"Our Favorite Books of 2016: Part detective story, part historical reminiscence, it shows the reader how hard it is to prosecute such cases, and why so many human rights violators go unpunished."—The Progressive
"Fast paced, informative and dramatic. . . . Imagine a report from Amnesty International written by Graham Greene and John LeCarre in tandem and you will have a sense of Eisenbrandt’s exciting and well-written achievement."—Vancouver Sun
"An intriguing story filled with tragic 'if-only’s' and powerful examples of courage."—Library Journal
"A tale told well that provides valuable insights into the motives and modus operandi of the death squads in El Salvador, and of the financiers who commissioned and facilitated such crimes. It also highlights the difficulties that face those who pursue such cases many years after the crimes have taken place."—New York Review of Books
"Assassination begins like a crime thriller, complete with a criminal manhunt, before transitioning into a courtroom drama. Ultimately, however, the book’s lasting value is as a work of history."—America
"For persons familiar with El Salvador’s painful modern-day history, Matt Eisenbrandt’s Assassination of a Saint: The Plot to Murder Oscar Romero and the Quest to Bring His Killers to Justice connects dots, fills in holes and provides a frontline account of the battle to bring accountability to those who plotted and carried out Blessed Archbishop Oscar Romero’s murder. For those who know the martyr mostly by name and reputation, the 250 pages are a primer on the man and his ministry, as well as a remarkable synthesis of the passions, politics and players at work in El Salvador’s brutal last half century."
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National Catholic Reporter"It has taken Matt Eisenbrandt a decade to write this beautifully crafted volume, but it was well worth waiting for." —The Catholic Herald
"Eisenbrandt is the first to craft a detailed narrative of the plan to murder Romero and ensuing efforts to bring the perpetrators to justice."—TeleSur
“The assassination of Archbishop Óscar Arnulfo Romero was a tragic event for the people of El Salvador, but for those of us who covered that country during the horrific civil war, the murder gave rise to a very personal anger that such actions could go uninvestigated and unpunished.
Assassination of a Saint illuminates the ongoing struggle for justice. This is critical reading for those of us who lived through those turbulent and terrifying times, and for those born after the war who are now trying to come to grips with it.”—Craig Pyes, human-rights investigator and Pulitzer Prize–winning investigative reporter
“The effects of the assassination of Archbishop Romero are still echoing through Central America. It was a seminal event that revolutionized how the Christian Church—across Catholic and Protestant divides—viewed the prophetic mission to preach justice and liberation to the poor in a time of deep repression and injustice. Yet the murder has never been solved. Murdered witnesses, a web of lies and obfuscation by U.S. and Salvadoran officials, and the passage of time have blurred the possibility of finding the truth. Yet this book strives to reveal that hidden truth, a vital missing link in understanding not just the death of Romero, but the history of Central America and the role of the United States in shaping that history.”—Douglas Farah, coauthor of
Merchant of Death: Money, Guns, Planes, and the Man Who Makes War Possible “The assassination of Archbishop Romero was a pivotal event that had profound spiritual as well as political effects. When it happened, though, no one expected that it would set off years of tireless investigation and ultimately a spectacular court case in the United States. This sequence of events makes for a rich story that has cried out for a proper telling.”—Stephen Kinzer, author of
Overthrow: America’s Century of Regime Change from Hawaii to Iraq “In my opinion, the Saravia case bids fair to become a landmark in the history of human-rights law and, as such, its story needs to be told with all the care and credibility one close to the case could muster.”—Mark Danner, author of
The Massacre at El Mozote: A Parable of the Cold War