"Pre-eminent among [this year's books] was Erna Paris's Long Shadows: Truth, Lies and History, an exploration of how our world deals, or fails to deal, with the aftermath of great violence, horror and acts of inhumanity. This is a work of philosophical depth and moral courage. It is distinguished by vivid and precise prose, equally successful in sketching subtleties of personality and in exploring complex moral issues."

— Jury Citation for the Pearson Writers' Trust Non-Fiction Prize, Toronto, March 5, 2000

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"Long Shadows: Truth, Lies and History is a work of creative non-fiction that extends the genre into mythology and magic, allowing Erna Paris to make an essential statement about humanity. Beautifully written, superbly researched and constantly thought-provoking, it demonstrates in chilling detail how various countries, as different as Germany and Japan, the United States and France, South Africa and Yugoslavia, have shaped their historical memory to obscure and distort shameful facts from their past... She has written a magisterial, yet highly readable, book of true and lasting importance."

— Jury Citation for the Shaughnessy Cohen Prize for Political Writing, Ottawa, May 2, 2001

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Excerpts from reviews of Long Shadows

"Long Shadows is a tenacious and intelligent investigation of the ways nations lie to themselves and how these lies scar national identities. It is also a study of the ways courageous individuals fight to recover the truth these lies conceal. Anyone who thinks about the complex relationship between lies, truth and historical justice must engage with Erna Paris's work."

— Michael Ignatieff

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"Erna Paris's Long Shadows: Truth, Lies, and History is an indispensable book..."

— Eric Hobsbawm, The New Statesman (London)

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"Erna Paris's extraordinary journey of a book is a passionate, eloquent and timely voice of opposition to those who would fashion history as an instrument of power, not of memory and struggle."

— John Pilger

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"Long Shadows is magnificent. I would love to see this book taught in every history class in America."

— Iris Chang, author of The Rape of Nanking

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"The reader is forever changed by reading Long Shadows. Working one's way through this book is akin to listening to complete symphonies of Gustav Mahler in a single sitting — an overwhelming experience, one that raises the profound philosophical questions of our time. Paris's analysis and storytelling talents never let the reader go. Deeply moving."

— Quill and Quire

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"A superb work of history and thought. A brilliantly conceived quest... Long Shadows is simply first-rate writing... an intellectual triumph."

— Stan Persky, Vancouver Sun

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"[Paris's] riveting storytelling and journalistic acuity bring to mind the humanity of Hannah Arendt and the immediacy of Joan Didion... She proves to be a master at unravelling propaganda."

— Carolyn Harvey, Vancouver Sun

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"Paris is a gifted interviewer — a probing, fearless interlocutor…" The Washington Post

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"A powerful moral message to a world desperately in search of its own soul."

— The Observer, Charlotte, North Carolina

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"A powerful, searing book... unforgettable"

— The Library Journal

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"Erna Paris's account of the aftermath of extreme racial discrimination in the United States and South Africa…is among the most vivid and evocative in a text rich in literary narrative of the highest order... this is a book everyone should read."

— Richard Overy, The Literary Review (London)

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"...consistently thought-provoking"

— The Daily Mail (London)

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"If [Tony Blair's call] for 'education, education, education' means anything more than acquiring businesslike 'computer skills,' Long Shadows should be read in every classroom..."

— Frederic Raphael, The Sunday Times (London)

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"Erna Paris has written a remarkable historical travelogue in Long Shadows... The sites are visited with a sensitivity and literary power."

— The Sunday Telegraph (London)

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"To understand such matters is a monumental task; to explain them is even more daunting... Paris is a masterful writer and consummate storyteller."

— The Christian Science Monitor

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"Enlightening... Riveting... Paris raises questions of enormous importance."

— Kirkus Reviews

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"Long Shadows is well worth the trip for readers seeking insights into the difficult to comprehend world of national atrocities."

— Journal of the Law Society (New South Wales, Australia)