"This is a clear, impartial, honest work. It is scholarly yet free of jargon, compassionate yet not over-emotional, moral without being preachy, stuffed with facts and figures, yet brought alive by a myriad of vivid historical, contemporary and personal anecdotes. In short, it is very good."--
The Economist"Skilfully weaving history and psychology together with a sense of contemporary mission. Slim cites shocking eyewitness reports of murder and torture of civilians from wars around the world, tallying the way in which killers come to kill, and the excuses that governments make for them. The question is: can we do anything about it? Slim sees that mere appeals to international law carry little persuasive power where it counts, and suggests that we recast the argument as one about unfairness and cowardice, with a positive appeal to mercy. As an attempt to unravel one corner of the tapestry of symbolic violence hung over the reality of war, it might be a start."--
The Guardian"A remarkable book. It is rare to encounter such an unflinching and thorough dissection of the brutality of we humans are capable of, recounted with such humanity...Slim's message is ultimately encouraging to those of us striving to protect the rights of children and their communities in today's conflicts and should be applauded."--Jasmine Whitbread, Chief Executive, Save the Children
"Explores the moral reasoning behind both lethal violence against civilians and the traditions of mercy and restraint that have sustained a small but precious space for humanity in warfare."--Alex de Waal, Program Director, Social Science Research Council, New York
"An excellent book..I recommend it to the practitioner, political, humanitarian and military, and in equal measure to the general public in whose name they act."--General Sir Rupert Smith, KCB, DSO, OBE, QGM, author,
The Utility of Force: The Art of War in the Modern World