The Nuremberg Legacy: How the Nazi War Crimes Trials Changed the Course of History [Hardcover]

Norbert Ehrenfreund (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1403979650 | ISBN-13: 978-1403979650 | Publication Date: October 2, 2007 | Edition: 1st

Sixty years have passed since the Nuremberg trials of the major Nazi war criminals, but that event still stands as the foundation of international justice. Nuremberg not only ignited a revolution in international law but affected domestic law as well with its simple but profound priniciple that every individual accused of crime is entitled to a full and fair hearing.This book reveals how the precedents set at Nuremberg have affected human rights, race relations, medical practice, big business and even Germany's post-war development. It also examines the Nuremberg trials' influence on the modern war crimes trials of tyrants like Slobodan Milosevic and Saddam Hussein.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"An effective history and study of the impact of such powerful procedures on the modern world" - Library Journal

 

"The Nuremberg trials hold many lessons in justice and human rights that resonate today. From his unique vantage point as an eyewitness to the trials and as a judge, Norbert Ehrenfreund sets out a clear warning about the direction our nation is taking but gives us hope with this refreshing new take on the founding principles of justice as we know it."--Senator Christopher J. Dodd

"Pertinent, thorough overview...a tremendous case for adhering to the Nuremberg legacy of fair treatment for even the most odious offenders. Students and young adults will especially value this accessible, personable work."--Kirkus

"Most Americans today don’t even know the difference between the Nuremberg laws (Nazi racist legislation enacted before WWII) and the Nuremberg principles (the rules that emerged from the trials of Nazi war criminals after WWII). This readable eyewitness account – combining fascinating anecdotes with brilliant insights – will educate and inspire. It is as relevant today, as we confront a new form of totalitarian terrorism and can only hope that we are able to bring its perpetrators to justice under the Nuremberg principle."--Alan M. Dershowitz, Felix Frankfurter Professor of Law, Harvard Law School

 

"Offers a compelling and original contribution to our understanding of the first international criminal tribunal in history."--William Aceves, California Western School of Law, San Diego

"Judge Ehrenfreund's book is distinguished by a combination of elegant writing and a deep understanding of the subject.  This is essential reading for anyone interested in Nuremberg."--Henry T. King, Jr., former Nuremberg prosecutor and author of The Two Worlds of Albert Speer

"Part memoir,...

--This text refers to the Kindle Edition edition.

About the Author

Norbert Ehrenfreund has served as a judge for thirty years in the Superior Court of California. He served as a correspondant for The Stars and Stripes during the Nuremberg trials. He now lives in San Diego, California.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 288 pages
• Publisher: Palgrave Macmillan; 1st edition (October 2, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1403979650
• ISBN-13: 978-1403979650
• Product Dimensions: 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (7 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #633,489 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
  • #71 in Books > Law > Specialties > War

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

8 of 8 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Judgment of Nuremberg, June 23, 2008

By 

C. Sevilla (San Diego CA USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Nuremberg Legacy: How the Nazi War Crimes Trials Changed the Course of History (Hardcover)

This important book is an eye-witness account of the Nuremberg trials written by then journalist and now Judge Norbert Ehrenfreund. It is the type of book all should read: the young to learn of the legacy of this, history's most important trial, and the old as a reminder of what occurred and its lessons. Truly, the past is prologue and the Trials gave the world meticulously documented evidence of Nazi atrocities and set forth a lasting moral/legal judgment that wars of aggression and the murder of innocents are world class crimes for which the wrongdoers will face the judgment of the civilized world. The relevance of the Trials, as the author convincingly proclaims, is as important today as when the Trials took place sixty years ago.

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Inspiring, August 1, 2009

By 

Luiz F. G. Ramos (Brazil) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Nuremberg Legacy: How the Nazi War Crimes Trials Changed the Course of History (Hardcover)

This book by Nobert Ehrenfreund provides a different view on this so well registered subject. The nuremberg trial has been reviewed dozens and dozens of times, but in this title, the acthor injects a creative approach: what is the MEANING of that episode for the time WE are living now? What happened in that particular moment that we can still perceive today.
To answer that question, Ehrenfreund starts re-visiting his own stories as a U.S. soldier in the end of the Second World War and, after describing the most importante parts of the process - always using U.S. prosecutor Justice Robert Jackson as main character - he begins to show how the records and acts in nuremberg would contribute to the development of medical ethical codes; the debates about racism; the american future trials, as a valid precedent; the contribution to the advance in 'human rights' subjects; and some few other aspects - we can truly capture his emotions in his words.
Maybe that's the only 'against' I can point in this book - Sometimes you how to, despite how embracing the narrative is, to remember that there was other characters besides Jackson, othes witnesses besides Ehrenfreund, other countries besides U.S.A., and other concepts of 'fairness' and 'justice', besides american's.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Exceptionally Important Book, December 2, 2008

By 

Natmama (Redondo Beach, CA United States) - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Nuremberg Legacy: How the Nazi War Crimes Trials Changed the Course of History (Hardcover)

This extraordinary book achieves two important ends: it reminds readers that many trials, of many different participants in the Nazi war machine, took place at Nuremberg, and it analyzes why what the world achieved there continues to resonate today. As a bonus, the author's considerable gifts in both the legal and journalistic arenas have enabled him to do so in a way that is engrossing and highly readable. Kudos.