History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)

Book Description

Recorded history is a finely-woven magic fabric of intricate lies about events predating the sixteenth century. There is not a single piece of evidence that can be reliably and independently traced back earlier than the eleventh century. This book details events that are substantiated by hard facts and logic, and validated by new astronomical research and statistical analysis of ancient sources.

Customer Reviews:

Calculations are only as good as your numbers.......2007-08-03

Yes, we can all agree that mainstream history is nearly 100% BS due to politics, economics, ego, problems with dating techniques, and various conspiracies. Agreed. But, I've been researching the distinct possibility that human history (in terms of civilizations) are much more ancient than we've been told, so coming across this book was very interesting to me. I wondered how Fomenko could be wrong (if at all) because he is very persuasive in his presentations. Then it dawned on me. If at previous times in prehistory, due to the various catastrophies that are well documented (comets, asteroids, planetary disruptions, plasma discharge, pole reversals, etc) the Earth was in a different position in relation to the sun, different tilt on its axis, different orbit, different rotation (in terms of velocity and DIRECTION), and the continents were in different positions, then would this not cause the ancients to see the sky (constellations) differently? In other words, is Fomenko making erronious assumptions about the physics of the Earth in pre-history, which then corrupt his data with regards to dating the relevant astrology? The last event to seriously disrupt our planet occured roughly 3500 years ago, according to other good researchers, so is it possible Fomenko has been confused by this? The vastly different physics of our planet in the not so distant past may explain this confusion, which is not to say the "mainstream" version of history is correct; on the contrary. I am not an expert in these fields, but wanted to see if this idea could spark discussion.

Pants on fire?.......2007-07-19

Will people ever read before spamming? Yes, Jesuits could not rewrite world history alone, they had help. Anyway, Dr Prof Acad A.Fomenko does not point to jesuits as the driving force of world wide history manipulation in published volumes 1,2,3;, actually he barely mentions the poor devils. Check it with 'Search inside' feature, please. China is rarely mentioned either, in fact, Dr Fomenko is completely eurocentric. Right, his theory contradicts all mainstream schools of history, because in their actual state they are all built on blatantly erroneus chronology. You don't need a mysterious cabal (conspiracy) to falsify history, the falsification is its modus operandi. It is inherent to history(ians) to falsify (distort) events, as it is inherent to humans to boast as it is inherent to power (authority) to legimize itself by referrring to glorious past made to its own order. Dr Prof Fomenko and team have identified scores of instances of such manipulation in Russian, European, etc.. history, and delivered valid statistical proof thereof. His own 'reconstruction' is completely another story. Forget c14 as a valid method of dating. W.Libby has initially discovered a brilliant method of INDEPENDENT dating. Too bad, c14 method has become a joke after a forced marrige with dendrochronology with consensual chronological scale inbuilt. Radiocarbon method can't stand blind tests, but is so very productive as a rubberstamp.

Accepted History & Chronology Must Be Changed. .......2007-04-09

There is no doubt that history as most know it is a sham, & institution's version of History both University & Church is fradulent & inaccurate. Everything was established with an agenda, The real "Dark Ages" are now when we have access to incredible amounts of information past authorities & more important 'common folk' didn't have but our institutions & educators are slow to evolve because of what has ignorantly & arrogantly been taught for too long. This is on many subjects not just Chronology.

For anyone to question "Why would a Mathematician have anything credible to say of History?" The answer is from Dr. Fomenko's preface in the book: "It would be worthwhile to remind the reader that in the XVI-XVII century Chronology was considered to be a subdivision of Mathematics." These volumes could possibly be some of the most important works to date & should be read by everyone with an interest in History, especially professors & educators who have a duty to the public. I have read both books & must say that 'Chronology 1' has some very eye opening & revolutionary information. Even if these volumes are part true the implications are profound & opens the doors to further investigations & questions which must be done. I speak several different lanquages & must say the logic Dr. Fomenko uses with "inflection" of words & words being read from left to right in one region & right to left in another then written backwards, the removal of vowels & get down to basics of words, or different cities & locations having the same name etc. is correct. Vowel usage has always been optional & varied, actually complicating linquistics & study. The first thing one has to understand is that words never had a fixed spelling in history like we do now, the spelling of words was mutable & regional, as well as names & titles of people were vast, varied & changed, NOTHING WAS FIXED or understood linear. Matters of Life & Death as well as financial profiteering yesterday & today were & are made with ignorant, illogical & conspiratorial views of history & reality, it's time people get closer to the Truth & society collectively grow up.

Very Interesting.......2007-03-07

It is a good proposal and I believe it will mature into something even better in the future. I think it deserves to be read.

History as Science Fiction.......2007-01-10

Anatoly Fomenko has written a very intriguing book, full of pictures, charts, and computer 'proof' of his thesis: backwards of AD900 we don't really know what happened or when. Between AD900 and AD1600 there is more certainty, but there is still a lot of fuzzy ground, and things don't get reliable until we get past the 1600's where the printing press made it very difficult for the perpetrators of this timeline manipulation to change anything that had been committed to print. The Dark Ages did not happen. Books were burned for a reason. One organization has doubled the actual length of its existence by expanding the real chronology. Read why.

I had always wondered why Christ died about AD33 and yet men waited until the 11th century to form the Knights Templar, the Cathars, etc and go after the Holy Land by force. Why the 1000 year gap? Turns out there wasn't more than a 10-12 year gap and he proves it using astronomy. This also implies that the planet is not as old as we have been told, and current Christian and other creationist scientists are already championing that idea without being aware of Fomenko's book. The two groups, creationist scientists and the Russian mathematical analysts corroborate each other. Fascinating.

Of course, all this flies in the face of what we have been told traditionally is the 'proper' chronology of western civilization, and most readers will experience 'cognitive dissonance' in reading this book. It means that our history going backwards from AD1600 becomes progressively more incorrect and unreliable until it cannot be trusted at all... in the space of 700-800 years.

Naturally, the curious, open-minded reader will want to know WHO did this, WHY, and did any of the events we think of as really ancient ever happen?
Dr. Fomenko is a respected scientist/mathematician at Moscow State University who has already answered these questions to the satisfaction of his initially skeptical colleagues. Most of them are now believers, a few still refuse to believe (the usual diehards), and of course the western press has ignored Fomenko's work -- for obvious reasons when you read the book. The ones who perpetrated this chronology ruse have a lot to answer for. They are still with us. That's why this book is a well-kept secret.

I gave the book a 4-star rating because I was unable to check out some of his claims; those I checked were as he said. But if even 1/3 of his claims are true, this punches a big hole in what we think is our history, the meaning of western civilization, our educational process (for repeating the ruse as gospel), and the trustworthiness of the organization that perpetrated this ruse, well-intentioned or not.

This book relates to current research into a Young Earth paradigm, to John Keel's discoveries about our planet, and Fr Malachi Martin's insights (in his now out-of-print books). We are indeed sheep who are manipulated and kept ignorant -- for a reason. While knowing what these men have to say may be the "booby prize" (as in: 'what can you do with this knowledge?'), it will provide interesting reading. Didn't someone say: "...and the Truth will set you free."?? For you to judge if this book contains the truth.

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A Quick General Overview
Extremely disappointing
A Long and Unending Journey toward Rights
A step towards understanding human rights as cultural history
How compassion works

Inventing Human Rights: A History
Lynn Hunt
Manufacturer: W. W. Norton
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Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0393060950

Book Description

How were human rights invented, and what is their turbulent history?

Human rights is a concept that only came to the forefront during the eighteenth century. When the American Declaration of Independence declared "all men are created equal" and the French proclaimed the Declaration of the Rights of Man during their revolution, they were bringing a new guarantee into the world. But why then? How did such a revelation come to pass? In this extraordinary work of cultural and intellectual history, Professor Lynn Hunt grounds the creation of human rights in the changes that authors brought to literature, the rejection of torture as a means of finding out truth, and the spread of empathy. Hunt traces the amazing rise of rights, their momentous eclipse in the nineteenth century, and their culmination as a principle with the United Nations's proclamation in 1948. She finishes this work for our time with a diagnosis of the state of human rights today.

Customer Reviews:

A Quick General Overview.......2007-09-11

I found this book very easy to read and engaging but at the end of the day did not find it very substantive. I think it's fine as a general overview of the history of modern human rights, and especially as to the French Revolution, which I believe is the author's specialty. If you are interested in something substantive or heavy duty, this is not the title you're looking for.

Extremely disappointing.......2007-08-29

I have to admit that I find virtually incomprehensible the strong reviews that this book has received in the press (and among some other amazon reviewers). Did they really read the same book? I made it to page 127 (half way) before putting the book down in despair. It's poorly written, badly organized, and as far as I could tell offers little insight into the development of human rights. Some of the arguments presented by the author are downright bizarre. For example, early on, the author declares that widespread reading of torture and epistolarly novels "had physical effects that translated into brain changes," which then led to new ideas about human rights. Weird. The author is a widely respected academic. What happened?

A Long and Unending Journey toward Rights.......2007-06-08

Three hundred years ago, the idea that people in the world should regard themselves as equals or that all had important rights just because they were humans would have largely been regarded as laughable. Now human rights are taken for granted, and even are regarded as more important than that old standard, property rights. How did such a change happen? Lynn Hunt, a professor of modern European history, has some ideas, and has related them in _Inventing Human Rights: A History_ (Norton). There was a Bill of Rights in England in 1689, but it merely referred to "ancient rights and liberties" that derived from the tradition of English law. It did not have what Hunt describes as three interlocking qualities that are essential to human rights: "... rights must be natural (inherent in human beings), equal (the same for everyone) and universal (applicable everywhere)." The acceptance of such rights was a revolution in human thought and in the understanding of how governments were to prioritize their functions. It is a great story, one we can be proud of, and though progress toward acknowledgement of human rights has stumbled and halted at times, it has proved unstoppable.

The boom in concepts of human rights during the eighteenth century can never be fully explained, but Hunt thinks she has a clue. People began to read novels, especially epistolary ones in which characters themselves wrote out their feelings onto the page. Reading such a novel made people view the characters on the pages with empathy because the "narrative form facilitated the development of a 'character,' that is, a person with an inner self." The more lurid of the novels included scenes of torture, producing a revulsion in readers that would eventually help end the long tradition of judicial torture. It is perhaps not coincidental that Thomas Jefferson was a committed novel reader, and it was he who wrote (and the American Congress who approved) the first great proclamation of human rights in 1776. Jefferson's declaration led to the even more influential French Declaration of Rights of Man and Citizen in 1789. There seemed an unstoppable cascade of inclusion in France: Protestants and Jews got political rights by 1791, as did men without property in 1792. Slaves were emancipated in 1794. There was, however, a long gap between the American and French declarations and the next comparable document, the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of 1948 which drew upon its two predecessors. Hunt explains that there were forces in the nineteenth century that held human rights back. Pseudo-scientific claims about race and gender cast erroneous doubt on any fundamental human equalities. There was an increase in nationalism, an emphasis on collective efforts rather than on individual liberties. Only after two calamitous world wars was there a reconsideration for declaring the universalism originally engendered in the Enlightenment.

The battle to ensure and extend human rights continues, because governments are eager to impinge upon such rights in order to continue power. Hunt's sharpest examples are about torture. There are some grisly examples given here, and torturing criminals to get confessions or to make them declare their accomplices was simply the way governments used to work. Civil and church lawyers for centuries sorted out just what torture could be applied for just what situation. After the French Declaration, however, it took deputies in France only six weeks to completely abolish judicial torture. Here is the shock, however: Louis XVI had already outlawed torture as a means of getting confessions. But he had allowed it to continue for what was called "the preliminary question," that is to torture the accused into giving out the names of any accomplices. It is disheartening that the current administration finds that it is worthwhile to consider the use of "harsh interrogation" procedures for exactly the same sorts of reasons. Human rights were invented and acknowledged eloquently a couple of centuries ago, but they haven't fully come into force.

A step towards understanding human rights as cultural history.......2007-05-17

"Inventing Human Rights" is a short, jargon-free book that would be appropriate for an undergraduate class or general readership. The introduction and first chapter is an examination of the cultural origins of the human rights ideology. The second chapter is a history of torture. Chapters 3-5 are a "conventional" history of human rights as traced through laws, constitutions, political philosophy, etc. from roughly 1750 to the present. There is a refreshing emphasis on the French Enlightenment (which is too often neglected in works in English).

Regarding research methods, Professor Hunt is good at tracing the circulation of ideas via the circulation of books. Careful attention is paid to when certain phrases (e.g. "rights of man", "human rights") were first used, how many times important books were reprinted, what percentage of 18th century homes and libraries they could be found in, and literacy rates.

The introduction poses the question "How is it that rights came to seem self-evident in the late 18th century?" Prof. Hunt proposes an explanation in terms of the diffusion of the cultural practices of "autonomy" and "empathy", where autonomy supplies the substance of the new ethic and empathy, the motive (pp. 29-30).

When Hunt writes of autonomy as a "cultural practice" she is referring primarily to the increasing sense of delicacy regarding the human body described in the work of Norbert Elias. She thinks, for instance, that here one can find the origin of the new repugnance at judicial torture (pp 82-83).

Following Benedict Anderson's work on nationalism, Hunt maintains that just as the rise of printing made it possible for people who were widely dispersed to conceptualize themselves as part of a single national polity, the late 18th century craze for epistolary novels helped readers to conceptualize a common humanity (p.32). Novels helped readers empathize more habitually and with a greater variety of people (pp. 38-42). They also provided a model of "interiority" and autonomy for readers to emulate (pp. 45, 48).

What makes cultural history exciting (and controversial) is the way that cultural historians derive changes in moral sensibilities from changes social structure, thereby offering a social-scientific explanation of why, when and how our values change over time. For example, in the work of Norbert Elias, the increasing sense of shame over bodily functions was caused by the transformation of the aristocracy from a warrior caste to a class dependent on royal favor whose political survival required charm. And in Michel Foucault's (classic) account of the abolition of torture the adoption of "the gentle way in punishment" was due to the diffusion of new strategies of social control oriented towards efficiency and productivity which were necessary to the rise of capitalism.

But Hunt has little to say about the relationship between the new ideals and structural demands of the emerging economic order. Rather, she depicts the human rights ideology as a kind of emergent property, caused by (but not beholden to) the increasing prosperity of the late 18th century, which, once invented, proceeds with an "inner logic" of its own. (p. 34, 150ff).

How compassion works.......2007-05-09

Hunt's thesis, as I read this fine book, is that although compassion was not a new idea in the eighteenth century, injunctions to compassion (from Christianity, for example) were not working to affect public life. Torture, public executions, etc. were habituating Western European populations to high levels of violence in daily life. Associating the rise of the novel to new sensibilities that began to alter society, Hunt argues that novels enabled large numbers of people (especially the designers and administrators of society) to understand the subjectivity of people unlike them, and thus to empathize with the sufferings of others. She suggests that these new sensibilities had real social effects in the development of human rights. Hunt traces these real effects in the language by which human rights came to be seen as universal and "inalienable." Historical theses based on simultaneity can never be proved, but Hunt makes a strong case for novels' ability to make compassion work in eighteenth century Western Europe.

Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA Torture Program

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The best account of a counter-productive and immoral policy
Extraordinary Prose on "Extraordinary Rendition"
The real torture is reading this book
Truth, not "Truthiness"
Very detailed history of the CIA's air assets.

Ghost Plane: The True Story of the CIA Torture Program
Stephen Grey
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Conspiracy Theories | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 0312360231
Release Date: 2006-10-17

Book Description

For the first time, Stephen Grey tells the inside story of international prisons sanctioned by the U.S. Government and used by the CIA to hold and torture people suspected of terrorism.

Using contacts deep inside the U.S. Government, Grey reveals how deeply the Bush administration is involved in the program and questions the truth of statements made by Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice. He also shines a spotlight on the heads of European nations who turned a blind eye to the program when it showed up in their back yards. Grey takes an unflinching look at a horrendous practice that scorns Geneva Convention rules and is powered by corruption at the highest levels of governments worldwide.

Through his unprecedented access to CIA flight records and dozens of sources at the senior levels of the current administration, Grey has produced a story of flight plans, extreme torture, and the clash of religions and governmental posturing that goes on today. Ghost Plane tells the stories of individuals abducted at airports around the world and transported for interrogation and torture on a fleet of leased planes manned by CIA operatives.

Grey paints a disburing ethical picture of the war on terror and lays the responsibility for abduction and torutre at the doorstep of Washington, D.C.

Customer Reviews:

The best account of a counter-productive and immoral policy.......2007-04-26

Stephen Grey, a former editor of the Sunday Times Insight investigation team, broke many of the news stories about the CIAs programme of secret renditions. In this extremely useful book, he gives us the fullest account yet of this programme. He exposes the CIAs covert aircraft fleet, Aero Contractors, and also describes how CIA planes operated illegally in Venezuela to support the attempted coup against President Chavez in 2002.

The CIA runs a system of clandestine prisons holding thousands of kidnapped prisoners, taken from Iraq, Afghanistan, Bosnia, Croatia, Macedonia, Albania, Germany, Italy, Sudan, Somalia, Kenya, Zambia, Gambia, Pakistan, Indonesia and Malaysia to be tortured in Afghanistan, Jordan, Uzbekistan, Thailand, Syria, Egypt and Morocco. Grey writes, the foreign torture cells of Cairo and Damascus and the US jails at Guantanamo and Bagram were part of one interconnected gulag in which prisoners were swapped both between countries but also between the CIA and the US military.

Grey asked Edward Walker, US Ambassador to Egypt, When Condoleezza Rice and the president now stand in front of people and say we dont send people to countries where they torture, are they telling the truth? Walker replied, No, theyre not telling the truth. A CIA official said, nothing was done without approval from the White House from Condoleezza Rice herself.

The Bush and Blair governments talk democracy but support dictatorship. For example, in 2002, the State Department said Uzbekistan routinely tortured prisoners, then gave it an extra $180 million aid. Grey points out that the Blair government connived in the renditions and in the use of torture, by using the information gained from torturing prisoners. Nor has the Blair government defended British citizens from CIA rendition.

Grey also notes that the illegal war on Iraq is a counter-productive diversion from the struggle against Al-Qaeda. As Britains Joint Intelligence Committee said in April 2005, We judge that the conflict in Iraq has exacerbated the threat from international terrorism and will continue to have an impact in the long term. It has reinforced the determination of terrorists who were already committed to attacking the West and motivated others who were not. The JIC said that the war provided an additional motivation for attacks on Britain and was increasing Al Qaedas potential.

Similarly, the US governments appalling treatment of prisoners has worsened the threat from Al-Qaeda. Grey concludes, Americas programme of extraordinary rendition and its harsh treatment of prisoners have not, when considered strategically, been successful weapons against terrorism.

Extraordinary Prose on "Extraordinary Rendition".......2007-04-19

Grey's book is thoroughly researched and he documents very well the careless "trail" that the CIA left behind.

The first half of the book can be a bit difficult to follow at times, as they are "case-studies" on individual prisoners. I found it a bit challenging to keep all the key players in context.

However, with that said, Grey includes all the detail to set the stage for proving that these renditions had taken place, and that the Executive Branch had knowingly "out-sourced" enemy combatants to organizations that carried-out the tortures, on behalf of the US.

Three of the key points that I took away from this book were: a sense of disappointment and disgust with the US approach. Sen. John McCain, who himself was tortured as a POW (Read his book "Faith of Our Fathers"), vehemently opposes torture. He continues to state that the biggest thing that kept him and his fellow POWs steadfast, was that they stalwartly believed that their government was "above" this type of treatment, and humanity and justice by the US makes them different than their captors.

The second point is that torture is counter-productive to achieving peace and diplomacy. Grey does a nice job of laying-out how these actions only serve to fuel and further incite the animosity that hostile organizations feel for the US.

The final point, that defense cuts and disregard for the value of human intelligence, by past presidential administrations, really fostered the environment for the Bush aministration to play "catch-up"...although it doesn't exonerate the Administration from the actions.

I'll leave the rest to you to uncover how Bush, Condi Rice, the CIA, looked the other way as this all went down...

The real torture is reading this book.......2007-03-08

If the US wants to torture prisoners they should force them to read this poorly written book. Very unimpressive writing that makes the book hard to follow.

Truth, not "Truthiness".......2007-01-15

A fabulous job of integrating detail with narrative into a web of our secret and not too righteous world of torture, kidnapping and disregard for human rights.
Grey has made his case of detailing the flights, passengers, destinations, and outcomes of the "rendition" and extraordinary rendition by our own government. And how the details of delusion of the public were worked out by Gonzalez et al.
This book is well worth reading if you have an interest in how a government can go overboard in trashing human rights--and still get poor results (from torture).
What looks like a formidable read turns out to be riveting and is truly a worhtwhile addition to the support of a better, more open government that is above torture.

Very detailed history of the CIA's air assets........2007-01-10

Very detaile information on the CIA's rendition flights.Also covers the History of the CIA's "Private" Air assets going back to the Vietnam War.

The Torture Papers: The Road to Abu Ghraib

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THE REAL DEAL
The Torture Papers
The Torture Papers:Road to Abu Ghraib
Making Men Scream in Our Name
A recorded history of sadism, incompetence, and cowardice

The Torture Papers: The Road to Abu Ghraib

Manufacturer: Cambridge University Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0521853249

Book Description

The Torture Papers document the so-called â€~torture memosâ€™ and reports which US government officials wrote to prepare the way for, and to document, coercive interrogation and torture in Afghanistan, Guantanamo, and Abu Ghraib. These documents present for the first time a compilation of materials that prior to publication have existed only piecemeal in the public domain. The Bush Administration, concerned about the legality of harsh interrogation techniques, understood the need to establish a legally viable argument to justify such procedures. The memos and reports document the systematic attempt of the US Government to prepare the way for torture techniques and coercive interrogation practices, forbidden under international law, with the express intent of evading legal punishment in the aftermath of any discovery of these practices and policies.

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The Torture Papers document the so-called 'torture memos' and reports which US government officials wrote to prepare the way for, and to document, coercive interrogation and torture in Afghanistan, Guantanamo, and Abu Ghraib. These documents present for the first time a compilation of materials that prior to publication have existed only piecemeal in the public domain. The Bush Administration, concerned about the legality of harsh interrogation techniques, understood the need to establish a legally viable argument to justify such procedures. The memos and reports document the systematic attempt of the US Government to prepare the way for torture techniques and coercive interrogation practices, forbidden under international law, with the express intent of evading legal punishment in the aftermath of any discovery of these practices and policies.

Customer Reviews:

THE REAL DEAL.......2007-08-02

Despite the extensive documentary (literally!) evidence collected in this book, the Bush administration still maintains that "we don't torture." A huge part of why they can get away with such monstrous, blatant lies is because journalists don't know how to ask questions. Here's an example: Just yesterday I watched Larry King interviewing Dick Cheney. Larry King brought up the subject of torture. Cheney claimed that they don't use torture. Larry pressed Cheney a little and Cheney admitted that they use certain techniques, but never said what those interrogation techniques were. And that was that.

But philosophers such as Edmund Husserl and Martin Heidegger have emphasized how different people can use the same words but mean very different things by them. To sort out controversies, it's imperative that we first clearly define key terms. To clarify the issue of whether we torture or not, journalists first need to establish what torture is. When Bush or Cheney claim that they don't use torture, the journalist must ask them what their working DEFINITION is: How do they define torture? It may very well be that there is a vast difference between what they mean by torture and what we consider torture to be. The next step a journalist or interviewer must take if they wish to clarify the matter: ask whether specific acts constitute torture. They might refuse to answer, saying that they don't comment about specific techniques, but it is in itself significant when they refuse to say or acknowledge that a specific technique, such as waterboarding or beatings, constitute torture.

The President, with the aid of his henchmen and henchwomen, has effectively REDEFINED torture. If I remember correctly, for something to be considered torture now it has to be an action that can result in organ failure or death. IF this is how you define torture, then the pulling out of fingernails is not torture. This is one of the truly evil and insidious things about the Bush administration: by redefining terms, they can basically give the appearance that they don't torture; they can technically be "right," they can deny that they employ torture, and all the while they can be putting heads underwater and pulling out fingernails. We should realize that people are deceived by the redefinition of key terms, so that it becomes imperative for journalists (in so far as they truly wish to bring clarity) to establish what the administration's working definitions of those terms are. If the Press simply did that, so much more light, so much less confusion, obfuscation, and ambiguity, would result, and we would be able to take our national dialogue up to a whole different level.

The Torture Papers.......2007-01-10

Mostly a collection of memos. This book is only a record to let us know what some of the hub bub is all about. Let us not sweep this under the rug. This is a first step in our examination of what we are and what we may become if each citizen doesn't accept responsibility and act on what is rapidly becoming a standard operating proceedure. Does torture acheive better information, Or blind us to truth? The same amount of time spent in a search for evidence would give results. Evidence gained by torturing is an illusion that has caused the torturer to become a goon. Calling torture by some other name does not change its effect. Torture destroys its victims and demoralizes its perpetrators. For those who are pleased to dominate it gives dominance. Torture does not give facts because it is not physical evidence. The veracity of uncovered facts can not be observed, but must be further tested. Torture can destroy any resistance in the one tortured and give the dominator feelings of the power of god. The torturer is loosing the battle without physical evidence. Torturing only gives the feelings of power.
This book is the begining of the examination of official torture and might allow some of us to reconfirm that torture by any name is only the act of a despot and only dispoils free citizens.

The Torture Papers:Road to Abu Ghraib.......2005-10-31

This is an excellent resource for any serious scholar or researcher dealing with the laws of war, the Iraq War or torture issues. It is a broad compilation of original source material, mostly post 9/11; with its depth (over 1200 pages), it may be too much for the casual reader (if so, try Torture and Truth, by Mark Danner), but for serious research, it is essential.

Michael J. Brady, PhD (international law)
Tucson, Arizona

Making Men Scream in Our Name.......2005-09-17

This comprehensive and current compilation makes clear that our government has sanctioned practices not only outlawed by international conventions against torture, to which we are signatories, but which discracefully echo the techniques of tyrants through the ages. The documentation will make it impossible for Americans to claim that they didn't know what is being done in our name. This work should be required reading for every citizen as our nation confronts an official policy that claims our only defense against terrorism is our own use of teror and torture.

A recorded history of sadism, incompetence, and cowardice.......2005-03-13

The editors of this book have done a fine job, and the publisher should be commended for bringing this sizable collection to print. Due to the size of the book, long periods of time would be required to read all of the memorandums in it. A great deal of information can be gained however from the perusal of even a small number of these memorandums. They give an inside view of the workings of a collection of individuals who are far from the combat sands of Iraq and Afghanistan, and whose goal is to make sure that they will be insulated from any legal consequences of their actions and recommendations. Joshua L. Dratel, one of the editors of the book, states this clearly when he asserts that the implicit message in the memoranda is that the policy makers who wrote them actually detest the American system of justice and find it impractical as a tool for fighting terrorism. This reviewer is in full agreement with Dratel's commentary. Indeed, the memoranda definitely support the notion that its authors consider it axiomatic that the Constitution, the Geneva Convention, and other bodies of law are impotent in the face of international terrorism. They have let the events of 9/11 lower considerably their confidence in rational, legal procedures for the resolution of conflicts. Dratel states it concisely and correctly when he states that the events of 9/11 `cannot serve as a license - for our government in its policies, or for ourselves in our personal approach to grave problems - to suspend our constitutional heritage, our core values as a nation, or the behavioral standards that mark a civilized and humane society.'

Some insight, however limited, can be gained from Memo 11, which is one of the memorandums that Bush put forward regarding the treatment of detainees and the prisoner-of-war status of the Taliban and Al Qaeda. After reading Memo 11, the question immediately arises: Why did the memorandums and discussion continue even after Memo 11 (the Bush memorandum to the Vice President, et al)? After all, in this memo, Bush explicitly states that the Geneva provisions do not legally cover Al Qaeda and the Taliban. But Bush emphasizes that even though he accepts the legal conclusions of the Attorney General and the Department of Justice regarding the inapplicability of the Geneva convention to Al Qaeda and the Taliban, and that he therefore has the "authority under the Constitution" to suspend Geneva, he nevertheless decides to "decline to exercise that authority." However, Bush is careful to note that he "reserves the right" to exercise this authority in future conflicts. In addition, he orders that detainees be treated humanely, according to the principles of Geneva, "including those who are not legally entitled to such treatment." Thus it appears that any further legal argumentation by anyone in the administration regarding the use of torture should be viewed as purely academic. But as this book clearly shows, there was still much discussion on these matters after Memo 11 was sent (February 7, 2002). The need for further discussion is not clear even after reading the memorandums that were sent between various individuals after Memo 11.

Torture has been practiced by many different individuals, political and religious groups, and regimes throughout history. Whether it is the Catholic Church in the Inquisition, the Chinese government under Mao ZeDong, or American military personnel in Iraq, the practice of torture is not exclusive to "leftist" or "rightist" political groups. The use of torture though to gain information is an implicit admission of the inability to collect real intelligence, either because of laziness or incompetence. Those individuals who practice torture for this reason no doubt understand this. They fully understand that torture is useless in gaining helpful information from prisoners. Therefore their decision to engage in the torture of prisoners is no doubt a result of their sadistic nature, which can be brought out not only in the theatre of war but also under the protection of religious and governmental institutions. These institutions, despicable and contemptible as they are, deserve every legal penalty available against them. Of course, legal penalties presuppose the existence of institutions that have the legal authority to carry them out. Considering the status and jurisdiction of international law in the last few years, the number of these institutions is in rapid decline, leaving the practical application of torture open to any country that desires to carry it out.

Dark Justice: The History of Punishment and Torture

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Lurid
An excellent cross-selection of crime and punishment
About DARK JUSTICE

Dark Justice: The History of Punishment and Torture
Karen Farrington
Manufacturer: Smithmark Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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The History of Torture

ASIN: 0765199106

Customer Reviews:

Lurid.......2007-04-26

The content is excellent, unfortunately, it is minimal in detail. This is a survey rather than an indepth study.

An excellent cross-selection of crime and punishment.......2000-01-19

This is a wonderful starting-point for research into the history of crime and punishment. It's a coffee-table sized book, and is chock-full of illustrations. Frankly, it's the illustrations you want to see when reading about a subject like this. There are photos and descriptions of torture implements, woodcuttings of torture chambers, and observers' accounts.

This is not the stuff of pleasant dreams, but it is what thousands of people have experienced.

About DARK JUSTICE.......1999-02-07

DARK JUSTICE is a book for an older person. This book is about what they did to people in the Middle Ages and earlier. It tells what a person would suffer if he was a warlock or she was a which. Any crime that you could think of is in this book. It tells also what would happen to the person if he or she was to commit a crime. Usually it was a painful and slow death. This bood is definitaly for older people.

A Lexicon of Terror: Argentina and the Legacies of Torture (Oxford World's Classics)

Average customer rating:

An Incredible Narrative
Lexicon is what you get
Comprehensive and Well Written
Painful but Great
A thorough depiction of the atmosphere of repression

A Lexicon of Terror: Argentina and the Legacies of Torture (Oxford World's Classics)
Marguerite Feitlowitz
Manufacturer: Oxford University Press, USA
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0195134168

Amazon.com

Argentina still struggles as a nation with the shame and horror of the so-called "dirty-war" of the decade following Juan Peron's death. During that horrific time, torture and kidnapping were the instruments of choice for the enforcement of political will. Feitlowitz unflinchingly examines life under sadistic military rule with detailed descriptions of the experiences of prisoners in concentration camps. The Argentinean vocabulary now includes words like desaparacido (disappeared person) and chupado (sucked up or kidnapped), vivid reminders of how commonplace kidnapping and murder became. Victims, often guilty only of nothing more than practicing psychology or journalism or being Jewish, have not been forgotten.

Though Feitlowitz touches on the linguistic effects of government terrorism in Argentina, her book's greatest strength lies in the voice it gives the victims. The author spent years talking to survivors of the terror as well as some of the people responsible for instigating it. What A Lexicon of Terror does particularly well is capture the ongoing consequences of the dirty war--victims encountering their tormentors on the streets, Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo still marching to remind their government that the fates of thousands of disappeared are still not known, a government held hostage by the fear of army uprisings should any attempt to bring culprits to justice be made. Argentina is the subject of this particular Lexicon, but surely the citizens of other nations such as Chile, Guatemala, and El Salvador might see their own experiences mirrored here.

Book Description

"We were all out in la charca, and there they were, coming over the ridge, a battalion ready for war, against a schoolhut full of children." Tanks roaring over farmlands, pregnant mothers tortured, their babies stolen and sold on the black market, homes raided in the dead of night, ordinary citizens kidnapped and never seen again--such were the horrors of Argentina's Dirty War. Now, in A Lexicon of Terror, Marguerite Feitlowitz fully exposes the nightmare of sadism, paranoia, and deception the military dictatorship unleashed on the Argentine people, a nightmare that would claim over 30,000 civilians from 1976 to 1983 and whose leaders were recently issued warrants by a Spanish court for the crime of genocide. Feitlowitz explores the perversion of language under state terrorism, both as it's used to conceal and confuse ("The Parliament must be disbanded to rejuvenate democracy") and to domesticate torture and murder. Thus, citizens kidnapped and held in secret concentration camps were "disappeared"; torture was referred to as "intensive therapy"; prisoners thrown alive from airplanes over the ocean were called "fish food." Based on six years of research and moving interviews with peasants, intellectuals, activists, and bystanders, A Lexicon of Terror examines the full impact of this catastrophic period from its inception to the present, in which former torturers, having been pardoned and released from prison, live side by side with those they tortured. Passionately written and impossible to put down, Feitlowitz shows us both the horror of the war and the heroism of those who resisted and survived--their courage, their endurance, their eloquent refusal to be dehumanized in the face of torments even Dante could not have imagined.

Customer Reviews:

An Incredible Narrative.......2007-09-29

This is a compelling and relentless book that jumps off from the starting point that subtle Orwellian language manipulation is an essential component of political repression, by showing how the adjustment and subversion of words, the theft of meaning, enabled the Argentine Generals to torture, loot, and murder tens of thousands of quite innocent civilians (and unwanted military or anyone else in the way). In a literate society the body parts can remain hidden, and the words will do the work of subduing dissent.

By exploring the personal stories and interviews with survivors, families of the 'disappeared,' willfully ignorant or complicit 'bystanders,' vain or conscience-stricken perpetrators, and so on, the book moves far beyond a linguistic or philosophical analysis. It is personal, angry, and tragic.

What froze me to the bone is recognizing little linguistic echoes and hints from our own government as it moves the war on terror increasingly to a domestic front. One thing the author underplays, I think, is the extent to which a large proportion of the Argentine society actually was fine with the degree of brutality and repression, as long as they didn't have to actually see and 'know about' the mutilated carcasses of their neighbors' kids. They were convinced by words and the climate of paranoia that there was (indeed) an invisible war against terrorists going on all around them. 'Torture... is the secret weapon in the war without rules.'

Not a stunningly brilliant work like Scarry's 'The Body in Pain,' but 'Lexicon of Terror' has the great advantage that it's very readable and accessible.

Lexicon is what you get.......2005-08-09

If you're looking for an historical overview of the subject -- go elsewhere.
Unless you're fascinated by the etiology of the language which evolved on the subject matter, this is a very disappointing read on the subject of the terrorism in Argentina.

Comprehensive and Well Written.......2003-04-22

The title of this book, The Lexicon of Terror, really only covers one chapter and an occassional reference here and there to how the junta manipulated language to influence the minds of the people. The book mostly covered the context of the Dirty War, the main bad guys, and many stories of victims.

After interviewing the victims, Feitlowitz has no mercy for the military perpatrators of the war. Even when she interviews Balza, the army cheif of staff in 1996 who seemed like one of the more repantant of the military guys, she isn't afraid to ask him tough questions.

She covers the book in both dichronic and synchronic time. She goes through chronology from the coup that put Videla in charge to the recovery of the country that was still going on when she finished her book in 1997. But in addition to that, she covers the stories of the individuals involved in the atrocities. One of the details that struck me the most was when she talked about former desaparecidos running into their former captors on the street. One captor even asked a victim how her family was doing.

Feitlowitz also tells about Scilingo, a former navy officer tortured by his memories of throwing living but drugged "subversives" from a plane on the infamous night flights. His life was ruined by his participation. She even makes an effort to explain that complicity in the army was guaranteed because if a member of the army did not follow orders or expressed concern with what was happening, they would soon disappear themselves. The excuse rings a little hollow, though, because of the brutalness of the torture.

History is frightening. I enjoyed how she talked about the way words were used as propaganda because it is an aspect of all governments. While I don't think our current administration is on par with Videla by any means, they certainly twist words to influence the way we thing about things, that play on our patriotism (the Patriot Act for instance) and our fear of terrorism. I don't think there is a government that doesn't try to influence the vocabulary of its people for their own purposes. Being able to recognize what they are doing allows us to maintain our freedom.

Painful but Great.......2001-08-07

This is a shocking and painful book to read. There are other books which document the torture and atrocities of the Argentinian Dirty War in more detail, but none that reveals the horror of it all by providing examples and analysis of the words, phrases and verbal concepts of the perpetrators and their victims. The title, "Lexicon of Terror," could not have been chosen better for seemingly neutural words like "process" and "change" and dozend of others are shown to have been corrupted intellectually so that the physical corruption which followed was almost inevitable.

The book combines three disciplines that are rarely treated in the same volume, much less understood by the same person. But history, lexicography, and journalism are intertwined to such a degree that the blend is complete.

The author, in her low key style, deals with occurances and happenings that for most of us would cry out for justice. But by limiting her treatment to understanding the problem, she is even more effective on motivating the reader to search for soloution.

Most of us are familiar with the phrase that knowledge is power, but this relatively short book is a great example of the power (in this case for evil) of language. The reader will never look at partisan political dialogue in the same way again.

One annoying feature is terribly small type, so those who need reading glasses, do not forget them. The rest of the work is brilliant and terrible in the literal meaning of the word, which is what makes it so wonderful, thoudh disconcerting and depressing as well.

Reading this volume is a must for anyone who loves and respects language, freedom, and human rights for you will learn how intertwined they can be.

A thorough depiction of the atmosphere of repression.......2001-06-29

What really struck me about this book was how well Maruerite Feitlowitz captured the subtleties of the effects terror and repression had on the Argentine population. For example, she discusses how a popular women's magazine, Para Ti, incorporated pro-Proceso rhetoric and even military-inspired fashion into its message during the war. The book is based extensively on first-person testimonials, many of which come from interviews conducted by Feitlowitz herself. Two chapters I found especially revealing dealt with the failure of Jewish leadership to defend its people during the crisis, and with the crippling effect of repression on one rural agrarian league. Two minor complaints: There was little discussion of the systematic repression of union leaders, which intended to (and succeeded in) severely weakening labor's role in Argentina. Also, at least in the paperback version, the print was tiny! If your eyes are getting weak, reading glasses are a must!

A Miracle, A Universe: Settling Accounts with Torturers

Average customer rating:

A book to go back to again and again
This book will have you knee deep in emotion!
Very Interesting A Thorough Reporting Work.
¡Nunca más! How the rest of the world has lived...
A gripping, passionate work of reportage.

A Miracle, A Universe: Settling Accounts with Torturers
Lawrence Weschler
Manufacturer: University Of Chicago Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0226893944

Amazon.com

"When individuals are being tortured and everyone knows about it and no one seems able to do a thing to help," Lawrence Weschler writes, "primordial mysteries at the root of human community come under assault as well." Overthrowing oppressive regimes is not enough to resolve the crisis; the persecutors must also acknowledge what they have done. "True forgiveness is achieved in community.... It is history working itself out as grace, but it can only be accomplished in truth."

A Miracle, A Universe brings together two long nonfiction pieces, originally published in the New Yorker, which examine how citizens of Brazil and Uruguay have worked to "settle accounts" with their former torturers. Weschler uses historical background to supplement his powerful eyewitness reportage and interviews, bearing witness to those who seek to break through official denials of government atrocity. The efforts to build a democratic society in which people can have faith have rarely been portrayed with as much immediacy and insight as Weschler brings to these articles.

Book Description

During the past fifteen years, one of the most vexing issues facing fledgling transitional democracies around the world—from South Africa to Eastern Europe, from Cambodia to Bosnia—has been what to do about the still-toxic security apparatuses left over from the previous regime. In this now-classic and profoundly influential study, the New Yorker's Lawrence Weschler probes these dilemmas across two gripping narratives (set in Brazil and Uruguay, among the first places to face such concerns), true-life thrillers in which torture victims, faced with the paralysis of the new regime, themselves band together to settle accounts with their former tormentors.

"Disturbing and often enthralling."—New York Times Book Review

"Extraordinarily moving. . . . Weschler writes brilliantly."—Newsday

"Implausible, intricate and dazzling."—Times Literary Supplement

"As Weschler's interviewees told their tales, I paced agitatedly, choked back tears. . . . Weschler narrates these two episodes with skill and tact. . . . An inspiring book."—George Scialabba, Los Angeles Weekly

Customer Reviews:

A book to go back to again and again.......2006-03-14

On March 15, 1979, General João Baptista Figuereido assumed power as the fifth military president of Brazil and extended an amnesty for all political crimes, both by state security agents and by opponents to the regime. While this amnesty assured there would be no trials for human rights abusers, ironically, it provided an opportunity for the most serious movement to challenge the practice of torture by the regime itself, that of the Brasil Nunca Mais project. It is the story of this project that Lawrence Weschler narrates in the first half of this book. Weschler explains how, during a very limited period of access, the members of the Brasil Nunca Mais project team were able to photocopy the carefully catalogued archives of the Supreme Military Court in order to make them public to the world. They filled a void in Brazil in taking up activities that the state never would- mainly that of telling the truth about this dark period in Brazilian history. Of course, the resulting report, Brasil Nunca Mais, speaks for itself. But Weschler's account of how it came to be is illuminating and as relevant today as when it was first published. It is particularly poignant that only recently, in November of 2005, did the Brazilian government move to declassify dictatorship-era files. Perhaps this signals that the Brazilian government is willing to fully engage with the legacies of the dictatorship, but for the time being Weschler's book offers one of the few windows on this shameful past.

The section on Uruguay is also thoroughly engaging and recounts all the anxieties of a citizen-initiated campaign to bring former torturers to justice. Weschler's skillful eyewitness accounts make the reader feel as if the petition drive were happening right now, as opposed to two decades ago.

A Miracle, A Universe is a thoroughly well-researched and thoughtful contribution to general human rights literature and should be read by anyone with an interest in social movements and human rights activism, not just those with an interest in Latin America.

This book will have you knee deep in emotion!.......2005-02-03

Considering myself to be a young leftist, I had just read Michael Moore's books "Stupid White Men and Dude, Wheres my country?". Of course this was childs play to real writings and i decided to up myself a level. Being born in Australia of Uruguayan parents and living in Uruguay for a few years I already had some base knowledge on the tortures and dissapearences across Latin-America, this book told me more than I could of ever imagined. It opened my eyes to the reality of the situation and just how much the Brasilian and Uruguayan people had suffered, as well as all those other people who faced horrible fates at the hand of dictatorships. The author is completely nuetral and criticises both sides accordingly. This book was the turning point in my life, having always been one of those people that say, "I cant read books, i get to the 5th page and im bored". Now I read them by the dozen, my thirst for knowledge is unstoppable and i owe it to this book. Upon completion I had many emotions flowing through me, but one true desire overpowered them all...then and there I swore to do everything in my power to end these kind of abuses.

Very Interesting A Thorough Reporting Work........2003-04-29

This book reads like a work of journalism. It was good because it explained the economic and social conditions that spawn totalitarian regimes and military takeovers. Very good bibliography if you want to further your study. Good Interviews. Very Thorough and Fair. More than I would have been. Names, Dates, and the history behind the story is always given.

¡Nunca más! How the rest of the world has lived..........2002-10-24

An incredible book that describes a few horrific cultures of dictatorship that will hopefully be forever unrecognizable to people in the United States. The most fascinating parts of the book are the theories of how the dicatorships came to be (the Tupamaros in Uruguay and the backlash of the military, etc.); even more incredible is how the leaders of the respective dictatorships stayed in power out of necessary compromises with the government(some are still in power, which will be difficult to swallow after reading this book). It is, in the end, a hopeful book with a warning: "¡Nunca más!" The book asks "how do you come to terms with those that tortured?" (especially in the incredible situation of passing someone who tortured you in the street, described by someone in the book) Another point the author makes is that there can be forgiveness after such horror, and if there's not there may just be more torture. A very worthwhile read, but not for the squeamish.

Lastly, the book provides a good introduction to a much neglected country: Uruguay. There are very few accounts in English of Uruguay, and this is probably the best I've seen. I have also visited Uruguay; it is a fascinating country and well worth a visit. You get a real appreciation for the friendliness of the people after reading what a lot of them went through during "la dictadura."

A gripping, passionate work of reportage........2001-03-13

This is a magnificent book about a terrible subject. From the sixties through till the mid-Eighties, almost the entire continent of South America fell under the sway, or rather the boot, of military dictatorship. The dictatorships were, without exception but with varying degrees of vigour, active in torturing political prisoners. Weschler does a masterful job in describing the various forces that contributed to the overthrow of democracy throughout the Southern cone (not the least of which was American insistence on training Southern militaries and police forces in counter-insurgency in the hope that Castro's example would not spread further south), but the book's focus is not only the depravities of the two regimes -- Brazil and Uruguay -- but on the efforts of survivors of torture and imprisonment to make their oppressors see and recognise their evils.

The first section, 'A miracle, a universe' recounts the incredible efforts that went into collating and publishing the account Brasil: Nunca Mais (Brazil: Never Again), a book which set forth the policies of systematic torture and denial of due process practiced by Brazil's dictators. The truly remarkable aspect of the work was that all the material was obtained from the regime's own archives, over a period of several years, and at great personal risk to the authors. It's an inspiring story, and one that demonstrates the power of the written word.

The second and longer part of the book, 'The reality of the world', centres of the efforts of a committe in Uruguay to call those accused of torture during the country's decade-plus period of military dictatorship to account. In an effort to hasten reconciliation (or so they claimed), the civilian government declared an amnesty for those imprisoned for subversion under the old regime; later this amnesty was extended to those who tortured their political enemies. A group of concerned citizens began an exhausting referendum campaign to put the second amnesty to a vote. Weschler makes their task as exciting as a Hollywood thriller, without ever losing sight of the horror and tragedy which had been their inspiration. It's a beautifully structured, patient, and gorgeously written piece of work. An afterword makes some more general claims about the need to speak up on the subject of torture. 'The scream that comes welling out of the torture chamber is thus double -- the body calling out to the soul, the self calling out to others -- and in both cases, it goes unanswered. Torture's stark lesson is precisely that enveloping silence: it aims to take that silence and introject it back into its victim, to replace the flame of subjectivity with an abject, hollow void.' It is through reading books like Weschler's, and discussing and acting on his suggestions and the example of those in Brazil and Uruguay and elsewhere, that this silence can be partly drowned out. The book deserves -- indeed, demands -- a wide readership.

Average customer rating:

A pedestrian history

A Bit Dated, But A Fascinating Read

Fascinating and terrible

Interesting compilation of facts, rumors, and ideals

Historical confirmation of the value of love

The History of Torture (Sutton History Classics)
Daniel P. Mannix
Manufacturer: Sutton Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0750932716

Book Description

This incomparable, extremely thorough book--told with frightening and factual honesty--examines every aspect of torture.

Customer Reviews:

A pedestrian history.......2007-09-18

Mannix's book is not a serious work of history. It can be read as interesting diversion, but should not be understood as an accomplished work of scholarship. In fact, there are some quite implausible claims made throughout. For example, Mannix claims that the end of judicial torture in the 18th-century could be attributed primarily to Beccaria's humanistic tracts! This is simplistic to say the least. After the work of Langbein, however (see Torture and the Law of Proof), this claim is simply undefensible. Moreover, Mannix fails to adequately distinguish the different theaters of torture, leading to far too many general claims (on punitive torture, one cannot do better than Foucault's Discipline and Punish, his hyperbole not withstanding).

An accurate portrayel of the complex judicial and punitive changes that led to the previous abolition of legalized torture requires much more nuance--let alone attention to detail and source documents!

A Bit Dated, But A Fascinating Read.......2007-08-07

Is torture an atavistic tendency that is left-over from our evolutionary roots? Is it a means to deter crime? Does it serve to placate the sadistic impulses of society in their attempt to punish those who disobey social rules? This book highlights the use of torture throughout cultures and time while exploring both the possible global and cultural specific reasons for its widespread use. This book is a must read for history buffs and thanatophiles alike. It is a relatively short read but covers the topic in good detail.

Fascinating and terrible.......2004-06-18

Daniel Mannix has written an extraordinarily detailed and intriguing treatise on the history and validity of torture, through every culture, era and continent in the world. From the earliest societies in Greece to modern-day usage, every aspect of torture is covered in this exhaustive volume.

It took me a while to get through Mannix's book, since I often read it in small blocks. Too much of this sort of information at once can be an almost nauseating experience - and I'm not particularly squeamish. However, after finishing it I found it to be a pretty rewarding venture that really gets you thinking about some important philosophical and historical concepts. I'll come back to this.

Mannix writes rather tersely and emotionally detached about the most unthinkable acts of humankind. He covers specific torture devices - what they were and how they were used - and then often recounts several specific situations when the device was used and what the results were. Every society and age has "contributed" something to the legacy of torture and Mannix leaves nobody out. Whether it's the Aztecs who once sacrificed 70,000 people in one event, to the Australian penal colonies, he not only covers it but also relates the differences and similarities between the devices and methods employed. Just some of the groups covered are the Native Americans, the Nazis, the Europeans throughout every century, Africans, South Americans, the North American colonies, the Inquisition, modern-day police in every major country, Asians of every era and dynasty, Vikings, African-American slaves, and the witch trials. He makes careful notes of when a torture device was reused or modified in some way from society to society.

The specific stories he relates are always shocking and beyond belief, yet they are well-documented accounts. The ingenuity of torturers is truly staggering, rivaling some of the greatest inventors of all time. How these monsters came to devote enough of their minds and time to devising these horrible instruments is unthinkable. Yet Mannix explores every last deep, dark corner of these demented minds.

There are several areas of the humanities that Mannix touches upon, sometimes deliberately, sometimes inadvertently. In general he tries to stick to the facts and avoid inserting his opinion. On occasion, however, he can't resist and shows his hand with a carefully written sentence or a colorful adverb. One area that he didn't specifically touch upon that got me thinking a great deal, is that of the reparations forced on certain social groups by other social groups for past crimes. Various races, even in America, consider the atrocities enacted on their race to be the worst in humankind's history. Reading Mannix's book will show that this is the result of a very narrow and uninformed view of history. The brutal decimation of hundreds of thousands of Aztecs, the mass executions of nearly two million people by Ghengis Khan, the horrible slave trades of the ancient Romans, the demented torturings of the Inquisition - in modern times only the atrocities of Hitler seem to directly compare to these events. While Mannix deftly avoids opinions for most of the book, he does close his work with a chapter on corporeal punishment and its effectiveness as a deterrent of crime. This chapter was remarkably well-written and presents thought-out arguments presenting both sides of the debate. He gives no-nonsense, logical examples of why in some cases corporeal punishment can never work, and in other cases where it clearly has proven effective. It was a surprisingly well-done cap to his book. After reading hundreds of pages of what the worst of humankind is capable of, it helped put things in perspective.

As a book, it could be a little tighter. There is no logical flow from chapter to chapter, nor is there an index. As a result it sometimes feels as though Mannix is repeating himself, and you are a little lost as to the overall historical context of the situation. The chapters are also not titled, nor is there an index, so there is no easy way to go to a specific era or torture device you want to research.

This book also scared me slightly, since it showed me just what human beings are capable of doing to each other. The Romans killed each other for sport. They would crucify slaves in the Coliseum and then gamble on who would die first, die last, etc. There was a time when humans - the same specie that lives today - considered this entertainment. To be honest, this is one of the reasons why Reality TV bothers me so much. Aside from putting completely talentless people on television, it also harkens back to the days when blood-thirsty fans screamed and applauded the misery of others. While it's very different to watch a person eating a live cockroach than to watch a lion eat a person, I believe the same sick desire is at the root of both audiences. It may seem a very big leap, to go from where we are now to watching a TV show where someone may die, but five years ago I would never have dreamt people would be picking a spouse from a game show, or eating the genitalia of a pig as "entertainment." It happens every week now on primetime. Even the show Jackass on MTV, while often funny, still puts these men in situations where they might be killed by several different methods. Mark my words, it will get worse. In the same way that this book became easier for me to read after the first fifty pages - as I became desensitized to it - so will we as a nation become more and more desensitized to what we consider entertaining. If you doubt we can go so far as to kill people for entertainment, I only point you to Mannix's book for a quick reminder of where we once were, not so long ago.

Interesting compilation of facts, rumors, and ideals.......2004-06-01

Daniel P. Mannix has given us a great compilation of facts, rumors, and ideals in "The History of Torture." He examines the pros and cons of torture, discussing whether it even works and in what circumstances it works best, as well as when and why it can be totally ineffective. He discusses the reactions and ideals of the people who did the torturing, delving into what they hoped to accomplish by torturing each other and how the different ways of torturing affected the person being tortured and the people watching, if any.

Mannix puts everything into historic perspective. He talks about how different societies grew up around corporal punishment (Rome, France, America, etc) and discusses different morals and ideals throughout the past thousand or so years that allowed torture to take place. His facts are interlaced with stories and rumors, which to me are just as interesting because it gives a sense of what people believed versus what actually took place. Religious factions play a large role in torture, and Mannix reviews which religious sects tortured and when and why they stopped.

Mannix discusses the different types of torture, from the instruments to the uses of each torture, and gives examples of each. He relates different torture devices to instruments he has already written about, which gave a sense of how torture evolved. Mannix also tells of which societies were (or are) the most effective at torturing their victims.

All in all, it was a very interesting read. I feel that I've learned a lot from this book, and I am very interested in continuing to learn more. This book was a great starting point.

Historical confirmation of the value of love.......2001-05-10

This book has it all---murder, cruelty, history, execution, murder, boiling oil, cruelty, and lots of enigmatically depraved sentences. Mannix is the MAN!nix. The guy can write---he puts these sentences down that are novels in themselves. I've read most of his books, but none of them touches this one for haiku-like brilliance of his prose. He can roll of a description of the most depraved acts known to man with a terseness befitting a VCR manual. Ace stuff.

Particularly heart warming is the story of the Russian princess way back when who was having an affair, and was punished by being frozen into a fortress made of solid ice with her lover and a gaggle of midgets and mentally-less-than-thou types, who forced them to make whoopee on the ice bed.

But that's just one example, and there are literally thousands in this book. The depth of the research is just staggering.

It all reminds me of the time I was laid off by Bob Egan. I mean, it wasn't like I was tortured or anything---he felt bad about it, so did I. But the thing was that Bob could lay out sentences like nobody's business. I remember when the company announced that there were going to be layoffs, and they packed nearly 100 people into a conference room that was designed to hold 30, then connected with the Chicago office via the high tech phone system, and announced that the company was going to "go through some changes". It was Bob's job there to soften the blow---I think he was the "COO", whatever that means---but stay realistic about it all. So he stepped up to the plate after the CEO (Chief Executive Officer, I'm told), and made this really funny but bang-on comment about the state of the company. I can't remember what that comment was, though, since they'd closed the door to the conference room, and there was absolutely no oxygen left in the room. So that was kind of like torture, and Bob was kind of like Mannix.

Anyway, they used to have to clear rats out of the dungeons because they would eat the fingers and toes off of people locked in the stocks, and then they'd bleed to death, leaving the public with no murder to watch, which was bad. Bob laid me off 8 months ago and I'm still unemployed---which is fine, since it's given me a lot of time to catch up on rereading this book. The only thing that would've made the book better would be a guest appearance by Nixon.

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Principled but profoundly naive

Misrepresentation of the Legacy of Donald O. Hebb

Why do we allow such barbarism in our name?

Emergence of the Totalitarian State within our Republic

Fair Expose and Openning for Dialog

A Question of Torture: CIA Interrogation, from the Cold War to the War on Terror (American Empire Project)
Alfred McCoy
Manufacturer: Holt Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0805082484
Release Date: 2006-12-26

Book Description

“An indispensable and riveting account” of the CIA’s development and use of torture, from the cold war to Abu Ghraib and beyond (Naomi Klein, The Nation)

In this revelatory account of the CIA’s fifty-year effort to develop new forms of torture, historian Alfred W. McCoy locates the deep roots of recent scandals at Abu Ghraib and Guantánamo in a long-standing, covert program of interrogation. A Question of Torture investigates the CIA’s practice of “sensory deprivation” and “self-inflicted pain,” in which techniques including isolation, hooding, hours of standing, and manipulation of time assault the victim’s senses and destroy the basis of personal identity. McCoy traces the spread of these practices across the globe, from Vietnam to Iran to Central America, and argues that after 9/11, psychological torture became the weapon of choice in the CIA’s global prisons, reinforced by “rendition” of detainees to “torture-friendly” countries. Finally, McCoy shows that information extracted by coercion is worthless, making a strong case for the FBI’s legal methods of interrogation.

Scrupulously documented and grippingly told, A Question of Torture is a devastating indictment of inhumane practices that have damaged America’s laws, military, and international standing.

Customer Reviews:

Principled but profoundly naive.......2007-08-10

I read this book on the recommendation of a liberal friend whose views I respect, and with whom I've had many civil arguments about the subject of interrogation of known terrorists who neither have the rights of U.S. citizens nor those of genuine POWs (i.e., they weren't captured in uniform, they don't take direction from a centralized authority that recognizes the rules of warfare, etc.). So it's fair to say that I started off as a skeptic.

But this book utterly failed to persuade me of much of anything I hadn't already either accepted or known. Mr. McCoy is hopelessly naive and lacking in a sense of genuine moral, political, or social proportionality.

For instance, he writes in the introduction: "Compared to weighty matters of state raised by Abu Ghraib, Watergate, narrowly construed, seems little more than the failure of one man's character; Iran-Contra an isolated albeit intriguing incident at the sunset of the Cold War; and above all, l'affaire Monica Lewinsky sad, sordid, and forgettably partisan." If you are the sort of person who can swallow that sort of ridiculous hyperbole -- i.e., someone who thinks anything that happened to in one foreign prison can genuinely compare to what was quite literally (not just metaphorically) the threatened destruction of representative democracy and the Rule of Law (if Nixon had continued to defy the judicial and congressional branches) -- you'll enjoy this book.

Mr. McCoy also relies extensively on value judgments on extremely subjective matters from "experts" whose expertise is nonexistent. For example:

"Although seemingly less brutal than physical methods, no-touch torture leaves deep psychological scars on both victims and interrogators. One British journalist who observed this method's use in Northern Ireland called sensory deprivation 'the worst form of torture' because it 'provokes more anxiety among the interrogatees than more traditional tortures, leaves no visible scars and, therefore, is harder to prove, and produces longer lasting effects.'"

One wonders whether this "expert," this "British journalist," had the opportunity to observe Iraqi parents as their children were fed through chipper-shredders like tree limbs by Saddam's secret police. That's a "no-touch torture" that I, albeit as ANOTHER non-expert, would consider to be quite a bit worse than any sensory deprivation imaginable.

I do not doubt Mr. McCoy's patriotism, but rather his wisdom. I do not doubt his sincerity, but rather his judgment. There is a certain type of idealist who believes in absolutes, who judges everything and everyone who falls short of perfection to be utterly ruined, and who will follow the internal logic of his positions into ridiculous extremes. I'm afraid Mr. McCoy proves himself to be such an idealist through this book.

It's well and good -- indeed, it's critical -- for us to continually remind ourselves of the need to adhere, as a society, to the strictures of civilization that distinguish us from the barbaric enemies who would ritually rape and mutilate our daughters before beheading them for wearing eye shadow or a two-piece bathing suit. But I do not believe that Mr. McCoy grasps that there are GENUINELY, indisputably EVIL men who, by their conduct and their dogma, have knowingly and deliberately done everything possible to forfeit their rights to be considered part of humanity. For my daughters' sakes, and for Mr. McCoy's (if he has any), I'm perfectly happy to forfeit Mr. McCoy's regard: He can call me a barbarian if it makes him feel smugly superior, but by and large, I support the official policies that the Bush-43 administration has promulgated.

I can and do draw practical, moral, and legal distinctions between, say, crushing a testacle on the one hand, and playing loud rap music while humiliating someone with fake menstrual blood on the other hand. I weep NO tears at all for someone "tortured" in the latter ways -- none. And this book gives me no reason why I should.

This quote is variously attributed to Churchill, Orwell, and others, but it's true: "We sleep soundly in our beds because rough men stand ready in the night to visit violence on those who would do us harm." I am grateful for them; Mr. McCoy, I think, would have us put THEM in prison, and have the rest of us surrendered over to those who would gladly slit our throats precisely BECAUSE of our "civilized [Western] attitudes." I'm glad he's not in charge.

Misrepresentation of the Legacy of Donald O. Hebb.......2007-06-15

I am a retired neurosurgeon and quite familiar with the life and works of Donald O. Hebb.

I have just read Chapter 2 of the recently published book by Alfred McCoy, "A Question of Torture."
The chapter makes very interesting reading, but I am chagrined by the number of factual errors contained in this work regarding Dr. Hebb's alleged role in the development of methods of "psychological torture."

Dr. McCoy's most egregious error, in referring to the sensory deprivation experiments conducted at McGill by Dr. Hebb and his colleagues, is the assertion that, "In silent, sadly eloguent testimony to the corrupting influence of this research, it is ironic that Hebb .........should be best remembered today for the work that made him, perhaps unwittingly, the progenitor of psychological torture". It is regrettable that McCoy published this silly statement for public consumption. Clearly, Dr. Hebb is not best remembered for that reason.

At the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in London, Ontario (into which Dr. Hebb was inducted several years ago) there is an exhibit which cogently displays his major contribution to the field of psychology, that is, the publication of "The Organization of Behavior" which has been compared in its biological significance to Darwin's, "Origin of Species". Dr. Hebb proposed in this book, for the first time, that psychological functions such as memory and learning may be explained on the basis of neural activity. Any knowledgeable psychologist would remember him primarily for this achievement.

Further, Dr. Hebb was nominated for the Nobel prize, became the President of the American Psychological Association and achieved a "distinctive place in the history of twentieth-century psychology", not because of the sensory deprivation experiments but because of his distinguished career launched by his seminal theories proposed in "The Organization of Behavior".

Finally, to refer to Dr. Hebb as a colleague of Dr. Cameron is a real stretch. There was absolutely no collaboration between the two. In fact it is well known that Dr.Hebb had nothing but contempt for Dr. Cameron's work.

It is clear from the report of George Cooper to the Canadian Ministry of Justice that the purpose of the sensory deprivation experiments was to try to understand the methods the communist forces were using to "brain wash" UN solders during the Korean War. Hebb's experiments provided that understanding. Dr Hebb had nothing to do with subsequent decisions by others to incorporate some of the general conclusions of these experiments into interrogation techniques.

It is unfortunate that Dr. McCoy has so distorted the significance of the contributions of this distinguished scientist in order to dramatize his incorrect conclusions that Dr. Hebb was the father of "psychological torture". Dr. Hebb can no more be considered the father of psychological torture than the discoverers of the germ theory of disease can be considered the fathers of biological warfare.

The gross inaccuracies in this chapter of the book must raise questions regarding the bias and accuracy of the research incorporated into the remainder of the book.

Why do we allow such barbarism in our name?.......2007-02-14

Halfway thru this book, I found myself asking --- how is it possible that W., Cheney, Rumsfeld, and Ashcroft are not, right now, serving life sentences in jail? There is something HORRIBLY wrong, bordering on psychotic, with an America where such sick, evil, barbaric acts - from people WE voted into office - people who claim to be deeply religious - can go unpunished.

Human beings were beaten over the course of several days, hooded, until dead while in US custody. This went on for years. The only crime of one of those murdered in our custody was that he went to the Americans to find out the status of his son who we also had in custody.

Dr. King, you sacrificed so much for us. But, we have so quickly gone back to our old ways. Instead of lynching negroes in the south, we now murder muslims in the east - but only after torturing them for days, weeks, sometimes even years.

We hide behind our leaders, who order such horrible acts of beastiality, and we pretend we do now know. Just protect us - we tell them. Protect us -- but don't let us know how you do it. Just do it.

We are no better than the monsters who took down the twin towers.

The abuses described in this book are too well detailed and footnoted to pretend the author is lying or confused. He did his research well and provides ample references for anyone wishing to fact check him.

Why do we allow this? Why do you allow it? Why do I allow it?

We are a lost nation. An empire already beaten by its own excesses.

Emergence of the Totalitarian State within our Republic.......2006-12-30

Alfred McCoy's A QUESTION OF TORTURE documents in chilling and sickening detail the history of CIA policy regrarding torture, from the Phoenix program in Vietnam to the War on Terror. He demonstrates that the Agency, which has long constituted a state within a state, has been extensively involved in the use of torture to undermine democratic governments and prop up totalitarian ones all over the world. To be sure, the CIA has used torture with "finesse". It has eschewed crude techniques in favor of ones which use the insights of psychology to design tortures which exploit ethnic and personal phobias to "break" subjects. Physical pain of the sort which leaves no scars but the emotional (after all, the last thing the CIA wants is to have one of its victims appear, obviously maimed, in a news bulletin) is combined with humiliation, sensory deprivation, sleep deprivation, and manipulation of daily routines in order to cause the dissolution of personality and regression to an infantile dependency upon the torturer. As McCoy says, these techniques have "metastasized like an undetected cancer inside the U.S. intelligence community over the past century." And never more so than since 9/11. As McCoy points out, in the multiple investigations and congressional inquiries sparked by the revelations coming out of Abu Ghraib and other prisons, the CIA has always been exempted, as it is from the provisions of the McCain Anti-Torture Amendment to the 2006 Defense Appropriations Act, making that Amendment meaningless.

The edition of McCoy's book which I purchased from Amazon pre-dates the passage of the Military Commissions Act (MCA) signed into law by President Bush on October 17 of this year. Thus McCoy was unable to comment upon the most horrible development of all: AMERICAN CITIZENS CAN NOW BE DETAINED, CLASSIFIED AS UNLAWFUL ENEMY COMBATANTS AT THE WHIM OF THE ADMINISTRATION, AND TORTURED WITHOUT ANY RECOURSE TO THE COURTS, WHETHER TO OBTAIN A WRIT OF HABEAS CORPUS OR REDRESS FOR THEIR TREATMENT. This is nothing less than the emergence of the totalitarian state within a state which has been growing in this country since World War II. The enactment of the MCA only serves to underline the relevance of McCoy's revelations, as the democracy that is being undermined is now our own, and the totalitarian state that is emerging will affect every American in catastrophic ways.

There is only one problem with McCoy's analysis. Toward the end of it, he conducts a detailed inquiry in order to answer the question: is torture effective in obtaining information? Reaching the conclusion that it is not, he asks, why then do our leaders choose to use it? His answer is that it "salves their fears with the psychic balm of empowerment." (p. 207). This is naive. The American government does not need any psychic balm, as it is the most powerful government ever to exist on this earth. And there is no need to ask if torture is effective in obtaining information, for our government has no need of information, since it is itself "running the show". In fact, torture is very effective in obtaining the thing that it really wants: CONFESSIONS, which will convince the American public that there is an enemy out there so dangerous that the struggle against him justifies the surrender of their most fundamental liberties. It was just such a confession which got us into Iraq, when Shiekh Mohammed Ibn Al-Libi "admitted" under torture that Iraq was supplying terrorists with weapons of mass destruction, an "admission" which later turned out to be false.

When one considers the fact that, according to the best informed sources, some 90% of the people detained in the War on Terror are absolutely innocent, torture becomes not only effective but necessary, for how else can one build a picture of looming threat from a bunch of poor souls picked up by mistake or handed over to the U.S. for bounties? The ultimate message is that the worst terrorists in the world operate out of Washington, D.C., and that we have far more to fear from them than from small-time operators and novices like Al Quaeda.

Fair Expose and Openning for Dialog.......2006-12-18

I am reminded of Dr. King's "how long" speach in which he reminded those who would listen that they would not have to suffer long, "for no lie can live forever." Exposing the lie is the first step to openning the difficult topic to the light of public discussion. America is a great country as some reviewers have pointed out. It is not, however, perfect. And the use of torture as it has been exposed by the book and others is a sad mark on a great country's record. We should have learned something from the civil rights struggles we have fought but instead we seem to have all too quickly forgotten the importance of protecting the least of these. "How long? Not long, because the arc of the moral universe is long, but it bends toward justice."

The History of Torture & Execution: From Early Civilization through Medieval Times to the Present

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The History of Torture & Execution: From Early Civilization through Medieval Times to the Present
Jean Kellaway
Manufacturer: Mercury Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1904668038

Book Description

Throughout history, cultures around the world have found justice for the most extreme crimes by condemning the guilty to death. Retribution has been served by many methods, from beheading, garroting, entombment, and burning, to modern means such as electrocution and lethal injection. And in the process of inflicting tortuous pain, even more ingenious devices have been employed. While torture has usually been carried out behind closed doors, it is only recently that executions have ceased to be a popular and public spectacle. The History of Torture and Execution examines these fascinating but grisly subjects by time, region, and method. Beginning with the often crude methods of meting out justice used by early and first millennium civilizations, and evolving from the sadistic tools of the medieval age to the modern search for humane execution, controversial issues are authoritatively covered.

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