BOOK REVIEW: 38 Londres Street: On Impunity, Pinochet in England, and a Nazi in Patagonia
By Philippe Sands / Knopf
Reviewed by: Jean-Thomas Nicole
The Reviewer — Jean-Thomas Nicole is a Policy Advisor with Public Safety Canada. The opinions expressed are those of the author and do not reflect the official policies or positions of Public Safety Canada or the Canadian government.
REVIEW — Philippe Sands, renowned international lawyer and notable author of East West Street and The Ratline has built a distinguished literary and legal career by blending rigorous international law with deep personal and historical narratives.
In his new book, Sands returns with a chilling and meticulously researched exposé that links two notorious figures: Chilean dictator Augusto Pinochet and Nazi SS officer Walther Rauff.
His major works now form a thematic trilogy on justice, memory, and impunity, each exploring different dimensions of state violence and accountability.
In 38 Londres Street, Sands writes not merely as a chronicler of legal history, but as a moral cartographer, tracing the fault lines where law, memory, war and power collide.
The book’s title refers to a nondescript building in Santiago, Chile—once a torture site under Pinochet’s regime—that becomes a symbolic and literal locus for Sands’s inquiry into the machinery of state violence and the ghosts it leaves behind.
This is not conventional history. It is a layered and complex narrative that moves with the verbose precision and intricacies of a legal brief and the emotional resonance of a personal memoir.
Sands, whose previous works explored the origins of international law and the legacy of Nazism, now turns his gaze to Latin America, where the shadows of fascism found fertile ground in the aftermath of World War II.
The Cipher Brief brings expert-level context to national and global security stories. It’s never been more important to understand what’s happening in the world. Upgrade your access to exclusive content by becoming a subscriber.
At the heart of the book are two men: Augusto Pinochet, the Chilean dictator whose 1998 arrest in London sparked a global debate on universal jurisdiction; and Walther Rauff, a Nazi SS officer who found refuge in Chile and allegedly collaborated with Pinochet’s secret police. Sands draws a chilling line between them—not just through biography, but through the legal and moral frameworks that allowed both to evade justice.
Both men operated within systems that weaponized bureaucracy and secrecy. Rauff, architect of mobile gas vans, found refuge in Chile after WWII and allegedly collaborated with Pinochet’s intelligence services. Pinochet, in turn, institutionalized torture and repression—his regime’s legacy still reverberates through Chilean society and international legal discourse.
What makes 38 Londres Street so compelling is its refusal to simplify. Sands does not offer easy villains or tidy resolutions. Instead, he invites the reader into the murky terrain of international law, where political will often trumps legal principle, and where the pursuit of justice is as much about persistence as it is about precedent.
The narrative is enriched by Sands’s personal involvement in the Pinochet case. His decision to decline representing the dictator—despite the prestige it might have brought—adds a layer of ethical introspection that elevates the book beyond reportage. It becomes a meditation on the role of the lawyer not just as advocate, but as witness.
Sands’s prose is elegant, a bit circumvoluted at times, restrained, and often quietly devastating. He writes with the esoteric clarity of someone who has spent decades parsing legal texts, but also with the empathy of someone who understands that behind every statute lies a human story.
The book’s emotional core is found in its portraits of survivors, families of the disappeared, and the Chilean Jewish community—whose history is interwoven with both hope and horror.
Further, 38 Londres Street is a book about memory: how it is preserved, how it is erased, and how it can be reclaimed. It is a reminder that buildings, like laws, carry histories within their walls—and that justice, however delayed, begins with the act of remembering. This simple, but decisive human, act puts in motion a forensic inquiry into impunity, authoritarianism, and the global architecture of justice.
Philippe Sands therefore delivers in his new book a masterclass in legal and historical analysis, weaving together the threads of international law, intelligence history, and authoritarian statecraft. For policy professionals and intelligence practitioners, this is not merely a book—it is a strategic lens into how regimes conceal violence, how legal systems respond (or fail to), and how memory becomes a battleground for legitimacy.
Need a daily dose of reality on national and global security issues? Subscriber to The Cipher Brief’s Nightcap newsletter, delivering expert insights on today’s events – right to your inbox. Sign up for free today.
Moreover, for intelligence professionals again, 38 Londres Street offers more than historical reflection, it delivers strategic insight into the anatomy of impunity and the persistence of covert influence:
- Networks resilience across regimes: Walther Rauff’s postwar migration to Chile and his quiet assimilation into Pinochet’s security apparatus reveal how ideological and operational networks can survive geopolitical upheaval. These networks are not dismantled by defeat; they adapt, embed, and endure—often in plain sight.
- Law as a geopolitical instrument: The Pinochet extradition case marked a watershed moment in the evolution of international law. Sands illustrates how legal frameworks—once seen as reactive—can be deployed proactively to challenge sovereign immunity and recalibrate the balance between diplomacy and accountability.
- Historical intelligence as strategic asset: Through meticulous archival research and interviews, Sands demonstrates the enduring relevance of historical intelligence. Far from being a static record, it becomes a dynamic tool for understanding contemporary threats, mapping ideological continuities, and informing policy decisions in the present.
In addition, the book is also a warning. Impunity is not a historical artifact—it is a recurring feature of authoritarian systems. The mechanisms that shielded Rauff and Pinochet—legal ambiguity, diplomatic protection, and geopolitical inertia—remain active in today’s landscape, from war crimes tribunals to transnational repression. Sands’s narrative underscores a critical truth: the architecture of impunity is global, adaptive, and often cloaked in legitimacy.
Sands compels readers to confront uncomfortable truths: that justice delayed is often justice denied, and that the architecture of repression is rarely dismantled without deliberate, sustained effort. This is essential reading for anyone tasked with safeguarding democratic norms in an era where their erosion is increasingly covert, calculated, and global.
It is worth repeating to let it sink in our common consciousness. The mechanisms that protected Rauff and Pinochet—legal opacity, diplomatic complicity, and geopolitical inertia—are mirrored today in cases such as:
- Vladimir Putin, indicted by the International Criminal Court (ICC) for war crimes in Ukraine, remains untouched by enforcement mechanisms, protected by Russia’s global leverage and the limitations of international jurisdiction.
- Benjamin Netanyahu, Yoav Gallant and Senior Hamas Leaders, facing ICC arrest warrants for alleged war crimes in Gaza, exemplify the friction between legal accountability and entrenched geopolitical alliances. However, Israel is not a member of the ICC and does not recognize its jurisdiction, which complicates enforcement. The ICC does not have its own enforcement mechanism and relies on member states for cooperation. In Israel case, these are the first ICC warrants issued against leaders of a Western-backed democratic country, marking a significant precedent in international law. The decision has sparked intense diplomatic and political debate, with some governments supporting the ICC’s independence and others criticizing the move as politically motivated. That being said, most seniors Hamas have been reportedly killed in Israeli strikes in the aftermath of the October 7, 2023 attacks on Israel.
- Bashar al-Assad, whose regime committed mass atrocities in Syria. He continues to exist with impunity, shielded by Russian and Iranian backing and the paralysis of multilateral institutions.
- Narendra Modi, under scrutiny for human rights abuses in Kashmir and communal violence, benefits from India’s strategic importance and diplomatic insulation, which have so far deterred formal legal action.
- Xi Jinping, accused of crimes against humanity in Xinjiang, remains beyond the reach of international prosecution, protected by China’s economic clout and its veto power within the UN Security Council.
Ultimately, Sands’s timely narrative reminds us that impunity is not a historical anomaly—it is a system, global in scope and adaptive in form. For those engaged in the defense of democratic norms and the rule of law, 38 Londres Street is a sobering call to confront the legal and political mechanisms that continue to shield power from accountability.
The Cipher Brief participates in the Amazon Affiliate program and may make a small commission from purchases made via links.
Sign up for our free Undercover newsletter to make sure you stay on top of all of the new releases and expert reviews.
Read more expert-driven national security insights, perspective and analysis in The Cipher Brief because National Security is Everyone’s Business
