Micheline Ishay

This is a good general look at the history of human rights. If you are looking into detailed accounts here you won't find it, but it works well as an intro book. There are just so many ideas that are touched upon without due reflection that the reader has the burden of carrying the work further (not that that's a bad thing, but rather something one typically doesn't look for in a book). It is clearly written though and is accessible. For someone looking for an easy and (relatively) show more comprehensive book on the topic this is it. show less

Good historical overview of the development of human rights. If you want your class to be topic specific: genocide, womens rights, refugee rights, childrens rights, etc. Then I would suggest this book for a primer and then find something else for the topic because this is definetly not a topic specific book.

An exploration of the history of the concept of human rights, seen as a "cumulative historical process."