Books › A Problem from Hell
A Problem from Hell
First published 2002 · 688 pages
A searing, meticulously documented indictment of global inaction in the face of ultimate evil.
What it feels like
Reading this book is a profoundly sobering experience, one that immerses you in the frustrating corridors of power where moral clarity is repeatedly suffocated by bureaucratic inertia. The pace is steady and deliberate, anchored by rigorous historical documentation, yet it reads with the urgency of a thriller thanks to its focus on the isolated, courageous individuals who tried to sound the alarm. The mood is undeniably heavy and harrowing, steeped in the tragic realities of the twentieth century's darkest moments. Power's prose is authoritative and impassioned, stripping away political jargon to expose the raw human cost of indifference. It is a vital, challenging read that will deeply resonate with those who seek to understand the intersection of foreign policy, human rights, and moral responsibility.
- Mood
- sobering
- harrowing
- frustrating
- heavy
- Tone
- urgent
- indignant
- analytical
- authoritative
- impassioned
- Pace
- steady
- Themes
- moral responsibility · bureaucratic inertia · the cost of inaction · courage in isolation · historical amnesia
- The writing
- Journalistic and rigorously documented, yet driven by a compelling, character-focused narrative that makes complex policy accessible.
- The arc
- Moves from a sense of historical shock and outrage to a heavy, lingering frustration with systemic apathy, punctuated by awe at individual moral courage.
- Who it's for
- Readers who gravitate toward deeply researched, morally urgent history and foreign policy that challenges the status quo.
Content notes
- genocide
- ethnic cleansing
- mass murder
- war crimes
- political apathy
- graphic violence
About the book
""A Problem from Hell" is a path-breaking interrogation of the last century of American history. Samantha Power poses a question that haunts our nation's past: Why do American leaders who vow "never again" repeatedly fail to marhsal the will and the might to stop genocide? She provides the answer in the form of the suspenseful story of courageous individuals who risked their careers and lives in an effort to get the United States to act.
Drawing upon exclusive interviews with Washington's top policymakers, access to thousands of pages of newly declassified documents, and her own reporting from the modern killing fields, Power shows how those who urged U.S. action were thwarted again and again by ignorance, indifference, and, above all, a failure of imagination."--BOOK JACKET.
Description from Open Library.
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