The Killing Compartments

The Killing Compartments
Author: Abram de Swaan
Publisher: Yale University Press
Total Pages: 345
Release: 2015-01-28
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0300210671

The twentieth century was among the bloodiest in the history of humanity. Untold millions were slaughtered. How people are enrolled in the service of evil is a question that continues to bedevil. In this trenchant book, Abram de Swaan offers a taxonomy of mass violence that focuses on the rank-and-file perpetrators, examining how murderous regimes recruit them and create what De Swaan calls the "killing compartments” that make possible the worst abominations without apparent moral misgiving, without a sense of personal responsibility, and, above all, without pity. De Swaan wonders where extreme violence comes from and where it goes—seemingly without a trace—when the wild and barbaric gore is over. And what about the perpetrators themselves? Are they merely and only the product of external circumstance? Or is there something in their makeup that disposes them to become mass murderers? Drawing on a wide range of disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, political science, history, and psychology, De Swaan sheds new light on an urgent and intractable pathology that continues to poison peoples all over the world.

Preventing Genocide

Preventing Genocide
Author: David A. Hamburg
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 460
Release: 2015-11-17
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1317253493

Genocide has been called 'a problem from hell' and despite vehement declarations of 'never again' it's a problem that continues to plague the world. From the beginning of history to the most recent massacres in Bosnia, Rwanda, and Darfur, genocide defies resolution. And given today's worldwide access to highly lethal weapons and advanced communications technology facilitating incitement to hate, we can expect to see this problem grow. It is often claimed that genocide occurs without warning, taking both local and global communities by surprise. Yet, as David Hamburg convincingly shows, we have had long-term advance knowledge of most modern genocides dating back to the early 20th century Armenian tragedy in Turkey and before. In this book, Dr. Hamburg applies a groundbreaking new perspective-the medical model of prevention-to the scourge of genocide in the world. Preventing genocide is not only possible, Dr Hamburg contends, but essential given its high cost in lives, human rights, and international security. Here he maps out numerous practical steps to recognise genocidal conflicts early and stem their tides of violence before they become acute. He also outlines several institutions in place and programs underway at the UN, EU, and NATO devoted to preventing future genocides before they erupt. He draws lessons both from missed opportunities and successful experiences and makes many constructive suggestions about strengthening international institutions, governments, and NGOs for this purpose.

Fall of Giants

Fall of Giants
Author: Ken Follett
Publisher: Penguin
Total Pages: 1010
Release: 2011-08-30
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1101543558

Ken Follett’s magnificent historical epic begins as five interrelated families move through the momentous dramas of the First World War, the Russian Revolution, and the struggle for women’s suffrage. A thirteen-year-old Welsh boy enters a man’s world in the mining pits. . . . An American law student rejected in love finds a surprising new career in Woodrow Wilson’s White House. . . . A housekeeper for the aristocratic Fitzherberts takes a fateful step above her station, while Lady Maud Fitzherbert herself crosses deep into forbidden territory when she falls in love with a German spy. . . . And two orphaned Russian brothers embark on radically different paths when their plan to emigrate to America falls afoul of war, conscription, and revolution. From the dirt and danger of a coal mine to the glittering chandeliers of a palace, from the corridors of power to the bedrooms of the mighty, Fall of Giants takes us into the inextricably entangled fates of five families—and into a century that we thought we knew, but that now will never seem the same again. . . .

A Serial Killer in Nazi Berlin

A Serial Killer in Nazi Berlin
Author: Scott Andrew Selby
Publisher: Scott Selby
Total Pages: 209
Release: 2024-05-27
Genre: True Crime
ISBN:

Revised Edition: As the Nazi war machine caused death and destruction throughout Europe, one man in the Fatherland began his own reign of terror. This is the true story of the pursuit and capture of a serial killer in the heart of the Third Reich. For all appearances, Paul Ogorzow was a model German. An employed family man, party member, and sergeant in the infamous Brownshirts, he had worked his way up in the Berlin railroad from a manual laborer laying track to assistant signalman. But he also had a secret need to harass and frighten women. Then he was given a gift from the Nazi high command. Due to Allied bombing raids, a total blackout was instituted throughout Berlin, including on the commuter trains—trains often used by women riding home alone from the factories. Under cover of darkness and with a helpless flock of victims to choose from, Ogorzow's depredations grew more and more horrific. He escalated from simply frightening women to physically attacking them, eventually raping and murdering them. Beginning in September 1940, he started casually tossing their bodies off the moving train. Though the Nazi party tried to censor news of the attacks, the women of Berlin soon lived in a state of constant fear. It was up to Wilhelm Lüdtke, head of the Berlin police's serious crimes division, to hunt down the madman in their midst. For the first time, the gripping full story of Ogorzow's killing spree and Lüdtke's relentless pursuit is told in dramatic detail. Note: The ebooks and new paperbacks are the 2024 revised edition.

Mining for Murder

Mining for Murder
Author: Mary Angela
Publisher: Lyrical Press
Total Pages: 304
Release: 2022-04-05
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 1516110714

Zo Jones is enjoying the sunny season at her Happy Camper gift shop in Spirit Canyon, South Dakota—when a murder reminds her all that glitters isn’t gold . . . The South Dakota Gold Rush might be long over, but Zo Jones feels like she’s hit the mother lode when she and her friends browse an estate sale, where a rare old book about the history of Spirit Canyon is causing quite a commotion. In addition to local stories and secrets, the book may even contain the location of a famous stash of gold—a treasure worth killing for. Zo’s friend Maynard Cline wins the bid on the book, to the chagrin of many interested parties, including the historical society and college history department. But when Zo and Hattie head to Maynard’s mansion to borrow the book for a library event, the only thing they find is Maynard—at the bottom of the mountain. The valuable book is gone. Zo knows this must be murder because there’s no way a germophobe like Maynard would have voluntarily dived into a pile of dirt. Now she’ll have to dig into a new case, and go prospecting for a perpetrator . . .

Killer on the Road

Killer on the Road
Author: James Ellroy
Publisher: Harper Collins
Total Pages: 276
Release: 1999-06-01
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 038080896X

Martin Michael Plunkett is a product of his times -- the possessor of a genius intellect, a pitiless soul of brushed steel, and a heart of blackest evil. With criminal tendencies forged in the fires of L.A.'s Charles Manson hysteria, he comes to the bay city of San Francisco -- and submits to savage and terrible impulses that reveal to him his true vocation as a pure and perfect murderer. And so begins his decade of discovery and terror, as he cuts a bloody swath across the full length of a land, ingeniously exploiting and feeding upon a society's obsessions. As he maneuvers deftly through a seamy world of drugs, flesh, and perversions, the media will call him many things -- but Martin Plunkett's real name is Death. His brilliant, twisted mind is a horriying place to explore. His madness reflects a nation's own. The killer is on the road. And there's nowhere in America to hide.

Judging 'Privileged' Jews

Judging 'Privileged' Jews
Author: Adam Brown
Publisher: Berghahn Books
Total Pages: 234
Release: 2015-05
Genre: Biography & Autobiography
ISBN: 1782389164

The Nazis’ persecution of the Jews during the Holocaust included the creation of prisoner hierarchies that forced victims to cooperate with their persecutors. Many in the camps and ghettos came to hold so-called “privileged” positions, and their behavior has often been judged as self-serving and harmful to fellow inmates. Such controversial figures constitute an intrinsically important, frequently misunderstood, and often taboo aspect of the Holocaust. Drawing on Primo Levi’s concept of the “grey zone,” this study analyzes the passing of moral judgment on “privileged” Jews as represented by writers, such as Raul Hilberg, and in films, including Claude Lanzmann’s Shoah and Steven Spielberg’s Schindler’s List. Negotiating the problems and potentialities of “representing the unrepresentable,” this book engages with issues that are fundamental to present-day attempts to understand the Holocaust and deeply relevant to reflections on human nature.

Death of a Thousand Cuts

Death of a Thousand Cuts
Author: Barbara D'Amato
Publisher: Macmillan
Total Pages: 404
Release: 2006-05-02
Genre: Fiction
ISBN: 9780765342577

The Hawthorne House was once known for its remarkable success rate with autistic children. Now, fifteen years after it closed former residents have returned to Hawthorne House for their first-ever reunion. But the gala event turns into a bloody nightmare when the House's revered founder, Dr. Jay Schermerhorn, is found tortured to death in the mansion's basement. Schermerhorn had enjoyed a worldwide reputation for his innovative methods and compassionate treatment of autistic children. How could anyone have hated him enough to kill him? As Chicago detectives probe deeply into the history of Hawthorne House, a troubling picture emerges--of a man who inspired both fear and hatred in the children and families who came to him for help.

Janeway's Immunobiology

Janeway's Immunobiology
Author: Kenneth Murphy
Publisher: Garland Science
Total Pages:
Release: 2010-06-22
Genre: Medical
ISBN: 9780815344575

The Janeway's Immunobiology CD-ROM, Immunobiology Interactive, is included with each book, and can be purchased separately. It contains animations and videos with voiceover narration, as well as the figures from the text for presentation purposes.