Genocide since 1945

by Philip Spencer

In 1948 the United Nations passed the Genocide Convention. The international community was now obligated to prevent or halt what had hitherto, in Winston Churchill’s words, been a "crime without a name", and to punish the perpetrators. Since then, however, genocide has recurred repeatedly. Millions of people have been murdered by sovereign nation states, confident in their ability to act with impunity within their own borders. Tracing the history of genocide since 1945, and looking at a number of cases across continents and decades, this book discusses a range of critical and inter-connected issues such Genocide since 1945 aims to help the reader understand how, when, where and why this crime has been committed since 1945, why it has proven so difficult to halt or prevent its recurrence, and what now might be done about it. It is essential reading for all those interested in the contemporary world.

Genres: Adult Fiction, Textbooks

176 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 2012

Reviews

[Will Pujol]

An excellent academic overview of genocide while still being very accessible to someone less familiar with the scholarly works on the subject. I would have appreciated more of a history of the cases cited by the author, but I recognize it wasn’t necessarily the focus of this book. This would probably be the first book I recommend to someone interested in a more academic analysis of genocide.