Between Vengeance and Forgiveness

The rise of collective violence and genocide is the twentieth century's most terrible legacy. Martha Minow, a Harvard law professor and one of our most brilliant and humane legal minds, offers a landmark book on our attempts to heal after such large-scale tragedy. Writing with informed, searching prose of the extraordinary drama of the truth commissions in Argentina, East Germany, and most notably South Africa; war-crime prosecutions in Nuremberg and Bosnia; and reparations in America, Minow looks at the strategies and results of these riveting national experiments in justice and healing.Skillfully explores what steps can be taken in the wake of mass atrocities. . . . Incisive and insightful. --Jane Lampman, The Christian Science Monitor

"Compassionate and well-reasoned . . . Minow makes a convincing case for the restorative power of speaking about trauma." --Alexandra Starr, Washington Monthly

"A deeply humane and empathetic argument." --Alice Kessler-Harris, The Women's Review of Books

"Offers a remarkable analysis of a troublesome legacy." --Donald W. Shriver Jr., The Christian Century

"In taking a closer look at the social and historical roots of genocide and mass violence, Minow recognizes that justice is a process, not an end. Between Vengeance and Forgiveness is complicated, ambiguous, and deeply unsatisfying-exactly as it ought to be." --Nicholas Confessore, The American ProspectMartha Minow is a professor of law at Harvard Law School. She is author of Making All the Difference: Inclusion, Exclusion and American Law and Not Only for Myself: Identity, Politics, and Law. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.