Genocide

Genocide is the grimmest and most relevant of modern tragedies. This stimulating and original work provides the definitive acount of genocide, and is essential reading for all who wish to understand the real meaning of mass murder throughout history. Many people believe that we live in an `age of genocides’. William D. Rubinstein provides a unique chronological account of genocide down the ages, ranging from infamous mass murders directed by Hitlwer, Stalin and Pol Pot through to slaughters virtually unknown today, such as the Taiping rebellion in China and the appalling mass killings in Paraguay during the 1860s. Challenging existing definitions, opinions, and statistics, Genocide's gripping historical narrative and original arguments make it thought-provoking and stimulating read. Genocide is a topic beset by ambiguities over meaning and double standards. In this stimulating and gripping history, William Rubinstein sets out to clarify the meaning of the term genocide and its historical evolution, and provides a working definition that informs the rest of the book. He makes the important argument that each instance of genocide is best understood within a particular historical framework and provides an original chronology of these distinct frameworks. In the final part of the book he critically examines a number of alleged past and recent genocides: from native Americans, slavery, the Irish famine, homosexuals and gypsies in the Nazi concentration camps, Yugoslavia, Rwanda through to the claims of pro-lifers and anti-abortionists.