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38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England, and a Nazi in Patagonia
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About This Book
In this intimate legal and historical detective story, the world-renowned lawyer and acclaimed author of East West Street traces the footsteps of two of the twentieth century's most merciless criminals—accused of genocide and crimes against humanity—testing the limits of immunity and impunity after NurembergOn the evening of October 16, 1998, Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet was arrested at a medical clinic in London. After a brutal, seventeen-year reign marked by assassinations, disappearances, and torture—frequently tied to the infamous detention center at the heart of Santiago, Londres 38—Pinochet was being indicted for international crimes and extradition to Spain, opening the door to criminal charges that would follow him to the grave, in 2006.Three decades earlier, on the evening of December 3, 1962, SS-Commander Walter Rauff was arrested in his home in Punta Arenas, at the southern tip of Chile. As the overseer of the development and use of gas vans in World War II, he was indicted for the mass murder of tens of thousands of Jews and extradition to West Germany.Would these uncommon criminals be held accountable? Were their stories connected? The Nuremberg Trials—where Rauff's crimes had first been read into the record, in 1945—opened the door to universal jurisdiction, and Pinochet's case would be the first effort to ensnare a former head of state.In this unique blend of memoir, courtroom drama, and travelogue, Philippe Sands gives us a front row seat to the Pinochet trial—where he acted as a barrister for Human Rights Watch—and teases out the dictator's unexpected connection to a leading Nazi who ended up managing a king crab cannery in Patagonia. A decade-long journey exposes the chilling truth behind the lives of two men and their intertwined destinies on 38 Londres Street.
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Reviews
"An extraordinary exposé of the collusion of Nazis with the Pinochet dictatorship in Chile."
"It is the relentless pursuit of this hidden and repulsive past that gives 38 Londres Street its startling originality, turning it into a tour de force that extends its reach far beyond what we typically envisage from a book about human rights."
"It's also a reminder that, as a Chilean judge tells Sands at the end of the book, 'It is a fine thing to investigate for a personal reason.' All three of Sands's books on immunity are a stirring testament to this truth."
"Sands has interviewed all the key players, but this is not just a gripping behind-the-scenes court drama ..."
"That isn't Sands's style."
"A masterful and timely mix of history, journalism, and memoir."
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