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theeclecticreview's review against another edition
4.0
A very eye-opening novel that shows case studies from the point of views of the victims and the torturers.
mischief_in_the_library's review against another edition
3.0
Perhaps this speaks more to my inability to sustain attention for long periods of time, but I would've preferred slightly less depth on the three cases of torture, and more cases touched on. My favourite chapters, though, were the general ones, hearing from torturers, hearing from victims. But these are just personal preferences, and definitely not criticisms on the book, which was an incredible, and alarming, piece of journalism.
need_to_read's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
swetstein2's review against another edition
5.0
This book looks at torture both in U.S. and internationally by tracking three cases: the torture of 14 Irish men by the U.K. in Northern Ireland in 1971, the torture by beating of Palestinians near Nablus in 1988 by Israel, and the torture of criminal suspects in the 1970s and 1980s by the Chicago P.D. These become the entryways into how torture arises and is, generally, unchallenged in society. (We have only to look at the U.S. since 9/11.)
The author looks into how ordinary people, who are not monsters, do monstrous things, and how people rationalize torture and fail to intervene.
Above all, this book is valuable because of the obvious humanity, and even-handedness, of the author. He refuses to ignore the humanity of even those who commit barbaric acts. I'll be paraphrasing an old cliché here, but if you might be inclined to read even just one book on torture, this would do very well as that one.
The author looks into how ordinary people, who are not monsters, do monstrous things, and how people rationalize torture and fail to intervene.
Above all, this book is valuable because of the obvious humanity, and even-handedness, of the author. He refuses to ignore the humanity of even those who commit barbaric acts. I'll be paraphrasing an old cliché here, but if you might be inclined to read even just one book on torture, this would do very well as that one.
dkeane2007's review against another edition
5.0
For all those people who think they could never be unspeakably cruel to another this is an eye opening look at how is it is torture. It has become especially important in light of the current political climate.
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