On Nazi Crimes and their Punishment:

 

“With this timely book in Hackett Publishing's Passages series, Michael Bryant presents a wide-ranging survey of the trials of Nazi war criminals in the wartime and immediate postwar period. Introduced by an extensive historical survey putting these proceedings into their international context, this volume makes the case, central to Hackett's collection for undergraduate courses, that these events constituted a 'key moment' that has influenced the course of history. Appended to Bryant's analysis is a substantial section of primary sources that should stimulate student discussion and raise questions that are pertinent to warfare and human rights abuses today.”

—Michael R. Marrus, Chancellor Rose and Ray Wolfe Professor Emeritus of Holocaust Studies at the University of Toronto

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"An excellent text for students. Cutting through the vast literature on Nazi criminality and efforts to bring the culprits—not just the 'major perpetrators,' as these are usually understood, but ordinary professionals as well—to justice, Bryant's masterful study boils down the essential facts and complex historiography. The inclusion of the actual indictments, court verdicts, and laws upon which the trials were based shows students how the legal scaffolding of modern international criminal law was constructed."
—Michael Bazyler, The 1939 Society Scholar in Holocaust and Human Rights Studies and law professor, Fowler School of Law, Chapman University

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“Bryant’s Nazi Crimes and Their Punishment 1943-1950 is a significant contribution to not only our understanding of the Holocaust, but the punishment of those responsible for these monstrous crimes in the aftermath of the Second World War. It should prove a welcome text to undergraduate courses in both areas as well as a ready reference for those also interested in this important topic. Its value is further enhanced by its historiographical essay and the selection of key documents."
—Steven Leonard Jacobs, Emeritus Aaron Aronov Endowed Chair of Judaic Studies, The University of Alabama

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Nazi Crimes and their Punishment was named an Outstanding Title for 2021 by the editors of Choice magazine.

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A World History of War Crimes, 1st ed.:

 

“. . . [I]t can be said that the limited number of pages in Bryant’s book does not render it any less useful, to researchers and jurists as well as students. The book will be a great help to all those engaged in the study of IHL, peace and conflict and history because it is not confined to the history of war crimes but encompasses the history of war and the accompanying development of the laws of war.”  Kailash Jeenger, International Review of the Red Cross (2016), 98 (2), 693–697

 

“[Michael Bryant] offers a comprehensive historical account of the efforts to limit violence in war. He shows that constraints on war emerged in ancient and medieval times through codes and religious ceremonialism and were further developed with the emergence of legal and moral principles in subsequent centuries … This well-organized, clearly written text provides an excellent introduction to the rise and development of the law of war. Summing Up: Recommended. All levels/libraries.” –  CHOICE

 

A World History of War Crimes (2nd ed.):

 

“In this much-anticipated second edition, Michael Bryant has returned to deepen our understanding of the historical roots of the law of war. Not content to simply stop at the boundary of historical analysis, a new chapter offers deep sociological and psychological insights into understanding and explaining those who perpetrate war crimes. As our contemporary world continues to invest in war more than peace, Bryant's work will be essential reading for those seeking to ensure that there be no impunity for perpetrators of war crimes.”

— James Waller, Cohen Professor of Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Keene State College, USA.

 

“Michael Bryant’s masterful yet highly accessible genealogy of the concept of war crimes deserves a place of honor on the bookshelf of anyone with a serious interest in our penchant for mass violence, and our all-too-often feeble efforts to place limits on it.  A superb read!”

— David Livingstone Smith, Professor Philosophy, University of New England, USA

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Eyewitness to Genocide:

 

From the award letter:

“While there were several outstanding entries this year, Eyewitness to Genocide was determined to be particularly substantial and it was the unanimous selection of the review committee. The selection process was peer-review based and made by a committee of members of AIDP, past award winners, and specialists in this field.”

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“Bryant deserves praise for drawing attention to these [Operation Reinhard] trials. The last several years have witnessed a wave of publications on the famous Frankfurt Auschwitz trial (1963–1965), while the important Operation Reinhard proceedings have remained largely overlooked, particularly within the English-speaking world. Bryant’s book now admirably fills that gap. . . . Bryant . . .  attends with nuance and sophistication [to the internal logic and institutional constraints that make a legal system function].”

—Lawrence Douglas, author of The Right Wrong Man: John Demjanjuk and the Last Great Nazi War Crimes Trial (review published in Holocaust and Genocide Studies, Winter 2015)

 

“This is a superb book that promises to make a major intervention in a crowded field. Bryant promises to bring together two rather distinct strands of analysis in the literature the political and the legal. To a greater extent than any volume I’m aware of, Bryant brings these two strands together in a coherent and cogent way.” —Devin Pendas, author of The Frankfurt Auschwitz Trial, 1963–1965: Genocide, History, and the Limits of the Law (external reviewer)

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Recipient of the Book of the Year Award for 2014, U.S. National Section of L'Association Internationale de Droit Penal (AIDP)

Confronting the Good Death:

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From the review published in German Studies Review, October 2007:

“Numerous aspects make Confronting the ‘Good Death’ an especially recommendable book: first and foremost, Bryant is willing to investigate in more concrete terms what, in studies concerning postwar Germany and postwar Germans, so often has vanished in the one-size-fits-all trope of a failed German reckoning after the war, that is, the familiar story of German evasion, silence, and moral blindness that leaves Germany’s past ‘unmastered.’” 

 

From the review published in the Journal of Holocaust and Genocide Studies 21(2): “. . . this is a masterful work that enriches tremendously the growing body of literature on postwar trials of Nazi perpetrators.  Bryant’s expert juggling of legal, political, and historical complexities provides the reader with an excellent introduction to the euthanasia program, the Final Solution, early postwar American and West German law, and the ultimate victory of national interests over justice.”

 

From the review published in The Historian 69(4): “Bryant’s study is clearly organized, cogently argued, and crisply phrased. . . . At the end of this fine book, the reader is amazed and appalled by the acquittals of men and women who obviously killed their charges.”

 

From the review published in Human Rights Review On-line: “. . . this volume is a milestone in the defense of human rights, a reminder of the indignities suffered by the victims . . . . Bryant’s book holds a prominent place alongside such work as the documents of Ernst Klee.  In addressing the topic of Germans as victims, it aligns itself with recent debates in Germany and abroad triggered by the literature of authors like the Nobel Laureate Günter Grass or W. G. Sebald . . . as well as historians like Jörg Friedrich . . . .”

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Recipient of the 2004 Eugene M. Kayden University Press of Colorado Book Award

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Considered by book authority one of the 33 best books ever written on the topic of euthanasia (#7 on the list)