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Rule of Law
Novel based on the Nuremberg Trial of major German war criminals.
Drama of history's most important trial which laid foundation for international criminal law.
Drama of history's most important trial which laid foundation for international criminal law.
305 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 2016
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
February 24, 2017
the characters are really well done in this book.
August 22, 2017
When the cover quotes are from such eminent authors as Hon. Michael Kirby and Geoffrey Robertson QC, you know this will be a very special read. I wasn't disappointed. Winton Higgins brings to life the challenges that faced the participants in the Nuremberg Trials: the prosecution,the judges, the interpreters and one of the accused.
The four powers that occupied Germany at the end of WWII gave a mandate for the fair trial of the Nazis and the 'Nuremberg ideas' ended up 'being adopted by the UN General Assembly as the basis of international criminal law and human rights enforcement.'
As the character of Roosevelt says in the prologue: 'There's a lot of creative jurisprudence in this proposal, Harry: overriding national sovereignty, scrapping impunity for state crimes, ....making aggressive war a crime in itself, abolishing the superior-orders defence, a new indictable offence of crimes against humanity. Holy moly!'
One of the messages in this novel is that Nuremberg established a wonderful precedent that has been followed at the Hague whenever possible but Winton points out as well that those marvellous ideals have been betrayed many times since.
This book is a refreshing look at the world in 1945 and how a group of lawyers did their best to deal with the aftermath as fairly and constructively as possible.
The four powers that occupied Germany at the end of WWII gave a mandate for the fair trial of the Nazis and the 'Nuremberg ideas' ended up 'being adopted by the UN General Assembly as the basis of international criminal law and human rights enforcement.'
As the character of Roosevelt says in the prologue: 'There's a lot of creative jurisprudence in this proposal, Harry: overriding national sovereignty, scrapping impunity for state crimes, ....making aggressive war a crime in itself, abolishing the superior-orders defence, a new indictable offence of crimes against humanity. Holy moly!'
One of the messages in this novel is that Nuremberg established a wonderful precedent that has been followed at the Hague whenever possible but Winton points out as well that those marvellous ideals have been betrayed many times since.
This book is a refreshing look at the world in 1945 and how a group of lawyers did their best to deal with the aftermath as fairly and constructively as possible.
July 21, 2017
I started cautiously but very quickly found this both engaging and illuminating. I think it deserves to be bound more professionally and picked up by a major publisher rather than sitting as it does on a publishing fringe where specialist publications generally lie. It reminded me of KD Roosevelt's Allegiance in the blending of fact and fiction. The epilogue is effectively an author's sermon which I would cut from a reprint, but other than that a very fine effort which I couldn't put down.
September 4, 2017
The gripping story told in this novel - that of the Nuremberg Trials - manages to outweigh the (sometimes) pedestrian nature of the writing. Well worth your time.
October 2, 2016
A thought-provoking novel based on well-researched facts surrounding the first Nuremberg trial. Excellent characterisation. This will stay with me for a while.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews