A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporary Genocide


Book Description

This book documents the devastating effects of genocide in the world's most destructive human environments since the end of World War II and explores why such events still occur. A Biographical Encyclopedia of Contemporary Genocide: Portraits of Evil and Good is a unique study of humanity's most reprehensible actions. It documents genocides that have occurred after World War II—a period that was supposed to be the fulfillment of the promise "never again"—by providing biographies rather than extensive historical narratives. The entries describe the personal backgrounds; careers; and relationship to genocidal events, humanitarian actions, or international initiatives relevant to each person in the book. Beyond examining the genocidaires who played key roles in mass murder, individuals who contributed to efforts to stop genocide are also profiled. By adopting a biographical approach to post-World War II genocide, the author sheds light on why people behave the way they do toward their fellow human beings and provides vital insights into the extremes of human positivity and negativity that have characterized this period of history. Serving as a vital tool for scholars and students of genocide as well as compelling reading for general audiences, the book highlights individual human behaviors, motivations, backgrounds, and intentions that can form a platform from which to raise and discuss issues of morality and ethics in the modern world.







Modern Genocide [4 volumes]


Book Description

This massive, four-volume work provides students with a close examination of 10 modern genocides enhanced by documents and introductions that provide additional historical and contemporary context for learning about and understanding these tragic events. Modern Genocide: The Definitive Resource and Document Collection spans nearly 1,700 pages presented in four volumes and includes more than 120 primary source documents, making it ideal for high school and beginning college students studying modern genocide as part of a larger world history curriculum. The coverage for each modern genocide, from Herero to Darfur, begins with an introductory essay that helps students conceptualize the conflict within an international context and enables them to better understand the complex role genocide has played in the modern world. There are hundreds of entries on atrocities, organizations, individuals, and other aspects of genocide, each written to serve as a springboard to meaningful discussion and further research. The coverage of each genocide includes an introductory overview, an explanation of the causes, consequences, perpetrators, victims, and bystanders; the international reaction; a timeline of events; an Analyze section that poses tough questions for readers to consider and provides scholarly, pro-and-con responses to these historical conundrums; and reference entries. This integrated examination of genocides occurring in the modern era not only presents an unprecedented research tool on the subject but also challenges the readers to go back and examine other events historically and, consequently, consider important questions about human society in the present and the future.




Bosnian Genocide


Book Description

Providing an indispensable resource for students and policy makers investigating the Bosnian catastrophes of the 1990s, this book provides a comprehensive survey of the leaders, ideas, movements, and events pertaining to one of the most devastating conflicts of contemporary times. In the three years of the Bosnian War, well over 100,000 people lost their lives, amid intense carnage. This led to unprecedented criminal prosecutions for genocide, war crimes, and crimes against humanity that are still taking place today. Bosnian Genocide: The Essential Reference Guide is the first encyclopedic treatment of the Balkan conflicts of the period from 1991 to 1999. It provides broad coverage of the nearly decade-long conflict, but with a major focus on the Bosnian War of 1992–1995. The book examines a variety of perspectives of the conflicts relating to Slovenia, Croatia, Bosnia-Herzegovina, Serbia, and Kosovo, among other developments that took place during the years spotlighted. The entries consider not only the leaders, ideas, movements, and events relating to the Bosnian War of 1992–1995 but also examine themes from before the war and after it. As such, coverage continues through to the Kosovo Intervention of 1999, arguing that this event, too, was part of the conflict that purportedly ended in 1995. This work will serve university students undertaking the study of genocide in the modern world and readers interested in modern wars, international crisis management, and peacekeeping and peacemaking.




Genocide Perspectives IV


Book Description

Genocide isn't past tense and the Nazi and Bosnian eras are not yet closed. The demonising of people as 'unworthy' and expendable is ever-present and the consequences are all too evident in the daily news. These fourteen essays by Australian scholars confront the issues: the need for a measuring scale that encompasses differences and similarities between seemingly divergent cases of the crime; the complicity of bureaucracies, the healing professions and the churches in this 'crime of crimes'; the quest for historical justice for genocide victims generally following the Nuremberg Trials; the fate of children in the Nazi and postwar eras; the 'worthiness' of Armenians, Jews and Romani people in twentieth century Europe; and the imperative to tackle early warning signs of an incipient genocide. Colin Tatz is a founding director of the Australian Institute for Holocaust and Genocide Studies, visiting fellow in Politics and International Relations at the Australian National University, and honorary visiting fellow at the Australian Institute of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Studies. He teaches and publishes in comparative race politics, youth suicide, migration studies, and sports history.




Genocide: The Basics


Book Description

Genocide: The Basics is an engaging introduction to the study of a controversial and widely debated topic. This concise and comprehensive book explores key questions such as; how successful have efforts been in the prevention of genocide? How prevalent has genocide been throughout history? and how has the concept been defined? Real world case studies address significant issues including: The killing of indigenous peoples by colonial powers The Holocaust and the question of "uniqueness" Peacekeeping efforts in the 1990s Legal attempts to create a genocide-free world With suggestions for further reading, discussion questions at the end of each chapter and a glossary of key terms, Genocide: The Basics is the ideal starting point for students approaching the topic for the first time.




Genocide and Mass Atrocities in Asia


Book Description

The twentieth century has been labelled the ‘century of genocide’, and according to estimates, more than 250 million civilians were victims of genocide and mass atrocities during this period. This book provides one of the first regional perspectives on mass atrocities in Asia, by exploring the issue through two central themes. Bringing together experts in genocide studies and area specialists, the book looks at the legacy of past genocides and mass atrocities, with case studies on East Timor, Cambodia and Indonesia. It explores the enduring legacies of trauma and societal divisions, the complex and continuing impacts of past mass violence, and the role of transitional justice in the aftermath of mass atrocities in Asia. Understanding these complex legacies is crucial for the region to build a future that acknowledges the past. The book goes on to consider the prospects and challenges for preventing future mass atrocities in Asia, and globally. It discusses both regional and global factors that may impact on preventing future mass atrocities in Asia, and highlights the value of a regional perspective in mass atrocity prevention. Providing a detailed examination of genocide and mass atrocities through the themes of legacies and prevention, the book is an important contribution to Asian Studies and Security Studies.




Rwanda Genocide Stories


Book Description

A critical study of fictional responses by authors inside and outside Rwanda to the 1994 genocide.




Encountering Genocide


Book Description

Cutting-edge in its scope and approach, this unique volume offers first-person accounts of modern genocides to enable readers to more fully examine genocidal experiences and better understand the horror of such events. From the atrocities of the Holocaust to the ongoing horrors in Darfur, genocide has been a gruesome and all-too-prominent fixture of modern history. There is no better way to examine and understand these events than through the accounts of those involved. This unique collection of primary sources features 50 documents, some of which have never before been made public. These firsthand accounts—diary entries, memoirs, oral testimony, original interviews, and more—illuminate 10 genocides of the 20th and 21st centuries as they were experienced by victims, perpetrators, and bystanders. The book begins with the Herero Genocide (1904–1907) and ends with a consideration of the atrocities in Darfur. Each of the 50 documents features a brief introduction that provides basic and essential information such as who created it as well as when, where, and why. The work concludes with an analysis comprised of scholarly commentary, additional contextual information, and a list of questions that will serve as a springboard for student discussion of history and of the nature of survival in the face of evil.




Famous Assassinations in World History [2 volumes]


Book Description

Representing a unique reference tool for readers interested in history, criminology, or terrorism, this book provides the most complete and up-to-date coverage of assassinations of key figures throughout history and around the world. Effecting the death of a political figure, a leader of a nation, or a public figure usually captures people's attention. But how often is assassination effective to achieve the larger objective beyond the death of the targeted individual? Famous Assassinations in World History: An Encyclopedia offers more than 200 entries on assassinations of all kinds that will allow readers to grasp the often-complex motivating factors behind each event and better understand historical and contemporary social unrest. Each entry identifies the assassination target and summarizes that person's significance; discusses the person's assassination, including the factors that led up to it and its political and cultural contexts; and explains the powerful effects of the assassination in world history. The encyclopedia also includes various sidebars that spotlight relevant individuals, groups, and movements and present intriguing factoids such as the final disposition of notorious assassins' weapons and various films and novels that were inspired by famous assassinations. In addition, 23 primary source documents provide accounts of assassinations throughout world history.