The USSR's Writer's Union, a form of cultural and political organization unknown in the West, has ruled every aspect of Russian writers' private and professional lives from the time of Stalin to the present day. This book shows how the union has operated over the last five decades.

Set in the larger context of the evolution of international human rights, this cogent book examines the tragic development and ultimate resolution of Latin America's human rights crisis of the 1970s and 1980s. Thomas Wright focuses especially on state terrorism in Chile under General Augusto Pinochet (1973 1990) and in Argentina during the Dirty War (1976 1983). The author probes the background of these regimes, the methodology of state terrorism, and the human rights movements that emerged in urgent response to the brutality of institutionalized torture, murder, and disappearance. He also discusses the legacies of state terrorism in the post-dictatorial period, particularly the bitter battle between demands for justice and the military's claim of impunity. Central to this struggle was the politics of memory as two radically different versions of the countries' recent history clashed: had the militaries conducted legitimate wars against subversion or had they exercised terrorism based on a misguided concept of national security? The book offers a nuanced exploration of the reciprocal relationship between state terrorism and its legacies, on one hand, and international human rights on the other. When the Chilean and Argentine militaries seized power, the international human rights lobby was too weak to prevent the massive toll of state terrorism. But the powerful worldwide response to these regimes ultimately strengthened international human rights treaties, institutions, and jurisprudence, paving the way for the Rwanda and Yugoslavia genocide tribunals and the International Criminal Court. Indeed, Chile and Argentina today routinely try and convict former repressors in their own courts. This compelling history demonstrates that the experiences of Chile and Argentina contributed to strengthening the international human rights movement, which in turn gave it the influence to affect the outcome in these two South American countries. Ironically, the brutal regimes of Chile and Argentina played the major role in transforming a largely dormant international lobby into a powerful force that today is capable of bringing major repressors from anywhere in the world to justice. These intertwined themes make this book important reading not only for Latin Americanists but for students of human rights and of international relations as well."

The story of the victorious battle to defeat the political frame-up of Mark Curtis, a union activist and socialist sentenced in 1988 to twenty-five years in prison on trumped up charges of attempted rape and burglary. The pamphlet describes what happened to Curtis on the day of his arrest, the fight to defend immigrant rights he was a part of, and the international campaign that finally won his freedom in 1996.

Death is a fact of life, but the experience of grief is unique to each of us. This poignant and thought-provoking anthology gives us portraits of grief as seen through the eyes of writers and poets.

The contributions range from the deeply personal: a poet chronicles her relationship with her troubled, abusive father, a World War II survivor – to the political: an investigator from the Missing Persons Task Team draws us into the ongoing search for the remains of activists who were murdered by the apartheid state between 1960 and 1994 – to the philosophical: a writer ponders the ethics of killing small animals.

Perhaps grief never truly ends but these stories transform the pain of death into something beautiful so that we can find ways to live with loss.

Featuring contributions by Sisonke Msimang, Mary Watson, Karin Schimke, Hedley Twiddle, Ishtiyaq Shukri, Dawn Garisch, Shubnum Khan, Malika Ndlovu, Toni Stuart, Stacy Hardy and more.

Set in Fordsburg between the 1950s and 1990s against the backdrop of apartheid, A Home on Vorster Street invites us into the life of Razina Theba and the vibrant community to which she and her characterful Indian-Muslim family belongs.

The book offers an intimate, vividly told narrative of a family bound by loyalty to their culture, religion and each other.

At times laugh-out-loud funny, and at others emotional, painful and tender-hearted, Theba’s memoir is a spirited exploration of the themes of family, racism, cultural heritage and identity.