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Article: Trial by error.(A History of Political Trials: From Charles I to Saddam Hussein)(Book review)
- Article from:
- The American Conservative
- Article date:
- September 8, 2008
- Author:
CopyrightCOPYRIGHT 2008 The American Conservative LLC. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group. (Hide copyright information)
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[A History of Political Trials: From Charles I to Saddam Hussein, John Laughland, Peter Lang, 315 pages]
IN 300 YEARS OF TRIALS of former sovereigns, not one has ever been acquitted. This striking observation lies at the heart of John Laughland's well-argued and beautifully written survey of political trials. He does not mean prosecutions brought by political opponents to eliminate their rivals but trials of those who hold power for true acts of state.
The first trial that the author examines is that of King Charles I of England, which serves as a surprisingly well-fitting pattern for subsequent political trials, including those at Nuremberg after the ...