Fast-paced, provocative, and ultimately optimistic. Declarations, she writes, are not empty words but transformative; they make us want to become the people they claim we are.-- "The New Yorker"
A provocative and engaging history of the political impact of human rights.--Gary J. Bass "New Republic"
As Americans begin to hold their leaders accountable for the mistakes made in the war against terror, this book ought to serve as a guide to thinking about one of the most serious mistakes of all, the belief that America can win that war by revoking the Declaration that brought the nation into being.--Alan Wolfe "Commonweal"
This is a wonderful story of the emergence and development of the powerful idea of human rights, written by one of the leading historians of our time.--Amartya Sen
Elegant... intriguing, if not audacious... Hunt is an astute historian.--Joanna Bourke "Harper's"
Rich, elegant, and persuasive.-- "London Review of Books"