Blood and Soil: A World History of Genocide and Extermination from Sparta to Darfur
Presents the global history of genocide and extermination from
ancient times. This book examines outbreaks of mass violence from
the classical era to the present, focusing on colonial
exterminations and 20th-century case studies including the Armenian
genocide, the Nazi Holocaust, Stalin's mass murders, and the
Cambodian and Rwandan genocides.
"'Humans have been slaughtering each other for thousands of years, but only now is the field of genocide studies blooming. This grim account of history notes remarkable parallels in the patterns of mass slaughter, from Carthage to Darfur. With references to the genocides sanctioned by the Bible, it's ghastly reading. Yet you also can't help feeling a measure of progress over the centuries. Today, we're still far too passive about stopping genocide, but even those leaders who engage in it tend to be embarrassed, rather than boastful.' Nicholas D. Kristof, New-York Historical Society series "Books That Matter", New York Times Book Review"
Ben Kiernan is the A. Whitney Griswold Professor of History, professor of international and area studies, and the founding director of the Genocide Studies Program at Yale University (www.yale.edu/gsp). His previous books include How Pol Pot Came to Power: Colonialism, Nationalism, and Communism in Cambodia, 1930-1975, published by Yale University Press.
