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Prosecuting the Powerful: War Crimes and the Battle for Justice

Brief Description
Newly revised and updated Shortlisted for the 2025 Moore Prize in Human Rights Writing 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 'A compelling... Read More
Format: Paperback / softback
$5000

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Could Putin or other war criminals ever be put on trial? Steve Crawshaw's compelling new history of prosecuting war crimes shows how it is more likely than you might think.

Book Hero Magic formatted this description to make it easier to read. While it's new and still learning, it may not be perfect - your feedback is welcome! Description

Newly revised and updated

Shortlisted for the 2025 Moore Prize in Human Rights Writing

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

'A compelling account of a revolutionary moment in history,' Philippe Sands, The Spectator

'Powerful, timely and moving,' Baroness Helena Kennedy KC

'A tour de force,' Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor, Channel 4 News

'Absolutely brilliant,' Nick Cohen

Could we ever see Vladimir Putin in the dock for his crimes? What about a Western ally like Benjamin Netanyahu? Putting a country's leader on trial once seemed unimaginable. But as Steve Crawshaw describes in Prosecuting the Powerful - a blend of powerful eyewitness reporting and gripping history - the possibilities of justice have been transformed.

Crawshaw includes recent stories from the front lines of justice in Ukraine, Israel/Palestine and at The Hague, as well as his earlier encounters with war criminals like Slobodan Miloőević. He tells the stories of those who have demanded protection for civilians and accountability for war criminals - from the Geneva Conventions to the Syrian police photographer who helped put one of Bashar al-Assad's torturers behind bars. He also follows the extraordinary unfolding story of two of the world's most powerful and well-connected leaders currently under indictment at the International Criminal Court in The Hague: Putin and Netanyahu.

For all the current darkness, this is a historic opportunity. The scales of justice can and must be balanced. Now is the moment.

Book Details

INFORMATION

ISBN: 9780349128955

Publisher: Little, Brown Book Group

Format: Paperback / softback

Date Published: 05 February 2026

Country: United Kingdom

Imprint: The Bridge Street Press

Audience: General / adult

DIMENSIONS

Spine width: 32.0mm

Width: 126.0mm

Height: 196.0mm

Weight: 361g

Pages: 464

About the Author

Steve Crawshaw has written and worked on human rights and justice for more than thirty years. He was a journalist at Granada Television before joining the Independent at launch in 1986, where his roles included Russia and East Europe Editor during the east European revolutions and Balkan wars, then Germany bureau chief and chief foreign correspondent. In 2002, he joined Human Rights Watch as UK director and then UN advocacy director in New York. In 2010 he joined Amnesty International as international advocacy director and then Director of the Office of the Secretary General. In 2018 he became policy and advocacy director at Freedom from Torture. His previous books are Goodbye to the USSR (1992), Easier Fatherland: Germany and the Twenty-First Century (2004), Small Acts of Resistance (with John Jackson, foreword by Vaclav Havel, 2010) and Street Spirit: The Power of Protest and Mischief (foreword by Ai Weiwei, 2017). He studied Russian and German at the universities of Oxford and St Petersburg, and lived in Poland from 1978 to 1981.

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  • Prosecuting the Powerful: War Crimes and the Battle for Justice
    Could we ever see Vladimir Putin in the dock for his crimes? What about a Western ally like Benjamin Netanyahu? Putting a country's leader on trial once seemed unthinkable. But as journalist and human rights advocate Steve Crawshaw describes in Prosecuting the Powerful - a blend of vivid reportage and gripping history - a series of remarkable changes in recent...
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