Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know

Features

• Cover Type: Hard Cover with 352 pages
• Published by: W. W. Norton & Company July 1, 1999
• Written in: English
• ISBN 10 Number: 0393047466
• ISBN 13 Number: 978-0393047462
• Book Dimensions: 9.3 x 5.2 x 1.2 inches
• Weighs: 1.7 pounds

From Library Journal
This unique reference offers a enyclopedia of more than 150 entries that broadly define "international humanitarian law," a subject that involves most of the legal and political aspects of modern conflict. The contributors include scholars, journalists, and international civil servants qualified by practical experience. Entries for Bosnia, Cambodia, and Rwanda help explain why the lexicon of recent warfare includes terms like "siege," "child soldiers," and "belligerent status." Although some of the accounts are more anecdotal than substantive, the style achieves the stated goal of the editors, both journalists: combining "technical accuracy and readability." In addition to cross references, most entries are enhanced by dramatic photographs. Overall, the effect of the book is to convey how modern warfare has obliterated the distinction between the military and the civilian. Highly recommended for reference collections at academic and greater public libraries.
-AZachary T. Irwin, Pennsylvania State Univ., Erie
Copyright 1999 Reed Business Information, Inc.

The Guardian
a riveting mixture of reporters' accounts of war crimes in every continent, coupled with essays by lawyers on international humanitarian law. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

Reader Reviews
This review is from: Crimes of War: What the Public Should Know (Paperback) This A-to-Z guidebook is absolutely amazing. Without falling into the trap of legalese (which is beyond most lay people), this book manages to teach us numerous things about the conduct of war and how difficult it is to apply the numerous chapters and laws in modern conflicts, be they international or internal. The photographs that accompany most articles are striking; some of them are rather gruesome, but this is war, and the more suffering we see, the more likely we are to commit ourselves to not seeing this kind of inhumanity ever again. To do so, we have to put action behind political rhetoric, to give substance to our words (Vaclav Havel's motto). I recommend this book to anyone who is interested about the law, war, man's inhumanity to man, and the legal architecture which, over decades, has been taking form to protect us from ourselves.