Hannah Arendt’s book stoked a lot of controversy when it came out. She was accused of distorting history, hating herself, betraying her Jewish identity and many other things. The reason(s) for this were connected with the challenging evidence presented at the trial of Adolf Eichmann, a prominent architect of the Holocaust, who claimed he did nothing wrong, and was simply following orders.

Hannah Arendt explores many of the ambiguities and difficulties of presenting the whole ghastly picture to a court of justice. She suggests, quite strongly in my opinion, that nobody comes out of it clean. This, combined with her deft analysis of the way bureaucrats deny their own agency and responsibility, and somehow introject the institutions they serve to justify their own ends, is fascinating.

I really enjoyed (if that’s the right word) reading this book, it raises so many questions, one of which is what would I have done in the same situation…