Between Vengeance and Forgiveness: Facing History After Genocide and Mass Violence

Great book on a great issue by a great lawyer who can write. Of interest to anyone who cares about Vengeance vs. Forgiveness -- lawyers, people of faith (Christians), human beings. Here, it is applied to the international level, but many of the very same lessons to apply in our own personal lives. Yes, in our own personal lives. And yes, forgiveness is a long-unrecognized tool of international and personal peacemaking. Since we are unlikely to get much justice in this life, forgiveness is the best tool we have to resolve conflict and promote peace. It works. It's the LAW (NT). Gete busy out there and start forgiving. And start ASKING for forgiveness. Long overdue topic. Thanks. (And Martha's a friend/classmate of Sonia Sotomayor, new Supreme Court Justice. Woops, hope that doesn't jinx it.)

For anyone interested in international law or human rights, this is a must-read. I am assigning this book to my undergraduates this semester because, although the subject matter is complex, Minow's prose is clean and spare. Minow does a terrific job of summarizing the episodes of mass violence of the 20th century AND the literature in legal and political studies on war crimes, human rights violations, and justice. I don't always share her optimism that solutions can be found, but I cannot think of another author who grapples with this difficult subject matter quite as gracefully or comprehensively.

Martha Minow has done her research. She carefully explored the different approaches to mass violence without over-moralizing or answering any of the unanswerable questions. Drawing on history, she charts a course for the human rights community today. This is a readable book for people who are new to the concept of human rights and those who have phD's in the field. Best of all, it does not leave you with a feeling of a weight upon your shoulders. Instead, it is some-how optimistic about a future that addresses the mass violence. I underlined about half of this book, and would recommend it to anyone.