War Crimes and Atrocities: Horrific Crimes Committed Under the Guise of War

by Vivian Head

The German concentration camps of World War II, the horrors of the Vietnam war, the prolific rape and brutality during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia and the Hutu massacres of Tutsis in Rwanda. All are abhorrent violations of the laws and customs of war. Yet some of the worst abuses of this century escape this classification, as they were not actually committed during times of armed conflict. Among these are Stalin's policy of ethnic cleansing and his destruction of the kulaks, the terror of the Khmer Rouge , and Mao's forced collectivizations. This book records the worst abominations in history, whether or not classified as war crimes or just acts of pure evil.

Genres: True Crime

576 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2007

Reviews

[Julie Berzins · Rating 2 out of 5]

Ancient Atrocities - Sword of David, Alexander the Great
Medieval War Crimes - William the Conqueror, First Crusaders, Edward III, Battle of Hattin, Vlad the Impaler, Richard the Lionheart, Henry V, Ivan the Terrible, Incas
War Crimes & Atrocities 1600 - 1930 - Calcutta, Congo, Amritsar, Balangiga, Lusitania Sinking, Armenian Genocide
World War 2 - Belgium, France, Czechoslovakia, Greece, Yugoslavia, Serbia, The Netherlands, Italy, Poland, Japan, Hiroshima & Nagasaki, Russia, China, Death Railway
War Crimes & Trials - Nuremberg Tokyo War Crimes
War Crimes 1950 - 2000 - Korea, Vietnam, Ireland, Bosakka, Idi Amin, Khmer Rouge, East Timor, Sri Lanka, Israel, Rwanda
21st Century - Saddam Hussein, Invasion of Iraq, Guantanamo Bay, CIA, Kosovo, Darfur, Congo, Chechnya
I found a couple of glaringly obvious errors. 1 referred to the plane that dropped the Hiroshima bomb as "Little Boy". The plane was the Enola Gay and the bomb was Little Boy. Disappointing that this was not picked up in editing as a quick google search could have confirmed this. Makes me wonder what else may not have been properly fact checked.

[T.J. Hoffpauir · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a little bit more outdated than most of the books I read, but it does refer to the Iraq War of W. and Guantanamo Bay so it's not like it got cut off during the Kennedy admin or anything. I guess I'm just weird about not reading history/political science books that that were published too long ago. And its gotten even worse post-Trump. Reading a book that was published before 2016 seems almost irrelevant to me now since I feel he's messed up our system for a generation or two (if we can make it that long). But I digress.....I definitely enjoyed this book and it's got a lot of information in it and you don't have to be a war crime/history buff to follow along and understand it. The only reason I'm not giving it 5 stars is the authors tend to use hyperbolic language (speaking of trump)en discussing each different subject. They covered many different examples from several different periods and each time, the event they were discussing was " worst in human history, arguably the worse anyone has ever seen, the worst even to ever happen in Italy, the worse thing to happen in the netherlands between 1950-1960..." That last one was a joke but it's not that far off. I can't be the only person who thought that while reading this. And a couple parts were repetitive but I guess that's going to happen when writing a book such as this. Solid 4 and I would recommend for anyone interested in war/war crimes to read this one.

[Joseph McHale · Rating 3 out of 5]

Good introductions but quite vague with different war crimes and atrocities that have taken place over time. A good starting point for those unsure which to study, but can provide a comprehensive list for different stuff.

[Lawrence · Rating 4 out of 5]

The German concentration camps of World War II, the horrors of the Vietnam war, the prolific rape and brutality during the breakup of the former Yugoslavia and the Hutu massacres of Tutsis in Rwanda. All are abhorrent violations of the laws and customs of war. Yet some of the worst abuses of this century escape this classification, as they were not actually committed during times of armed conflict. Among these are Stalin's policy of ethnic cleansing and his destruction of the kulaks, the terror of the Khmer Rouge, and Mao's forced collectivizations. This book records the worst abominations in history, whether or not classified as war crimes or just acts of pure evil.

[Jenna-Mia · Rating 3 out of 5]

A montage of just how far people are willing to go and how brutal they're willing to be for... what? In the name of a country or a dictator with a life so far removed from their citizens. The book offers no explanation for the horror it depicts. I think there often isn't one. And never one good enough.

This one was really hard to get through for the reason that it's all true. It doesn't go in-depth to any atrocity it chronicles, but even so, it says enough to make me expressly uncomfortable.

[Jack · Rating 4 out of 5]

War is hell and humans are evil, throughout history and all over the world.

[Dave · Rating 3 out of 5]

A strongly written book that needs to be read!

[Amy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book is strongly written about the history of the world. Only thing wrong with this book is that some of the dates are wrong, and the fact that there are a lot if misspelled words.