Taking Liberties: Four Decades in the Struggle for Rights

By Aryeh Neier

Book Overview

For over forty years, Aryeh Neier has stood with the vanguard in the struggle for rights. Since joining the staff of the American Civil Liberties Union in 1963, he went on to become the youngest executive director in its history; to found and direct Human Rights Watch-the world's leading rights watchdog organization; and, most recently, to serve as president of the Open Society Institute. In Taking Liberties, Neier recounts this remarkable career. With striking detail and surprising candor, he recalls the persons he has encountered, the struggles in which he has taken part, and what, given the sometimes unintended consequences of these efforts, he might have done differently along the way. The memoir of a movement as well as a life, Taking Liberties offers unparalleled insight into the history of human rights. It is essential reading for anyone interested in international law, human rights, civil liberties, and-from the Guantanamo detentions to the war crimes tribunals-the crucial issues of our day.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1586482912
• ISBN13: 9781586482916
• Release Date: March 2005
• Publisher: PublicAffairs
• Length: 432 Pages
• Weight: 1.15 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.1" x 5.5" x 8.1"

Customer Reviews

Bunch of books in one

A bunch of books in one as we see the turbulent litigation of the 60s and 70s from an insider's point of view, then the growth of Human Rights Watch and the important work done in Central America and elsewhere to George Soros' occasionally transformational efforts in former Soviet countries. Refreshingly honest, such as the part where Neier admits that the ACLU's mental health litigation asking for the mentally ill to be released from institutions unwittingly contributed to the homeless crises which continues to this day. I have never heard a liberal admit this, though it is probably true (it's important to admit mistakes to avoid them in the future). The book would have been better with more about Neier's personal life and his personal feelings about triumphs and defeats, but all in all a great insider view of civil liberties litigation, NGO politics, and human rights strategy.