“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 |
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"Slim's unflinching examination of the horror visited on civilians in times of war engages deeply and rationally with the question of war and its limits, drilling to the core of armed conflict and concentrating on the question of protecting innocents."
John Birmingham in The Australian Literary Review |
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“Skillfully weaves 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 ways in which killers come to kill, and the excuses that governments make for them.”
The Guardian |
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"With painful and poignant examples, Slim describes extermination, planned massacres, rape and the famine and disease associated with war. This is more than a collection of horror stories, let alone a pacifist tract. Slim understands why wars sometimes must be fought and struggles to think of ways to assert the core principle that "even in war, one should kill as little as possible." Any attempt to carve out a humanitarian space in the midst of bitter conflicts faces tough challenges, but Slim's book is an important reminder of why it is vital to try."
Professor Sir Lawrence Freedman in Foreign Affairs |
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"Slim's readable and instructive book brings a refreshing and original eye to a difficult theme, the solution can only come from "hard and courageous moral choices". The safety of civilians lies not in debates over weapons, but in political will, the express decision not to target and kill civilians."
Caroline Moorehead in The Literary Review |
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"In this valuable book, Slim meticulously surveys the varieties of ideologies and motivations that lead to the intentional killing (rape and
wounding) of civilians. And he argues further that it is not only false but counter-productive simply to insist that civilians are all 'innocent' in any meaningful sense. In fact, one of the book's contributions is to face - indeed, to emphasize - 'civilian ambiguity'. Without blinking at the grim reality he manages to offer hope and practical steps towards enhanced protection from violence for the most vulnerable."
Professor Henry Shue in International Affairs |
