Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity - 3 Volume Set (T-Z-Index) [Hardcover]

Dinah Shelton (Author, Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From Booklist

*Starred Review* This outstanding comprehensive sourcebook of the worst in human behavior throughout history also includes instances of some of the best responses. It is aimed at the adult general reader but will be valuable for both specialists and older students studying the destruction of a people. The editor and contributors are broadly representative of academic experts around the world, and some of them have had extensive involvement with the subject.

The 350 signed, well-documented entries, varying from 500 to 5,000 words, as appropriate, are arranged alphabetically. The topics comprise the diverse aspects of crimes against humanity--acts and consequences, cultural memory and representation, international institutions and laws. Each article is well written, balanced (such as the entry on the Sabra and Shatila Palestinian refugee camps), and includes see also references and a bibliography. The set covers judicial decisions and events as recent as mid-2004. There is some overlap (for example, in treating different aspects of the crimes in the Balkans), but each entry is fresh and shows careful editing.

Every continent and likely every people have had their share of the crimes, and while the impact of the Nazi Holocaust drives much of the work, the editorial team has cast its net wide, encompassing, for example, less-known crimes against the Beothuk people in Newfoundland and Labrador. Birth and death dates of persons and specific dates of the crimes are given. Entries cover ancient and modern genocides, perpetrators and Victims, incitement and resistance, denial and documentation, international tribunals and national trials, and cultural aspects, such as the ways in which genocide intersects with music and dance. The work includes separate two-page entries on the atrocities at Carthage, Srebrenica, and Wounded Knee as well as concise biographies for individuals ranging from Klaus Barbie, chief of the gestapo in France, to Louise Arbor, chief prosecutor for the International Tribune for the Former Yugoslavia. Concluding the set are a glossary, an excellent filmography, 190 pages of primary sources (historical and international texts and judicial decisions), and an accurate index, which is supplemented by a topical list of entries. Black-and-white photos convey some of the horror of what humanity has wrought. The layout of this very accessible work is noteworthy.

The Encyclopedia of Genocide (ABC-CLIO, 1999) emphasizes the Nazi Holocaust and does not aim to cover the entire history and range of genocides. The new work has twice the number of pages and is larger in physical size. It will be the standard resource for many years. Arthur Meyers
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Product Details

• Hardcover: 1458 pages
• Publisher: MacMillan Library Reference; 1 edition (October 29, 2004)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0028658477
• ISBN-13: 978-0028658476
• Product Dimensions: 11.3 x 8.7 x 4.3 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.8 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,516,464 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars People are alike all over, July 19, 2005

By 

Kelley Hunt (Texas, USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity - 3 Volume Set (T-Z-Index) (Hardcover)

The first thing that hits you looking through this 3 volume set is how ready, willing and able the human race is, world-wide, to kill, kill, kill. If the human race was a car, it would have been sent back to the factory, the schematics destroyed, and the engineers would have started all over again from scratch! Serious design flaws.
Anyway, this set is a (probably brief) catalog of man's inhumanity to man. There is some mention of genocides and crimes against humanity in pre-modern times, but most of the horror takes place in the 20th century & later, where modern weapons make killing easier and more efficient - where perpetrators take pictures & make films of themselves committing atrocities. Why? Your guess is as good as mine. The set is pretty up-to-date, including Darfur, Gujarat, and Abu Ghraib. A depressing glimpse at Planet Earth and it's inhabitants.
Includes black and white photos.

5.0 out of 5 stars excellent concept, July 31, 2011

By 

avraam jack "avraam jack" (USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity - 3 Volume Set (T-Z-Index) (Hardcover)

This book is an excellent concept.

However, four hundred and seventy dollars with no discount seems a bit much.

Perhaps the price is justified by the low volume.

If the book describes the current American gang stalking phenomenon, where the USA government allows fascist racketeering gang stalking groups to openly and notoriously stalk, harass, poison ( in many many severly damaging ways ) and irradiate people it would be worth it because there is almost a complete blackout on these crimes. The fear is intense.

Avraam Jack Dectis

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

2.0 out of 5 stars A complete work but not partial, January 18, 2009

By 

V. Gonzalez (Spain) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Encyclopedia of Genocide and Crimes Against Humanity - 3 Volume Set (T-Z-Index) (Hardcover)

One will need literature more critique with the Western world (markets, companies, sociobiology) to complete this book, or you will have a partial knowledge of the history and causes of this phenomena. Although it is an encyclopedia, there is an unbalanced weight in the topics with the serious absences commented before.

These volumnes must be completed with "Late Victorian Holocausts", M. Davis and others, to coverthe the reformulations in sociobiology performed by Galton, and its influence in the British Empire and other countries. These are very alive in the billion victims in the Third World.

This encyclopedia ignore the genocide in India with 30 billion victims explained in the Davies book. In a general way, the 3 volumes are quite benigne with the Anglo world, ignoring the ideological roots of the actual financial power and his real role in modern genocides (Congo, etc..).