol University and joins Gray's Inn, an inn of court THE MURDER OF SAMANTHA BISSET. Samantha Bisset and her daughter Jazmine have been savagely stabbed at their one-bedroom flat in Plumstead, south London. When Clegg reads the case papers for the defence of Robert Napper, he has a good idea who killed them. Criminal profiler Paul Britton does not RONNIE TROTT. After passing the Bar Finals, Clegg takes the final step for any law student intent on becoming a practising barrister: a pupillage. Clegg works for an idiosyncratic, chain-smoking, vegetarian lawyer. He learns to cover up to 10 cases a day in the magistrates courts around London THE CHILLENDEN MURDERS. Sometimes a barrister feels he will win a case. When he acts for Michael Stone, Clegg feels the dice are loaded against him. Stone, a heroin addict, is arrested in 1997 and charged with the murders of Lin and Megan Russell and the attempted murder of Josie Russell in Kent LEARNING HOW TO FIGHT A CASE. During the 1970s and early 1980s Clegg regularly defends clients accused of robbery, burglary and assault. Occasionally he acts as a junior barrister in more serious cases. As his workload intensifies, he learns the secrets to running a successful defence in law courts HELEN HODGSON. In the 1970s and 1980s defendants often retract 'confessions' after they have been charged. In 1985, the Police and Criminal Evidence Act (PACE) tightens police rules. Clegg mounts an appeal for Cherie McGovern, convicted of murdering a woman in a grisly case involving communal living MUTINY AT 3 HARE COURT. Inside barristers chambers in London a revolt brews against a hard-drinking head clerk. The leading chambers in the 1970s is 5 King’s Bench Walk, 6 Kings Bench Walk, and Queen Elizabeth Buildings. A new set is established, headed by a personal injury silk, Michael Lewis QC WAKING THE DEAD IN BELARUS. Clegg takes on the UK's first case under 1991 War Crimes Act and is introduced to a gentle 84-year-old from Surrey: Szymon Serafinowicz, who is accused of murdering Jews during World War II. Simon Wiesenthal Centre says he was ‘Commander’ of Belarussian police in Mir HOW TO BECOME A QC. Becoming a Queen’s Counsel is the pinnacle of achievement for a British barrister. A Queen’s Counsel, or QC, is one of ‘Her Majesty’s Counsel learned in the law’. It’s an honorific rank (King’s Counsel, when there is a king on the English throne). The process is mysterious ANDRUSHA THE BASTARD. It is -30 degrees and Clegg's lips are so cold he can barely speak. He is in Belarus in the former Soviet Union, defending another former member of the wartime police accused of war crimes. Unlike his compatriot Szymon Serafinowicz, Anthony Sawoniuk is a harder man to defend DEFENDING FRAUDSTERS. In his first serious fraud case, Clegg defends Wallace Duncan Smith, a banker in the City of London, who is accused of fraudulent trades – paying more than £50m for fictitious Canadian bonds while MD of Wallace Smith Trust Corporation. The Serious Fraud Office is on the other side CONVICTED BY EARPRINT. Detectives in West Yorkshire call in Dutch forensics witness Cornelis van der Lugt to solve the murder of pensioner Dorothy Wood, killed by a burglar. Clegg argues against the conviction of Mark Gallagher, a burglar whose earprint has been matched to a smudge on a window WINNING THE TRUST OF A JUDGE. The secrets and quirks of the judges who try criminal cases in England. 'As a barrister, I’ve always thought it’s desirable to be well-prepared and on good terms with a judge because you tend to get what you want more often whereas an ill-prepared or rude advocate...' PRIVATE CLEGG AND THE JOYRIDERS. Clegg appeals the case of a Parachute Regiment soldier accused of murdering teenagers Martin Peake and Karen Reilly, whose car crashes through a checkpoint in Northern Ireland. Clegg's junior barrister is Keir Starmer, who later becomes leader of the Labour Party HOW TO APPEAL TO A JURY. When a barrister is addressing a jury, they must pay close attention. Are jurors interested or bored? Every intervention, comment and tactic should be weighed. The tradecraft and advocacy skills of a criminal lawyer are revealed, including some surprises A MURDER WITHOUT A BODY. One day retired betting shop manager Don Banfield went into his local police station and said: ‘I think my wife is trying to kill me’. He then disappeared. Did the police have enough evidence to charge his wife without finding his body? They thought so. Were they right? 21ST CENTURY SET. Twenty-two years after squatting at 3 Hare Court, clinging onto his place with his fingertips, Clegg becomes Head of Chambers. When the Inner Temple refurbishes its old building, the set moves into new premises in Essex Street, then into 2 Bedford Row, a modern legal practice WAR CRIMES IN THE BALKANS. Advocating at International Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia at The Hague, representing Duško Tadić, a Bosnian Serb accused of the ethnic cleansing of Muslims – the first man to be convicted by an international court of war crimes since the Nazi Nuremberg trials INSIDE CHAMBERS – RIVALRY AND CAMARADERIE. The real story of life inside a London barristers chambers, including how to motivate under-performing lawyers, depression and alcoholism among advocates, relationships with solicitors who might allocate juicy cases and the practicalities of running a set THE MURDER OF JILL DANDO. At 11.30am on 26 April 1999 a BBC Tv presenter is shot dead outside her home in Gowan Avenue, Fulham. A local man, Barrie George, is convicted of killing her. Amid intense media coverage, Clegg appeals the key ballistics evidence in the case BRIBERY AND CORRUPTION. Although Clegg mostly represents individuals, the QC also advises multinational companies on criminal law. Providing certain conditions are met, a company can be prosecuted and fined like any human defendant in the criminal courts. Most cases involve bribery and corruption A GHETTO SHOOT-OUT IN JAMAICA. Like other top lawyers, Clegg works pro bono on worthwhile cases. He represents a Jamaican gangster, Marlon Moodie, in his appeal against the death sentence for killing Police Constable Dewar, under the joint enterprise rule. UK Privy Council decides if he should hang TRYING TIME FOR LEGAL AID. The criminal justice system in England and Wales has been battered by a decade of government cuts. Fed up with the fall in fees and the inability to hire expert witnesses he has worked with for years, Clegg declines to take any more public-funded cases THE MURDER OF JOANNA YATES. The 25-year-old landscape gardener and her boyfriend Greg Reardon shared a flat in a Victorian house on Canynge Road in Clifton, Bristol. She disappeared in Christmas 2010. Clegg represents the neighbour accused of murdering her, the Dutch national Vincent Tabak PRIVATE CLIENTS. Clegg takes on private clients, often pre-charge. 'If I feel that the police case is weak I may make representations to the Crown Prosecution Service arguing that the evidence against my client, as disclosed to me, does not meet the threshold required for charging.' THE PHONE HACKING TRIAL. At the trial of Rebekah Brooks, Andrew Coulson and journalists from Rupert Murdoch's newspapers, Clegg acts for Mark Hanna, security chief of News International – accused of hiding evidence while the Metropolitan Police look for evidence of illegal voicemail interception AFTERWORD: A LIFE OF CRIME. As head of chambers, Clegg knows of massive insecurity among many, if not most barristers about the future of the profession and their place in it. They worry about where the next brief is coming from, how much work they will have, how they will maintain their standing ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. INDEX. Full list of references in the text. Such as the As: affair, Africa, Ahmci, Allied Irish Bank, Allies, arguing in the alternative, Altman Brian, Alzheimer’s Disease, Amsterdam, Andrusha the Bastard, anti-Semitic, Antoinette Marie, Archbishop of Canterbury, Armed robbery, Armstrong Dean, Asia

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Book SynopsisThe extraordinary revelations in Traitors detail the ugly side of war and power and the many betrayals of our ANZACs.In October 1943 Winston Churchill, Franklin D. Roosevelt and Josef Stalin signed a solemn pact that once their enemies were defeated the Allied powers would ''pursue them to the uttermost ends of the earth and will deliver them to their accusers in order that justice may be done''. Nowhere did they say that justice would be selective. But it would prove to be.Traitors outlines the treachery of the British, American and Australian governments, who turned a blind eye to those who experimented on Australian prisoners of war. Journalist and bestselling author Frank Walker details how Nazis hired by ASIO were encouraged to settle in Australia and how the Catholic Church, CIA and MI6 helped the worst Nazi war criminals escape justice. While our soldiers were asked to risk their lives for King and country, Allied corporations traded withTrade ReviewTo come * Revielle (RSL magazine) *To come * The Weekend Australian *To come * Mother & Baby *To come * YOURS *To come * Sky Radio *

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Book SynopsisFrom surviving a horrific terrorist attack in Northern Ireland, to the violence of the Gulf War and an assault course of harrowing experiences in Iraq, Bosnia and Columbia, Major Bill Shaw, MBE, had seen it all.But Bill''s strength and courage was tested to its absolute limits when he was arrested for a crime he did not commit. Posted in Afghanistan after two years in Iraq, Bill was responsible for the safety of four hundred men in a full-scale danger zone in one of the most dangerous countries in the world. Bill had long accepted that each day could be his last. But he never expected to find his own life at risk under a corrupt legal system. Thrown into prison and forced to share a cramped, vermin-infested cell, Bill had no idea when, or even if, he would see his family again.This is the incredible true story of a brave soldier who survived some of the toughest war zones in the world only to face the nightmare of being wrongfully imprisoned a very long way fr

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Book SynopsisDrawing on the work of Hannah Arendt and Theodor W. Adorno, Claudia Leeb discusses guilt and democracy in the case of Austrian Nazi perpetrators and recent public controversies surrounding Austria's involvement in the Nazi atrocities. She shows us that only by guilt can individuals and nations take responsibility for their past crimes.

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Book SynopsisAfter 1948, the 370,000 Jews of Romania who survived the Holocaust became one of the main sources of immigration for the new state of Israel as almost all left their homeland to settle in Palestine and Israel. Romania’s decision to allow its Jews to leave was baldly practical: Israel paid for them, and Romania wanted influence in the Middle East. For its part, Israel was rescuing a community threatened by economic and cultural extinction and at the same time strengthening itself with a massive infusion of new immigrants.In this thoroughly updated edition, Radu Ioanid traces the secret history of the longest and most expensive ransom arrangement in recent times, a hidden exchange that lasted until the fall of the Communist regime. Drawing on a wealth of oral testimonies, recently declassified documents from the archives of the Romanian secret police, and newly available material from the government archives of Ukraine, Moldova, Russia, and Germany, Ioanid follows Israel’s long and expensive ransom arrangement with Communist Romania. He uncovers the elaborate mechanisms that made it successful for decades, the shadowy figures responsible, and the secret channels of communication and payment. The book sheds new light on Romania’s pre-fascist and fascist antisemitic legislation and its implementation. Ioanid explores in greater detail the physical destruction of Romania’s Jewish and Roma communities, including the pogroms of Bucharest and Iasi as well as the deportations and the massacres from Bessarabia, Bukovina, and Transnistria. New chapters consider the forced labor of the Jews, persecution by the Protestant churches, and the decision-making process of the Antonescu government in its treatment of Jews and Roma. As suspenseful as a Cold-War thriller, his book tells the full, startling story of an unprecedented slave trade and its origins.

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Book SynopsisOn 27th May 1977, a small demonstration against the MPLA, the ruling party of Angola - led to the slaughter of thousands, if not tens of thousands, of people. These dreadful reprisals are little talked of in Angola today - and virtually unknown outside the country. In this book, journalist Lara Pawson tracks down the story of what really happened in the aftermath of that fateful day. In a series of vivid encounters, she talks to eyewitnesses, victims and even perpetrators of the violent and confusing events of the 27th May and the following weeks and months. From London to Lisbon to Luanda, she meets those who continue to live in the shadow of the appalling events of 40 years ago and who - in most cases - have been too afraid to speak about them before. As well as shedding light on the events of 1977, this book contributes to a deeper understanding of modern Angola - its people and its politics; past, present and future.Trade Review'...compelling...[her] conversational tone, her musings, and lively descriptions, make In the Name of the People as engaging as it is informative.' - Lucy Popescu, TLS; '...beautifully written, shaped by astounding imagery that keeps the reader anchored to the sights, sounds, smells and feelings Pawson encountered as she traversed the often gruesome realities of lives affected by the vinte e sete and in years that followed...the true value of Pawson's exceptional book resides in her illumination of the often ignored psychologies of post-colonial Africa...Pawson should be celebrated for embracing the complexity that is the nature of post-colonial African politics, for her willingness to discuss the ugly side of the liberation struggle in Angola, for creating a platform for those who grieve over this event to be heard. It is in the telling of these uncomfortable truths, that we can avoid the repetitions of past mistakes in the future.' - Rochelle Burgess, Africa at LSE blog; 'a variety of fascinating characters...she [Lara] succeeds in creating some kind of a true record of what happened on that terrible day and its long term effect. She also nicely evokes the ambience of Luanda.' - Nigel Watt, The Chartist; '...a towering success... brims with life, with a curiosity that is both moral and unwavering... Pawson has written an African non-fiction classic, which is the toughest kind. The book serves not as an answer, but the Answer: if we hope to understand our present circumstances, then we must go in search of the past, and what we fail to find must somehow be worked into our stories regardless... a story of an investigation into a plot that ends up revealing the soul of a people.' - Richard Poplak, Daily Maverick (South Africa); 'The recounting of encounters... are where Pawson's innovative methodology - mixing academic rigor, investigative journalism, and the prose of a non-omniscient detective-novel narrator - is most powerful. The unrelenting lack of repentance of certain MPLA-sympathizing writers who were either taken for a ride or complicit with Angola's self-serving elites is juxtaposed with Pawson's increasing willingness to question the pillars of what she had held to be self-evident truths about Angola.' - The L.A. Review of Books;'Pawson's writing style, with its vivid imagery, is captivating... Pawson supplies an illuminating account of Angola's contemporary history and politics. The book is digestible, entertaining and informative for those new to the topic and region as well as being in-depth enough to cater to those with more expertise in the region.' - Megan Smith, LSE Review of Books; '...a timely new perspective...it is testimony to Pawson's investigative eye, and also to her courage, that she has written a book about one of the biggest taboos in Angolan history...her candid conversations with survivors, widows and Angolan establishment figures draw the reader into an adventure-like study of post-colonial life in the country...a highly engaging read...' - Joana Ramiro, The New Humanist; '...drafted with poetic skill...a fascinating examination of how societies which try to lock away their traumas remain haunted by ghosts rattling their chains.' - Michela Wrong, The Spectator (chosen as a Book of the Year);Table of ContentsIntroduction PART I 1 Meeting Maria 2 In the shadow of DISA 3 The saboteurs, the parasites, the opportunists 4 When normal things don't go normally 5 Fascism was finished. Socialism had begun 6 Just like the movies 7 The brother 8 Sounds of microfiche 9 Never meet your heroes 10 Sent to Cuba 11 Closing in on the kill PART II 12 So many dragonflies 13 Saved by a poet 14 To Sambizanga 15 The little red book 16 Kilometre 14 17 Cold War paradox 18 Appearances 19 A death camp 20 Metamorphoses of the enemy 21 On the beach 22 How our heads are formed PART III 23 Loose ends 24 A Cuban connection Epilogue Notes Bibliography

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Book SynopsisThe laws of war have always been concerned with issues of necessity and proportionality, but how are these principles applied in modern warfare? What are the pressures on practitioners where an increasing emphasis on legality is the norm? Where do such boundaries lie in the contexts, means and methods of contemporary war? What is wrong, or right, in the view of military-political practitioners, in how those concepts relate to today's means and methods of war? These are among the issues addressed by James Gow in his compelling analysis of war and war crimes, which draws upon research conducted over many years with defence professionals from all over the world. Today more than ever, military strategy has to embrace justice and law, with both being deemed essential prerequisites for achieving success on the battlefield. And in a context where legitimacy defines success in warfare, but is a fragile and contested concept, no group has a greater interest in responding to these pressures and changes positively than the military. It is they who have the greatest need and desire to foster legitimacy in war by getting the politics-law-strategy nexus right, as well as developing a clear understanding of the relationship between war and war crimes, and calibrating where war becomes a war crime.Trade Review'This book should be read by all, political and military, who seek to use armed force to achieve their ends. With great clarity James Gow shows the relation of law to war and how this relationship has changed along with the way war is practised. As importantly, he shows what could happen to those practioners who fail to foster this relationship: failure and possibly prosecution.' * General Sir Rupert Smith KCB DSO OBE QGM *'A clever and fundamental book. Law and legitimacy have always been important to war, but Gow's book brilliantly demonstrates how central the issue not simply of right, but of wrong have become to modern war.' * Professor Jan Willem Honig, Swedish National Defence College *'War and War Crimes traces the evolution of international humanitarian law and the laws of war, and discusses the practical problems arising for military practitioners. It should be compulsory reading for any student of conflict - whether in IR, law, or sociology - but also for any responsible military officer and, as importantly, for the politicians taking the decisions.' * Beatrice Heuser, Professor and Chair of International Relations, Reading University, and author of The Evolution of Strategy: Thinking War from Antiquity to the Present *'At the heart of this authoritative examination of the legitimacy of war and its conduct in the twenty-first century, James Gow refreshingly gives voice to the military judgment of professionals from around the world, as military officers themselves best understand the moral dilemmas they face and can best explain the context, at the strategic and tactical levels, which is so crucial to determining whether war crimes have been committed.' * Jeremy Jarvis CBE, Course Director, Royal College of Defence Studies, Defence Academy of the United Kingdom *

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Book SynopsisWhy is it that men and boys have been and still are violated in human conflict, be it in conventional war, insurgencies or periods of civil and ethnic strife? Above all, why, throughout history, have victims, perpetrators and society as a whole refused to acknowledge this violation, and why do episodes of male-on-male rape and sexual abuse feature so rarely in accounts of war, be they official histories, eye-witness ac- counts or popular narratives? Is there more to this elision of memory than simply shame? Is there more to it than the victor's desire to violate the enemy body? Amalendu Misra's startlingly original re- search into male sexual violence explores the meaning and role of the male body prior to its abuse and how it is altered by violation in war- time. He examines the bio-political contexts of conflict in which primarily men and occasion- ally women sexually violate men; he details the inadequate legal safeguards for survivors of such events; and in unearthing and analysing an ignored aspect of war, he inquires whether such violence can ever be deterred.Trade Review'Sexual violence against boys and men in times of armed conflict has too often been ignored or relegated to a dismissive footnote. Misra's book changes everything. The effect of his vivid and forensic exploration of male-on-male sexual violence is stunning. This is a "must read" for anyone interested in rape, sexuality, violence and the vulnerable body.' -- Joanna Bourke, Professor of History at Birkbeck, University of London, and author of Rape: A History from 1860 to the Present;'Landscapes of Silence is excellent. Lucid and theoretically rich, and drawing on evidence that spans historical, cultural and geographical space, the book is the first extended analysis of the rape of men in war. An important contribution to the literature of critical security studies, Misra's book should be essential reading for any student or practitioner of war.' * Karin Fierke, Professor of International Relations, St Andrews University, and author of Political Self Sacrifice: Agency, Body and Emotion in International Relations *

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Book SynopsisThe assassination in Istanbul in 2007 of the author Hrant Dink, the high-profile advocate of Turkish-Armenian reconciliation, reignited the debate in Turkey on the annihilation of the Ottoman Armenians. Many Turks subsequently reawakened to their Armenian heritage, in the process reflecting on how their grandparents were forcibly Islamised and Turkified, and the suffering they endured to keep their stories secret. There was public debate about Armenian property confiscated by the Turkish state and books were published about the extermination of the minorities. The silence had been broken. After the First World War, Turkey forcibly erased the memory of the atrocities, and traces of Armenians, from their historic lands, to which the international community turned a blind eye. The price for this amnesia was, Cheterian argues, 'a century of genocide'.Turkish intellectuals acknowledge the price a society must pay collectively to forget such traumatic events, and that Turkey cannot solve its recurrent conflicts with its minorities - like the Kurds today - nor have an open and democratic society without addressing its original sin: the Armenian Genocide, on which the Republic was founded.Trade Review'Cheterian's straightforward historical account does not shy away from a more disturbing aspect of the genocide's legacy where the quest for justice denied over generations spills over into the violence of reprisals, revenge, and terrorism' * LA Review of Books *‘Open Wounds provides a comprehensive insight into many relevant issues with regard to the consequences of denial for Armenians and other minorities such as the Kurds . . . an impressive account of how survivors and successive generations resisted erasure through Armenian historiography, memory politics and the composition and evolution of the diaspora’.'Cheterian's book offers one of the most complete tellings of the twisted, emotional story of the decimation of 1.5 million Armenians in Ottoman Turkey in 1915, during the fury of World War I and the story of the political struggle over the massacre in the century since it occurred.' * Foreign Affairs *'In this extraordinary and beautifully-written book, Cheterian tells us the little known story of the aftermath of the Armenian Genocide of 1915. He reaches into the history and present-day politics of Armenians and Turks to tell a story and provide explanations that have been neglected or elided by others. There is no other text like this.' * Ronald G. Suny, Professor Emeritus of Political Science and History, University of Chicago and former chairman of the Society for Armenian Studies *

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Book SynopsisIn most societies, courts are where the rubber of government meets the road of the people. If a state cannot settle disputes and ensure that its decisions are carried out, for practical purposes it is no longer in charge. This is why successful rebels put courts and justice at the top of their agendas. Rebel Law examines this key weapon in the armory of insurgent groups, ranging from the Ireland of the 1920s, where the IRA sapped British power using 'Republican Tribunals' to today's 'Caliphate of Law' -- the Islamic State, by way of Algeria in the 1950s and the Afghan Taliban. Frank Ledwidge tells how insurgent courts bleed legitimacy from government, decide cases and enforce judgments on the battlefield itself. Astute counterinsurgents, especially in 'ungoverned space,' can ensure that they retain the initiative. The book describes French, Turkish and British colonial 'judicial strategy' and contrasts their experience with the chaos of more recent 'stabilization operations' in Iraq and Afghanistan, drawing lessons for contemporary counterinsurgents. Rebel Law builds on his insights and shows that the courts themselves can be used as weapons for both sides in highly unconventional warfare.Trade Review'This erudite yet very readable book will introduce many readers to the concept of “lawfare” and how it has been waged around the globe.' 'Rebel Law: Insurgents, Courts and Justice in Modern Conflict ... is an intriguing, engaging and comprehensive account that is particularly compelling when discussing insurgent justice in the Muslim world, ... valuably diverging from the tendency to read such phenomena solely through the prism of extremism... Ledwidge's approach to insurgent justice in the Muslim world is compelling: he brings a much-needed comparative perspective that serves as an antidote to the tendency to read such phenomena only through the lens of extremist ideology.' -- LSE Review of Books'As a former justice advisor for the UK military mission in Afghanistan, Ledwidge brings a uniquely well-informed perspective to the issues of using legal processes to achieve military objectives by both insurgents and counterinsurgents at the operational and tactical level. He argues that the ability of insurgents to offer "fair" judicial process -- particularly dispute resolution -- has proved critical to successful state-building by insurgent groups. On the flipside, Ledwidge contends that counterinsurgency strategy must employ "legal pluralism" to develop an effective judicial strategy. Cogently written and forcefully argued, Rebel Law will be of interest to military professionals, legal scholars and policy makers alike.' * Montgomery McFate, Professor at the US Naval War College in Newport, Rhode Island, and author of Military Anthropology: Soldiers, Scholars and Subjects at the Margins of Empire *'Frank Ledwidge builds a compelling case for the monopoly of justice in determining the outcome of insurgencies. Drawing upon years of experience and scholarship, Ledwidge convincingly argues that nowhere is the contest for control of a population, the delicate interplay between consent and coercion, expressed with greater impact than in the competing legal systems offered by insurgent and counter-insurgent.' * Edward Burke, Lecturer in Strategic Studies, The University of Portsmouth, Royal Air Force College Cranwell *'This book is an essential resource for scholars and practitioners concerned with the operation of legal systems during and after conflict. Frank Ledwidge offers a unique perspective on the complex interactions between state and insurgent judiciaries that is informed by years of fieldwork and service as a justice advisor in warscapes including Afghanistan, Iraq, and Libya.' * Mara Revkin, Department of Political Science, Yale University *'In the literature on counterinsurgency no concepts are more frequently invoked or more poorly understood than legitimacy, justice, and law. Insurgencies win by out-governing the status quo power and the primary thrust of their strategy is nearly always the provision of alternative justice to populations hungry for better law. Frank Ledwidge's brilliant book plugs the gap in the literature commendably. It is indispensable reading.' * David Betz, Professor of War in the Modern World, Department of War Studies, King's College London *'A ground-breaking picture of the role of law in (particularly, irregular) warfare: so-called lawfare. This highly readable study opens up a new vista in counterinsurgency and underlines the centrality therein of properly-delivered, culturally-specific justice. A fascinating tour de force that demands to be read by politicians and generals alike.' - * Mike Martin, author of An Intimate War: An Oral History of the Helmand Conflict *'This study offers important insights into why Western assumptions about what constitute the bases for stable government are often not relevant for other areas of the world.' -- Robert A. Heineman, Emeritus Professor of Political Sciences, Alfred University, CHOICE

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Book SynopsisThis is a book about how civilians suffer in war and why people decide that they should. Most civilian suffering in war is deliberate and always has been. Massacres, rape, displacement, famine and disease are usually designed. They are policies in war. In meetings or on mobile phones, political and military leaders decide that civilians are appropriate or inevitable targets. The principle that unarmed and innocent people should be protected in war is an ancient, precious but fragile idea. Today, the principle of civilian immunity is enshrined in modern international law and cherished by many. But, in practice, leaders in most wars reject the principle. Using detailed historical and contemporary examples, "Killing Civilians" looks at the many ways in which civilians suffer in wars and analyses the main anti-civilian ideologies which insist upon such suffering.It also exposes the very real ambiguity in much civilian identity which is used to justify extreme hostility. But this is also, above all, a book about why civilians should be protected. Throughout its pages, "Killing Civilians" argues for a morality of limited warfare in which tolerance, mercy and restraint are used to draw boundaries to violence. At the heart of the book are important new frameworks for understanding patterns of civilian suffering, ideologies of violence and strategies for promoting the protection of civilians. This is the first major treatment of the hard questions of civilian identity and protection in war for many years. Written by one of the humanitarian world's leading thinkers and former aid worker, it provides a unique and accessible text on the subject for professional and public readerships alike.Trade Review'This is a clear, impartial, honest work. It is scholarly yet free of jargon, compassionate yet not over-emotional, moral without being preachy, stuffed with facts and figures, yet brought alive by a myriad of vivid historical, contemporary and personal anecdotes. In short, it is very good.' * The Economist *''Subjective violence', a la Zizek, is too flimsy a name for what Hugo Slim documents in this study, skilfully weaving history and psychology together with a sense of contemporary mission. Slim cites shocking eyewitness reports of murder and torture of civilians from wars around the world, tallying the way in which killers come to kill, and the excuses that governments make for them. The question is: can we do anything about it? Slim sees that mere appeals to international law carry little persuasive power where it counts, and suggests that we recast the argument as one about unfairness and cowardice, with a positive appeal to mercy. As an attempt to unravel one corner of the tapestry of symbolic violence hung over the reality of war, it might be a start.' * The Guardian *'As Slim's very readable and instructive book makes clear, the conflicts of the last century have been marked by a spirit of complete indifference to the sufferings of civilians.' * Caroline Moorhead, The Literary Review *'An excellent book. ... I recommend it to the practitioner, political, humanitarian and military, and in equal measure to the general public in whose name they act.' * General Sir Rupert Smith, KCB, DSO, OBE, QGM, author, The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World *

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Book SynopsisNiedersachsen, August 1961. Der Klassenlehrer Walter Wilke wird in seiner Dorfschule aus dem Unterricht abgeholt und später in einem der ersten großen Prozesse über deutsche Verbrechen in Osteuropa verurteilt. In seinem kleinen Ort wird über die Sache nicht gesprochen. Später kehrt der Mann zurück und lebt bis zu seinem Tod 1989 zurückgezogen im Dorf. Seine Frau, mit der er über Jahre in Bigamie gelebt hatte, ist die beliebte Landärztin. Jürgen Gückel, mehrfach ausgezeichneter Gerichtsreporter, geht einer Spur nach. Einer Geschichte, die ihn seit der Schulzeit beschäftigt, denn Walter Wilke war sein erster Lehrer. Gückel rekonstruiert einen einzigartigen Lebensweg: Walter war in Wahrheit Artur Wilke, der die Identität seines gefallenen Bruders angenommen hatte. Artur selbst war studierter Theologe und Archäologe, im Dritten Reich der SS beigetreten, nachweislich an Massenerschießungen von Juden beteiligt, galt als gefürchteter Partisanen-Jäger und wurde nach dem Krieg dann Volksschullehrer. Sein Name ist mit grauenhaften Kriegsverbrechen verbunden, doch zur Rechenschaft gezogen wurde er für seine Taten im Partisanenkampf nie. Das Buch zeichnet nicht nur eine spektakuläre deutsche Biografie im 20. Jahrhundert nach die Entwicklung eines Intellektuellen zum Täter und die Verneinung jeglicher persönlicher Schuld, das Wegsehen der Gesellschaft. Es zeigt auch auf, wie schwierig das Erinnern ist, wie unterschiedlich Erlebtes bewertet wird und wie schwer die Erarbeitung historischer Wahrheit letztlich ist. Auch nach der Sichtung mehrerer zehntausend Seiten Gerichtsakten und anderer Dokumente bleiben scheinbar einfache Fragen offen. Eine wahre Geschichte über Bigamie und Theologie, Verbrechen und Vertuschung, über die deutsche Nachkriegsgesellschaft und über eine familiäre Tragödie.

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Book Synopsis"Justice in the Balkans" re-creates how its chief prosecutor Louise Arbour worked with others to turn the tribunal's fortunes around. The Hague tribunal becomes an example of how individuals working with collective purpose can make a profound difference.

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Book SynopsisDescribes the effect on young Jews of Hitler's rise to power and recounts the experiences of those who attended an agricultural emigration training farm.

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Book SynopsisExamining the moral, ethical, legal, and political issues surrounding the Allied prosecution project, from the first investigations during the war to the final release of prisoners in 1958, Japanese War Criminals shows how a simple effort to punish the guilty evolved into a struggle that muddied the assignment of responsibility for war crimes.Trade ReviewThis exemplary work of collaborative scholarship represents a genuine breakthrough in our understanding of the processes behind, and consequences of, Allied efforts to prosecute Japanese war crimes in the aftermath of the Second World War. Drawing on archival sources gathered from all corners of the globe, it not only provides an impressive overview of the thousands of individual trials conducted by the Allies across the Asia-Pacific region, but also details the complex tangle of considerations that resulted in the release of all remaining prisoners by the end of 1958. Rejecting the simple opposition between politics and justice that has so often been used to frame discussions of the trials, it instead offers a deeply compelling account of the moral, legal and practical dilemmas that haunt every episode in this profoundly important history. -- Daniel Botsman, Yale University I cannot think of a similar work with such a broad scope...This book is a product of an enormous, novel, research effort and it shows. The authors illustrate the development of an Inter-Allied system of legal assistance for purposes ranging from the transfer of evidence to suspects and prisoners developed from 1946 and which worked until 1959. It makes for a fascinating account of international cooperation. -- Neil Boister, University of Waikato The Allied authorities meted out retributive justice to thousands of Japanese war criminals in the immediate aftermath of World War II. However, "the sentences were only the start of a new phase in applying justice to war criminals," so this book warns us, and compels us to consider the implications of the complex interplay of domestic politics and diplomacy that led to the eventual release of all convicted war criminals -- Yuma Totani, University of HawaiiTable of ContentsAcknowledgments Note on Names, Spelling, and Terminology List of Abbreviations Introduction 1. Defining War Crimes and Creating Courts 2. Investigation and Arrest 3. In Court: Indictment, Trial, and Sentencing 4. Dilemmas of Detention and the First Misgivings 5. Shifting Mood, Shifting Location 6. Peace and Article 11 7. Japanese Pressure Mounts 8. Finding a Formula for Release 9. The Race to Clear Sugamo Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

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Book SynopsisPersonal accounts of Japanese Americans kept in relocation camps during World War II express experiences with riots, unsanitary conditions, poor medical care, government inqueries, and divided families.

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Book SynopsisTrade Review“Groundbreaking. In the first detailed description of Stalin’s mass terror, Vatlin unfolds the day-to-day working of the Soviet political police who carried out orders to select, arrest, interrogate, and often murder their fellow citizens. An absorbing, heartrending account.”—David Shearer, author of Policing Stalin’s Socialism“Although the literature on the Great Terror has improved markedly over the past twenty-five years, only a handful of case studies consider how the purges took place at the grassroots level. Thankfully, Alexander Vatlin’s pathbreaking work has now become available to English-speaking audiences. One can only hope that Agents of Terror will inspire more research on the purge’s perpetrators and victims as well as on the broader sociology of this brutal period.”—David Brandenberger, author of Propaganda State in Crisis“A sensationally significant, detailed microhistory of Stalin’s Great Terror, based on the criminal files of NKVD agents who were arrested as scapegoats at the end of the terror—what some historians have called the purge of the purgers.”—Lynne Viola, author of The Unknown Gulag"Make[s] a vital contribution to the growing literature on perpetrators under Stalin." - The Times Literary Supplement“A landmark work that introduces new dimensions to the study of Stalinist terror.” — Canadian Slavonic Papers

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Book SynopsisExamination of postwar trials is now a thriving area of research, but Sharon W. Chamberlain is the first to offer an authoritative assessment of the legal proceedings convened in the Philippines. These were trials conducted by Asians, not Western powers, and centred on the abuses suffered by local inhabitants rather than by prisoners of war.Trade ReviewA riveting historical narrative. Making extensive use of primary sources, it offers a wealth of information and stories of real people through whose eyes Chamberlain unravels the complex postwar matrix of colonization and decolonization, hatred and forgiveness, and hard political and economic calculations."" - Franziska Seraphim, author of War Memory and Social Politics in Japan, 1945–2005Table of Contents List of Illustrations Acknowledgments Note on Japanese Usage Abbreviations Introduction 1 War Crimes during the Occupation: The Picture That Emerges from the Trials 2 Rising to the Challenge: Assuming Responsibility for Trials 3 The Trials: Questions of Guilt and Innocence 4 Awaiting Their Fate: Sentence Reviews, Reprieves, and Executions 5 From Retribution to Resolution: The Journey from Executions to Pardons 6 Constructing Narratives and Assessing Impact Conclusion Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index

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Book Synopsis"A reference that has no counterpart…. Civilization is in debt to all [the contributors]."—International Herald TribuneTrade Review"...should be on the bookshelf of every prime minister, defence minister and foreign secretary." The Times Higher Educational Supplement"

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Book SynopsisThe legacy of the massacre of civilians at My Lai reverberates throughout Vietnam. This study considers how Vietnamese villagers in My Lai and Ha My - a village where South Korean troops committed an equally appalling massacre of unarmed civilians - assimilate the catastrophe of these mass deaths into their everyday ritual life.Trade Review"Offers a timely addition to the fields of comparative religion and war." Southeast Review Of Asian StdsTable of ContentsPreface and Acknowledgments Foreword Map of Vietnam Introduction 1. The Bipolarity of Death 2. Massacres in the Year of the Monkey, 1968 3. A Generation Afterward 4. Ancestors in the Street 5. Heroes and Ancestors 6. Grievous Death 7. The Stone of Fury 8. The Decomposition of the Cold War Conclusion: Liberation from Grievance Notes Index

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Book SynopsisCrimes in Archival Form explores the many ways in which human rights facts are produced rather than found. Using Myanmar as his case study, Ken MacLean examines the fact-finding practices of a human rights group, two cross-border humanitarian agencies, an international law clinic, and a global NGO-led campaign. Foregrounding fact-finding, in critical yet constructive ways, prompts long overdue conversations about the possibilities and limits of human rights documentation as a mode of truth-seeking. Such conversations are particularly urgent in an era when the perpetrators of large-scale human rights violations exploit misinformation, weaponize disinformation, and employ outright falsehoods, including deepfakes, to undermine the credibility of those who document abuses and demand accountability in the court of public opinion and in courts of law. MacLean compels practitioners and scholars alike to be more transparent about how human rights fact production works, why it is important, and when its use should prompt concern.Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgments and Dedication List of Abbreviations Notes on Terminology Introduction 1. Pacifying Bodies Histories of Preemptive Violence 2. Enslaving Bodies Verbatim in Replicated Form 3. Starving Bodies Visual Economies of Enumeration 4. Killing Bodies Narrativity Transcribed 5. Investigating Bodies The Recursive Logic of Citations Conclusion Epilogue Notes Bibliography Index

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