The best books about ethnic cleansing

Who picked these books? Meet our 2 experts.

2 authors created a book list connected to ethnic cleansing, and here are their favorite ethnic cleansing books.
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Book cover of Buried in the Bitter Waters: The Hidden History of Racial Cleansing in America

Errick Nunnally Author Of All The Dead Men: Alexander Smith #2

From the list on history to thrill, disturb, and intrigue.

Who am I?

Errick Nunnally was born and raised in Boston, Massachusetts, and served one tour in the Marine Corps before deciding art school was a safer pursuit. He enjoys art, comics, and genre novels. A graphic designer, he has trained in Krav Maga and Muay Thai kickboxing. His work has appeared in several anthologies of speculative fiction. His work can be found in Apex Magazine, Fiyah Magazine, Galaxy’s Edge, Lamplight, Nightlight Podcast, and the novels, Lightning Wears a Red Cape, Blood for the Sun, and All the Dead Men.

Errick's book list on history to thrill, disturb, and intrigue

Discover why each book is one of Errick's favorite books.

Why did Errick love this book?

Here is a book about history that is horrific, often referenced, and not as fully understood as it should be. It’s about entire towns erased from existence or whole segments of a population violently displaced in one night. Full of terrifying tales, the author began looking into the subject thinking there’d be several historical incidents and instead found too many to include in the book. It is a harrowing accounting of racial cleansing right here in the good ol’ U.S. of A. and a potent reminder of how this country operated well into the twentieth century. Again, this sort of thing is good background to inform my character’s current attitude and makes for ripe pickings in flashbacks or background stories.

By Elliot Jaspin,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Buried in the Bitter Waters as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Leave now, or die!" Those words-or ones just as ominous-have echoed through the past hundred years of American history, heralding a very unnatural disaster-a wave of racial cleansing that wiped out or drove away black populations from counties across the nation. While we have long known about horrific episodes of lynching in the South, this story of racial cleansing has remained almost entirely unknown. These expulsions, always swift and often violent, were extraordinarily widespread in the period between Reconstruction and the Depression era. In the heart of the Midwest and the Deep South, whites rose up in rage, fear, and…


Book cover of Expulsion of the Palestinians: The Concept of "Transfer" in Zionist Political Thought, 1882-1948

Ilan Pappé Author Of Ten Myths About Israel

From the list on understanding modern Palestine.

Who am I?

Ilan Pappé is a professor with the College of Social Sciences and International Studies at the University of Exeter. He was formerly a senior lecturer in political science at the University of Haifa. He is the author of The Ethnic Cleansing of PalestineThe Modern Middle EastA History of Modern Palestine: One Land, Two Peoples, and Britain and the Arab-Israeli Conflict.

Ilan's book list on understanding modern Palestine

Discover why each book is one of Ilan's favorite books.

Why did Ilan love this book?

There is no way of understanding the Palestinian catastrophe without understanding the role of Zionism as an ideology and praxis in bringing it about. This book is the first methodic analysis of how Zionist ideology from the very beginning of the Zionist project prepared the ground for the 1948 ethnic cleansing of the Palestinians.

By Nur Masalha,

Why should I read it?

1 author picked Expulsion of the Palestinians as one of their favorite books, and they share why you should read it.

What is this book about?

Book by Masalha, Nur