Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #177552 in Books
• Published on: 2007-04-26
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 320 pages

LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS
'lifts the lid on the hypocrisy and routine abuse of human rights... at the heart of the War on Terror.'

Review
'A measured and uniquely informed account of systemic brutality and blind folly on an epic scale, of the tragic perversion of America's judicial system, and of the licensing of torture throughout the world by those who imagine themselves opposed to it.' (John le Carré )

'lifts the lid on the hypocrisy and routine abuse of human rights... at the heart of the War on Terror.' (LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS )

'a succinct argument on how the US and UK are continually messing up foreign policy...' (THE LIST )

'Clive Stafford Smith... breaks his silence to deliver an indictment of the detention centre, which is all the more devastating for being expressed in such temperate terms... this book serves as a warning of how a nation with liberty at the heart of its written constitution is helpless to prevent a determined administration from overriding them.' (DAILY MAIL )

'a laconic and sardonic first-person account, acutely observed and at times blackly humorous, of what Guantanamo Bay is actually like.' (Geoffrey Robertson QC NEW STATESMAN )

'Stafford Smith's facts and figures are undeniable... BAD MEN glints with absurdity... And it brims with drama and horror.' (THE INDEPENDENT )

'humane and entertaining... a quintessentially British account mixing wry humour with irony and understatement' (THE GUARDIAN )

'Stafford Smith writes well and with humour, though the story he tells is shocking.' (TLS )

'a remarkable and passionate book... Stafford Smith achieves something unprecedented. He lets the facts speak , and the result is riveting.' (LONDON REVIEW OF BOOKS )

'The best analysis so far of the erosion of civil liberties in America and Britain and the consequences for individuals and society' (THE ECONOMIST )

DAILY MAIL
'Clive Stafford Smith... breaks his silence to deliver an indictment of the detention centre, which is all the more devastating for being expressed in such temperate terms... this book serves as a warning of how a nation with liberty at the heart of its written constitution is helpless to prevent a determined administration from overriding them.'

Customer Reviews

Leaders of the free world???
Such a well written book on such an incredibly sobering topic. It makes me angry and ashamed the lengths the USA and UK will go to try and justify the existence of Guantanamo Bay and the heinous practices associated with it and the secret prisons. Clive Stafford-Smith writes in such a low-key non sensationalist manner, that it makes his points all the more powerful. I couldn't put this book down until I'd finished it and then I wanted to know what had happened to the defendants after the book was written. A great book that taxes the moral conscience!

A lawyer who can actually write
A fascinating survey on Guantanamo Bay and its inmates by someone with first-hand knowledge.

Stafford Smith's high profile as a campaigner necessarily lends itself to a slanted view; however, that profile does not get in the way, as (unlike a lot of lawyers of my acquaintance) he writes like a dream. His focus on the human effects of legal and military convention makes what could have been a turgid diatribe into an interesting and challenging read.

This is a book which both students of law and modern historians will be referring back to in times to come.

Essential reading
Unless, that is, you already have 'The Eight O'Clock Ferry to the Windward Side'. This is basically the same book, with a different title and dust-jacket. There may be minor differences (I posted my copy of Bad Men to a friend a few days before this one arrived, so I haven't been able to compare them directly), but if so they're very minor. There are even some of the same minor typographical errors in this one.
As for the book's contents, it's about the kidnapping, illegal deportation, torture and imprisoment without trial of those unfortunate enough to have ended up in Guantanamo Bay. Thankfully the author is a highly experienced human rights lawyer, not a 'Sun' headline writer; this book would be unreadable if there was any trace of hyperbole, as the facts disclosed are bad enough. Basically, most of the Guatanamo 'prisoners' were sold into captivity for large ransoms paid by the Americans. Most have been tortured, some severely, often by techniques used in the Spanish Inquisition, though much is witheld, partly due to censorship by the US military, partly because some of the victims understandably do not wish the full details of their ordeal to become common knowledge. Even those who have not been tortured have mostly been subjected to vicious beatings, in many cases causing severe and permanent injuries. None have had a trial, let alone a proper, fair and open trial. The amazing thing is that some people still defend the blatent war crimes revealed in this book. 'Kafkaesque' doesn't even begin to describe the awful reality that has befallen these men. Even Kafka's nightmares were nothing compared to this.
If you have any interest in truth, justice, or liberty you need to read this.