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	Nuremberg : Infamy on Trial Joseph E. Persico Penguin (Non-Classics), 1995 - 560 pages average customer review:based on 32 reviews view larger image
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highly recommended

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The account is, however, very long, and I found the sections about the various other personalities involved in the trial uninteresting (well, it's difficult to compete with some of the most dramtically evil men of the century). If you're willing to skim a few passages (which is would be unacceptable in a novel, but which doesn't do much harm with a work like this), I think you'll find this very interesting, whether as a student of history, an artist, or anyone attempting to expand their knowledge of human nature.

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A easily readable narration of a COMPLEX historical moment!!

Great book for those that want a quick glance on the happenings of the Nuremberg trials. Four main sections: Preparation of the court, Prosecution statements, Defense and Counterinterrogation of the Nazi warlords, Sentencing and beyond. Narration keeps the reader interested in the book. The only problem is the fragmentation of the situations; chapters are really short and have little continuity. This is a curse for the Nuremberg lovers...but a blessing for the normal reader...you can delay reading and not lose the whole objective of the book. There are TOO MANY NAMES...it is more difficult when half of the names are German. Still...I would highly recommend the book.

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Excellent Easy Read, Maybe a Little Gossipy!

For an introductory look of the Trials and Crimes at the first and most famous Nuremberg Trial, this book is really top drawer. It gives an excellent view of why the trials occurred, the round ups of the prisoners, and the state of the beautiful and devastated city of Nuremberg in 1945-1946. The disputes among the Allies, sometimes petty, show that this very difficult trial could get un-nerving for all, not least the Conquerors and their families. Read this to get a strong sense of the atmosphere during the trials, and during their recesses. However, some of the testimony is given slightly short shrift, probably since the author wanted to keep the book best-selling and readable. Other books on the subject have described Goring as much more forceful, and frankly a very strong defendant and antagonist. The comments on the generals and admirals (Jodl,Keital, Doenitz,Raeder) may leave one wondering whether justice was truly served here (the first two were hanged), and I have always thought Hess should not have been jailed, since he flew to England hoping to negotiate peace. But these are really small quibbles in a very fine book on a very difficult subject!

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A very readable story, focussing on the human side of the Nuremberg Trials

Winston Churchill expressed the opinion that all the leading Nazis should be "shot out of hand" when caught. While this may have been satisfying for Churchill (and Stalin, de Gaulle, Tito, etc.), cooler heads pointed out that this would lower the Allies to the level of the Nazis they were fightng. Hence, the International Military Tribunal, now commonly known as the Nuremberg War Crimes Trials, was convened. Leading Nazis, including Frank and Seyss-Inquart (governors of occuped Poland and Netherlands), foreign minister von Ribbontropp, and Luftwaffe commander Goering, were put on trial to answer for the crimes of Nazi Germany - viz, the destruction of Jewish and other minorities, war crimes (violations of the Geneva Convention), which Germany signed, and the committment of aggressive warfare (non-defensive war).

Most of the Nazis' defenses were of the well-known, "I was just following orders" variety. This conveniently shifted the blame to Hitler and Himmler (who had already committed suicide). This was an especially compelling defense for the military people (head of the army Jodl, Keitel of the general staff, Doenitz and Raeder of the navy, and Goering). Further, wasn't the Allies' firebombing of German cities also illegal? What about the Soviet Union's own unprovoked aggessions (and war crimes) against Poland and Finland? And the use of nuclear weapons? Finally, how could the Military Tribunal avoid charges of ex post facto law (i.e. making up laws to fit "crimes" already committed)?

"Nuremberg: Infamy On Trial" tells the story of the people who came up with the legal apparatus to try the major Nazi war criminals. Mostly Americans, they had to negotiate the ex post facto issue, as well as sponsor a judicial system (the Anglo-Saxon adversarial system used in English-speaking countries) unfamliar to the French, Germans, and Soviets. Besides the international tensions, the trial attracted the attention of the most ambitious legal minds, thus giving rise to internal rivalries within each national group. This book, written by an American, focusses on the American contribution and is written for an American audience, but that is natural since it really was an American show - the Soviets mainly participated because they wanted the West to understand and acknowledge their sacrifices, for example.

Joseph Persico negotiates the international frictions and legal knots with admirable aplomb. With the benefit of 45 years of hindsight, he attempts to answer the over-arching question, "Did the Nuremberg trial set the standard of international law, or was it simply a victor's vengeance?" The answer, unfortunately, is ambiguous. Certainly the ideals of Nuremberg were codified in the U.N. charter, and have been used in several places - Kosovo, the first Iraq war, and Korea. But on the whole, these principles are not widely enforced, and it's hard not to be cynical about the degredation of the principles espoused by the founders of the Military Tribunal.

That's not to say that the book is not important or that it's irrelevant. It is a very readable account, a real page turner! With such a large cast, it's to Persico's credit that he keeps the various players' stories alive and distinct. As expected, the best moments are of Reichsmarshall Goering - the sharpest personality and most affable of the Nazis in the dock. While it's unlikely that someone unfamliar with Nazi Germany or WWII would be interested in this book, I think it's safe to say that anyone with even a passing interest in this period of history will find this account difficult to put down.

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Ambitious Book Shows Multiple Sides of Historic Trial

How does the civilized world hold evil accountable? That was the question faced by the victorious allies after the fall of Nazi Germany. The answer, as related in this book, was to place evil on trial. The ambitious goal of the prosecutors, particularly American Supreme Court Justice Robert Jackson, was to place the very institutions which had given rise to an unprecedented aggressive war and extermination of civilian populations on trial. Those institutions were tried through 21 defendants who had played leadings roles in various sectors of German society from the military command to the SS to the bankers and industrialists who had facilitated the Nazi war machine.

Joseph Persico successfully covers his subject from multiple angles. His narrative shows the trial from the perspective of the allied prosecutors and judges, the German defendants and the Americans who guarded the Germans during the trial and had the most contact with them. Thematically, he addresses the legal questions faced by the International Military Tribunal, the human issues of how the various defendants came to participate in unspeakable horrors and the historical judgment of the trial's meaning.

Persico is most successful in capturing the psychological aspect of the trial. Large portions of the book are told from the point of view of Captain Gustav Gilbert, an Army psychologist and interpreter, whose job was to maintain the psychological well-being of the defendants so that they would be competent to stand trial (and in many cases to be executed). Captain Gilbert and Major Douglass Kelley realized that their unique access to the highest leaders of the German Reich gave them an unparalleled view into the psyche of the war. While performing their official duties, they also planned to exploit their access by writing a book about the defendants. (As it turned out, Major Kelley tried to cut out Capt. Gilbert and they each wrote their own books).

By placing the defeated leaders on trial instead of summarily shooting them, the allies forced both the German people and the German leadership to confront the horrors of the regime. The book documents various aha moments when some of the German defendants realized that they had betrayed their own ideals and culture. Indeed, Capt. Gilbert's personal battle within the trial was to keep the repentent defendants out of the sway of the swaggering, defiant Hermann Goring. In the end, three defendants: Marshall Wilhelm Keitel, Hans Frank and Alfred Speer publicly accepted responsibility for their actions. For Keitel and Frank, their penitence still led them to the end of a rope.

Mr. Persico has done his readers a service by presenting a mountain of information in very readable form. At 452 pages, the book is long enough to cover the subject but short enough to be interesting. While the author has a definite point of view and tries to tie together the lessons of the trial, perhaps his greatest accomplishment is to raise more issues than he resolves.

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reviews: page 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7

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