Troubling questions about torture and prisoner abuse-acts contrary to all our values-are probed in this valuable study of the American experience with defining the moral boundaries of the treatment of prisoners.

Revelations about U.S. torture and prisoner abuse in blatant violation of the long-established and universally recognized Geneva Conventions have horrified most Americans. Nevertheless, it has been argued that the high stakes of the War on Terror have made the protections offered by the Conventions obsolete, or that the abuses are the work of a few rogue soldiers and officers. This book reaches past the headlines into the historical record to document POW torture and also domestic prisoner abuse dating well back in our history as well as government and military knowledge of and collusion in such ostensibly illegal and reprehensible acts. Is torture and prisoner abuse justified in the name of some greater good? As a society we shall have to decide. The historical record presented here can contribute much to an informed national discussion.

Timeline anchoring the discussion in time and place

Bibliography of print and Internet resources guiding further exploration of the subject

Charts and tables analyzing complex data, including survey results