A Problem from Hell

By Samantha Power,

Book cover of A Problem from Hell: America and the Age of Genocide

Book description

From the Armenian Genocide to the ethnic cleansings of Kosovo and Darfur, modern history is haunted by acts of brutal violence. Yet American leaders who vow never again" repeatedly fail to stop genocide. Winner of the Pulitzer Prize and the National Book Critics Circle Award, " A Problem from Hell"…

Shepherd is reader supported. When you buy books, we may earn an affiliate commission.

Why read it?

3 authors picked A Problem from Hell as one of their favorite books. Why do they recommend it?

As an ordinary hero, it is important to understand where humanity has succeeded and where we have failed.

This book is definitely about the latter. The book is a good read, but it is also really hard to read because it is about how we have failed to prevent atrocities. It’s so important because understanding where humanity has failed is the only way we will be able to prevent these sorts of atrocities in the future.

It is well written, which makes the difficult topic more accessible. 

Strong material for a college course that connected me to the why I served our country in Kosovo. Samantha Power helped me understand the U.S. history with our conflicts, both good and bad. This was a critical read to write nuanced characters from war zones. Each chapter is a different conflict. Amazingly, I was able to meet Samantha Power, former Ambassador to the UN and as a former journalist herself reporting from conflict areas, she’s the real deal. She walks the talk. 

I think every historian should read works by journalists in order to see how good writing can elevate a topic. Samantha Power's work on the history of genocide and the response of American foreign policy to various global incidences of genocide takes a dark and complex topic and makes it highly engaging and readable. Power’s work is informed by her past experience as a war correspondent in the former Yugoslavia in the 1990s. Her work is important in that it is not simply a history of genocide from an observer’s standpoint, instead, she takes a moral position and makes a…

From Teresa's list on non-fiction and written by women.

Want books like A Problem from Hell?

Our community of 11,000+ authors has personally recommended 100 books like A Problem from Hell.

Browse books like A Problem from Hell

5 book lists we think you will like!

Interested in international relations, genocide, and presidential biography?

Genocide 90 books