38 Londres Street

Praise

“Though nearly a decade in the making, this book could not arrive at a better time, because its subject is one of the most pressing themes of our era: impunity. Weaving together a globe-trotting legal thriller, a personal history, and a twin portrait of a pair of mass murderers—one a fugitive Nazi, the other a head of state—Sands has created an indelible and enthralling work of moral witness.” —Patrick Radden Keefe, author of Say Nothing

“38 Londres Street is many books, but especially two: on the one hand, an absorbing thriller where the fates of the bloodthirsty Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and the nazi war criminal Walter Rauff intertwine, as do the present and the past, fiction and reality, chance and necessity; on the other hand, a profound, lucid and indispensable reflection on justice and impunity in a world that aspires or should aspire to universal justice. This is not only the most ambitious book Philippe Sands has written, but also his best. An enthralling read.” —Javier Cercas, author of The Imposter

“In 38 Londres Street Philippe Sands combines the tone of the thriller with an astute and dramatic account of a most complex and fascinating legal case. Since Sands was present in court, there is an urgency in the narrative and a sharp sense of what was at stake. The book also offers a vivid picture of the personalities involved, including Pinochet himself, his translator, the judges, the British government and the victims of Pinochet’s crimes. In the background lies evil itself in the guise of a Nazi in exile, the sinister Walther Rauff. This is a brilliant and important book.” —Colm Toibin, author of Long Island

“The pace of a thriller novel, meticulously recorded and filled with urgent moral and political questions, this is Philippe Sands at his very best.” —Ian Rankin, author of Midnight and Blue

“An extraordinary achievement . . . I read with open mouth and thumping heart. Sands brilliantly traces the atrocious trail of blood that leads from the death camps of Nazi Germany to the torture rooms of Pinochet’s Chile. 38 Londres Street takes its place as one of the most unforgettable and important records of the systematic pitiless cruelty of which tyrannies are capable.” —Stephen Fry

“A true masterpiece. Utterly compelling, a staggering piece of research and beautifully written.” —Henry Marsh, author of Do No Harm

“Sands is phenomenal. The research alone leaves one dazed with admiration.” —Antony Beevor, author of The Second World War