Pinochet: The Politics of Torture (Fast Track) [Hardcover]

William O'Shaughnessy (Author)

Book Description

Series: Fast Track | Publication Date: March 1, 2000

Near midnight on October 16, 1998, officers of Scotland Yard entered the London hospital room of former Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and arrested him on charges of torturing and murdering Spanish citizens. The arrest sent shockwaves around the world, delighting his detractors and the families of his regime's victims, and dismaying his supporters, including Margaret Thatcher. It marked the first time a former head of state had been detained outside his own country on charges of crimes against humanity, and thus signaled a clear warning to former dictators and heads of abusive regimes.

Through interviews, eyewitness accounts, and new sources, veteran journalist Hugh O'Shaughnessy here sifts through the General's personal life, rise to power, and arrest and internment. In clear, unforgiving prose, Pinochet: The Politics of Torture tells the riveting story of legal intrigue behind the search for justice.

Editorial Reviews

Review

"Like a prose line drawing, a literary appetizer to a still unwritten main course: a thorough political biography of the late 20th century's most visible dictator."

-Washington Post Book World,

About the Author

The day before Augusto Pinochet was arrested, HUGH O'SHAUGHNESSY wrote an article entitled "Murderer Among Us" in the Guardian, calling for Pinochet's arrest. An award-winning journalist and broadcaster who has covered Latin America for nearly four decades, O'Shaughnessy is the author of numerous books and has been a regular correspondent for The Economist and The Financial Times, among others. A professional acquaintance of Salvador Allende, he was in Santiago on the day of Pinochet's coup d'etat in 1973.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 208 pages
• Publisher: NYU Press (March 1, 2000)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0814762018
• ISBN-13: 978-0814762011
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.7 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 2.9 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (8 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,781,949 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

11 of 14 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This Bookk Is The Summarized Recent History of Chile, June 5, 2000

By 

Johann Borquez (Concepcion, Chile) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Pinochet: The Politics of Torture (Fast Track) (Hardcover)

Through this book, every one with no prior knowledge on the recent political history of Chile, may become informed about what happened in that South American country in the last 30 years. In summarizing the history of Pinochet's raise, O'Shaughnessy masterly informs the reader not just about how a rather mediocre army officer became the icon of the Latin American dictator, but also what the Chilean society itself was before the putsch of 1973, and how it changed through the years by means of terror and torture. The book also throws light about something often silenced, even in today's semidemocratic Chile: the involvement of top rank officers in drug smuggling. In Chile, where historians wait for the time to give the "needed historic perspective" there is not such a book that in just 208 pages summarizes such a big amount of data. I think the chilean young people would be thankfully of the printer that dares to publish the spanish translation of this book, for it will give them an understanding of the divisions that still hurt this country.

7 of 10 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The true story of the chilean dictator and his regime, July 26, 2002

By 

G. Aguirre-iriarte "tracesyb16" (Nashville, TN United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Pinochet: The Politics of Torture (Fast Track) (Hardcover)

this is an excellent book to understand the nature of the act commited in Chile by Augusto Pinochet. Althought today many of his supporters try to deny the horror of Pinochet's regime the truth about the atrocities commited by the so call "chilean Libertator" are evident on this book. Pinochet's crimes include genocide,murder,Terrorism, torture, kidnaping and assasination on chilean territory and abroad.The victims of his crimes were chilean citizens and foreigners (including US citizens). This book gives an account of this dictator life and acts in a very organized way from his childhood to his arrest on London during 1998 (as an international criminal).

4.0 out of 5 stars Pinochet: The Politics of Torture, February 12, 2011

By 

Spider Monkey (UK) - See all my reviews
(TOP 1000 REVIEWER)   

This review is from: Pinochet: The Politics of Torture (Fast Track) (Hardcover)

'Pinochet: Politics Of Torture' looks at the life and dictatorship of Augusto Pinochet up until his arrest in 1998. It is extremely well written and the style is easy to read, even if some of the subject matter isn't. This book looks at the various professional relationships between Pinochet and other leading figures whilst he was in power and the conflicts he had whilst trying to maintain his grip on Chile. It explores some of the human rights abuses and the parts of this book that explain the various tortures are quite distasteful and hard to read. You can barely believe one man could be so cruel to another. The politics of the era and the support Chile received from The U.S. and shamefully the U.K. make for uncomfortable, but required reading. This book could really do with an updated version so that the reader is left knowing the outcome to various 'storylines' (for want of a better phrase) and of Pinochet. This book has a photo section in the middle to add some imagery to the stories outlined in the text. Overall this is an insightful read, that will keep you engrossed and interested the whole way through. Well worth a read.

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