History of Genocide
Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur
Kiernan, B. (2009). Blood and soil: A world history of genocide and extermination from Sparta to Darfur. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Kiernan posits that genocide is not a twentieth century development, but rather that instances of genocide can be found as far back in history as ancient Greece. Additionally, he believes that nearly every episode of genocide has included four particular aspects: racism or religious hatred, territorial expansion, cults of antiquity, and a strong affinity for agrarian culture. He presents a narrative history of occurrences of genocide from ancient to modern times, and includes episodes many do not consider, such as massacres of indigenous people throughout the world, and the Japanese invasion and murder of Koreans in the sixteenth century. While the majority of the book provides an in-depth look at historical instances of genocide, the epilogue, looking at racial and religious slaughter in our day, sheds light on more recent episodes of mass killing from East Timor to Sudan. This book functions as a resource for those who are interested in a detailed history of genocide, but can also be used by those who are interested in a single chapter of the long history of genocide.
A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide
Power, S. (2003). A problem from hell: America and the age of genocide. New York, NY: Harper Perennial.
Samantha Power’s book provides an interesting perspective on genocide because it is written from the point of view of a journalist. Power writes about instances of genocide from the last century, and draws on her own experience reporting from these places, in addition to interviews with policy makers and formerly classified documents, to make an argument for more humanitarian intervention on the part of the United States to prevent and stop genocide from happening.
Kiernan, B. (2009). Blood and soil: A world history of genocide and extermination from Sparta to Darfur. New Haven, CT: Yale University Press.
Kiernan posits that genocide is not a twentieth century development, but rather that instances of genocide can be found as far back in history as ancient Greece. Additionally, he believes that nearly every episode of genocide has included four particular aspects: racism or religious hatred, territorial expansion, cults of antiquity, and a strong affinity for agrarian culture. He presents a narrative history of occurrences of genocide from ancient to modern times, and includes episodes many do not consider, such as massacres of indigenous people throughout the world, and the Japanese invasion and murder of Koreans in the sixteenth century. While the majority of the book provides an in-depth look at historical instances of genocide, the epilogue, looking at racial and religious slaughter in our day, sheds light on more recent episodes of mass killing from East Timor to Sudan. This book functions as a resource for those who are interested in a detailed history of genocide, but can also be used by those who are interested in a single chapter of the long history of genocide.
A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide
Power, S. (2003). A problem from hell: America and the age of genocide. New York, NY: Harper Perennial.
Samantha Power’s book provides an interesting perspective on genocide because it is written from the point of view of a journalist. Power writes about instances of genocide from the last century, and draws on her own experience reporting from these places, in addition to interviews with policy makers and formerly classified documents, to make an argument for more humanitarian intervention on the part of the United States to prevent and stop genocide from happening.