Book #113 of 2018:
One Long Night: A Global History of Concentration Camps by Andrea Pitzer
When we think or talk about concentration camps, we often and understandably limit our focus to the atrocities of Nazi Germany, which cannot be overstated. Yet that program did not arise in a vacuum, and in this book, author Andrea Pitzer traces the concept of mass civilian detention from its modern origin in 1896 Cuba over the course of the next century and beyond. As she documents in heartrending detail, nearly every major country on earth has at one point or another engaged in the practice, which continues today with the 100+ foreign nationals the U.S. is still holding without trial in Guantanamo Bay and the estimated 80,000 citizens presently interred by their government in North Korea. With scholarly analysis and personal survivor narratives, Pitzer shows how every such policy of concentration, no matter how well-intentioned, inevitably gives rise to abuse and inhumane conditions. It’s a devastating read that should force an uncomfortable reckoning from anyone who has supported such measures in the past.
★★★★☆
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