"A Problem from Hell" is a path-breaking interrogation of the last century of American history. Samantha Power poses a question that haunts our nation's past: Why do American leaders who vow "never again" repeatedly fail to marshal the will and the might to stop genocide? She provides the answer in the form of the suspenseful story of courageous individuals who risked their careers and lives in an effort to get the United States to act. Drawing upon exclusive interviews with Washington's top policymakers, access to thousands of pages of newly declassified documents, and her own reporting from the modern killing fields, Power shows how those who urged U.S. action were thwarted again and again by ignorance, indifference, and, above all, a failure of imagination."--Jacket.

Includes maps of: Yugoslavia, Depiciting Serb Gains, 1991-1995. "Previously published in paperback by HarperCollins in 2003 and 2007."--title page verso.

Preface --1. "Race murder" -- 2. "A crime without a name" -- 3. The crime with a name -- 4. Lemkin's law -- 5. "A most lethal pair of foes" -- 6. Cambodia : "helpless giant" -- 7. Speaking loudly and looking for a stick -- 8. Iraq : "human rights and chemical weapons use aside" -- 9. Bosnia : "no more than witnesses at a funeral" -- 10. Rwanda : "mostly in a listening mode" -- 11. Srebrenica : "Getting creamed" -- 12. Kosovo : a dog and a fight -- 13. Lemkin's courtroom legacy -- 14. Conclusion -- Notes -- Bibliography -- Acknowledgments -- Index -- About the author.