Prosecuting the Powerful

In a time when it's easy to despair about war atrocities, Steve Crawshaw reminds us of the important advance of international law. His personal experience and the use of arresting detail give us hope that those who are causing so much suffering today may face justice tomorrow. A tour de force. - Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor, Channel 4 News and author of 'I Brought the War With Me: Stories and Poems from the Front Line'

In this powerful book, Steve Crawshaw, who has devoted his career to the pursuit of international justice, eloquently confronts one of the toughest dilemmas of the moment: how to hold war criminals to account. - Anne Applebaum, author of Autocracy, Inc

In a world riven with war and atrocities, we are watching nations which boast a commitment to the rule of law showing contempt for it when it applies to them or their allies. Powerful, timely and moving, Steve Crawshaw's book is an indictment of double standards and hypocrisy, and a brilliant call for justice. - Helena Kennedy KC

A magnificent account of a noble obsession - the determination to make war criminals, and the people behind them, pay for what they have done. Steve Crawshaw, who has devoted himself to campaigning for precisely that, explains in calm, careful detail why it's not only possible, but (in this disturbing age of Ukraine and Gaza) is actually starting to happen. For me, Prosecuting The Powerful isn't just compelling and very moving, it has all the force of a well-crafted thriller. I literally couldn't stop reading it. - John Simpson, BBC World Affairs Editor

In Prosecuting the Powerful, Steve Crawshaw provides the reader with a highly readable and timely account of one of the most crucial questions of our time: whether perpetrators of war crimes can be held accountable. By showing how over the years prospects for justice have increased the book makes an important contribution for the ongoing struggle to ensure that justice can yet be achieved today. Superb. - Raja Shehadeh, author of What Does Israel Fear from Palestine?

This is an incredible book about war crimes and war criminals and the attempts by international lawyers, politicians and human rights activists to make every war more humane and civilised. Every page is a fascinating discovery. - Andrey Kurkov, author of Diary of an Invasion

This is an important primer for our dark times - Luke Harding, The Observer

Absolutely brilliant - Nick Cohen