In December of 1981, soldiers of the Salvadoran Army's select, American-trained Atlacatl Battalion entered the village of El Mozote, where they murdered hundreds of men, women, and children, often by decapitation. Although reports of the massacre--and photographs of its victims--appeared in the United States, the Reagan administration dismissed them as propaganda. A record of these events was finally published in The New Yorker in 1993, in Mark Danner's harrowing and meticulous reconstruction. Danner has now expanded his report, adding new material, as well as a series of documents, including Alma Guillermoprieto's and Raymond Bonner's January, 1982 articles on the massacre in The Washington Post and The New York Times, respectively; cables to and from the U.S. embassy in San Salvador, the CIA, the State Department, and the Pentagon; Congressional testimony by then-Assistant Secretary of State Thomas O. Enders; reports by Argentine and American forensic experts; skeptical editorials from The Wall Street Journal; the full text of the 1993 Truth Commission's chapter on El Mozote; the full text of a State Department-appointed panel's report on the Department's handling of the massacre; and a list of the victims.
A former staff writer for the New Yorker, Mark Danner contributes frequently to the New York Review of Books and the New York Times Magazine. The recipient of a National Magazine Award and a MacArthur Fellowship, he teaches at Berkeley and Bard College. View titles by Mark Danner
"Once in a rare while a writer reexamines a debated episode of recent history with such thoroughness and integrity that the truth can no longer be in doubt. Mark Danner [has done] just that." —New York Times

"Mark Danner is one of our best, most ambitious narrative journalists. He writes only on what he knows deeply, cares about passionately. His harrowing, rebuking account of an atrocious episode of the civil war in El Salvador touches on many of the central issues raised by American policies and journalistic practice in the Cold War and after. This is an admirable, necessary book." —Susan Sontag

"Mark Danner's account of what happened at El Mozote is a gripping story on three levels -- that of the massacre, that of the official cover-up and that of the press. It is also a brilliant piece of writing." —Frances FitzGerald

About

In December of 1981, soldiers of the Salvadoran Army's select, American-trained Atlacatl Battalion entered the village of El Mozote, where they murdered hundreds of men, women, and children, often by decapitation. Although reports of the massacre--and photographs of its victims--appeared in the United States, the Reagan administration dismissed them as propaganda. A record of these events was finally published in The New Yorker in 1993, in Mark Danner's harrowing and meticulous reconstruction. Danner has now expanded his report, adding new material, as well as a series of documents, including Alma Guillermoprieto's and Raymond Bonner's January, 1982 articles on the massacre in The Washington Post and The New York Times, respectively; cables to and from the U.S. embassy in San Salvador, the CIA, the State Department, and the Pentagon; Congressional testimony by then-Assistant Secretary of State Thomas O. Enders; reports by Argentine and American forensic experts; skeptical editorials from The Wall Street Journal; the full text of the 1993 Truth Commission's chapter on El Mozote; the full text of a State Department-appointed panel's report on the Department's handling of the massacre; and a list of the victims.

Author

A former staff writer for the New Yorker, Mark Danner contributes frequently to the New York Review of Books and the New York Times Magazine. The recipient of a National Magazine Award and a MacArthur Fellowship, he teaches at Berkeley and Bard College. View titles by Mark Danner

Praise

"Once in a rare while a writer reexamines a debated episode of recent history with such thoroughness and integrity that the truth can no longer be in doubt. Mark Danner [has done] just that." —New York Times

"Mark Danner is one of our best, most ambitious narrative journalists. He writes only on what he knows deeply, cares about passionately. His harrowing, rebuking account of an atrocious episode of the civil war in El Salvador touches on many of the central issues raised by American policies and journalistic practice in the Cold War and after. This is an admirable, necessary book." —Susan Sontag

"Mark Danner's account of what happened at El Mozote is a gripping story on three levels -- that of the massacre, that of the official cover-up and that of the press. It is also a brilliant piece of writing." —Frances FitzGerald

Books for National Poetry Month

For National Poetry Month in April, we’re highlighting a selection of classic and contemporary poetry collections and novels-in-verse.   Poetry Month – Middle School Titles Poetry Month – High School Titles   Download free thematic educator guides:  Middle School Guide on Teaching Poetry High School Guide on Teaching Poetry

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