Book Description
Boldly confronting the neoconservative Project for the New American Century, world-renowned physicist and activist Vandana Shiva responds with Earth Democracy, or, as she prophetically names it, "The People's Project for a New Planetary Millennium." A leading voice in the struggle for global justice and sustainability, here Shiva describes what earth democracy could look like, outlining the bedrock principles for building living economies, living cultures and living democracies.
Starting from the initial enclosure of the commons-the privatization of six million acres of public land in eighteenth-century Britain-Shiva goes on to reveal how the commons continue to shrink as more and more natural resources are patented and fenced. Accompanying this displacement from formerly accessible territory, she argues, is a growing attitude of disposability that erodes our natural resources, ecological sustainability and cultural diversity. Worse, human beings are by no means safe from this assignment of disposability. Through the forces of neoliberal globalization, economic and social exclusion work in deadly synergy to perpetrate violence on vulnerable groups, extinguishing the lives of millions.
Yet these brutal extinctions are not the only trend shaping human history. Forthright and energetic, Vandana Shiva updates readers on the movements, issues and struggles she helped bring to international attention-the genetic engineering of food, the theft of culture and the privatization of natural resources-and deftly analyzes the successes and new challenges the global resistance now faces. From struggles on the streets of Seattle and Cancun and in homes and farms across the world has grown a set of principles based on inclusion, nonviolence, reclaiming the commons and freely sharing the earth's resources. These ideals, which Shiva calls "earth democracy," will serve as unifying points in our current movements, an urgent call to peace and the basis for a just and sustainable future.
Customer Reviews:
Academically dishonest book that would actively hurt the left if made mainstream.......2007-06-28
This book is full of flawed logic, false data, endnotes (not footnotes) that reference her own work and the work of like-minded contemporaries, but rarely an opponent (unless to use their quote out of context) or even an expert on topics like history (apparently, Jeremy Rifkin is more of an expert than Robert Darnton).
She advocates a return to medieval, European feudalism. Apparently, life was wonderful for the peasants (For a rebuke, read Darnton). Also, medieval Europe was a time of peace, equality. Also, war and religious intolerance didn't exist before capitalism emerged in the 16th century. Why on earth wouldn't we go back?
Incredibly, she talks about issues of biodiversity and ecology and refers to herself as a scientist. She is a scientist, but not, as you might be led to believe by this book, a biologist. She is a theoretical physicist, whose doctoral thesis was on quantum physics
Also,
There are plenty of anti-capitalist, anti-corporate, anti-globalization arguments to be made and it distresses me that so much of the left gives the rest of us a bad name by relying so much on academically dishonest books like this. This is the left wing equivalent to Ann Coulter (in terms of dishonesty, not personal attacks).
perhaps the world's finest eco-warrior.......2006-12-05
Shiva is a kind of Mama Kali, defending her village farmers and their environments with cool resolve or fact-spitting outrage. Coming off a series of victories over corporate bio-pirates, she shares the state of struggle for the local nature-workers of India to manage their future. Here are a few of her lines:
"What has been called the tragedy of the commons is, in fact, the tragedy of privatization." (p. 55)
"The enclosure of biodiversity and knowledge is the latest step in a series of enclosures that began with the rise of colonialism. Land and forests were the first resources to be enclosed and converted from commons to commodities. Later, water resources were enclosed through dams, groundwater mining, and privatization schemes. Now it is the turn of biodiversity and knowledge to be "enclosed" through intellectual property rights (IPRs)." (p. 39)
[In the Navdanya movement] "More than 200,000 farmers are working to enrich the earth, create properity for rural producers, and provide quality food to consumers. ... [Their work] reintroduces biodiverse farming to both replace chemicals as fertilizers and pesticides and to increase the productivity and nutritional value of crops. ... Navdanya farmers are able to reduce their expenses by the 90 percent that was used to buy chemicals and create corporate profits. ... The incomes of Navdanya farmers are three times higher than the incomes of chemical farmers..." (pp. 67-68)
"Ecological security is our most basic security; ecological identities are our most fundamental identity. We ARE the food we eat, the water we drink, the air we breathe. And reclaiming democratic control over our food and water and our ecological survival is the necessary project for our freedom." (p. 5)
Organic food is a human right!.......2006-10-19
In "Earth Democracy", Indian ecofeminist Vandana Shiva powerfully defends the rights of Third World farmers against agribusiness monopolies, biotechnology and international financial institutions like the WTO, World Bank and IMF. In a brilliant deconstruction of capitalist patriarchy, Shiva explains how market fundamentalism breeds religious fundamentalism and explores the many ways that corporate globalization negatively impacts the lives of low-income women around the world. Importantly, Shiva explains how the colonization of DNA by multinational corporations is an extension of the colonization of Asia, Africa and the Americas by an imperialist male white elite. Outlining how the preservation of seed, water and sustainable food systems are a prerequisite for peace and real security, "Earth Democracy" is a timely and informative read for global justice activists interested in alleviating world hunger, healing the environment and creating peace.
A more peaceful and secure future.......2006-03-05
"Earth Democracy" by Vandana Shiva offers both a masterful critique of globalization and a hopeful vision for a better world. Ms. Shiva compares and contrasts top-down systems of authoritarianism and exclusion with bottom-up systems of egalitarianism and mutual cooperation to discuss how corporate power is proving to be a grave threat to democracy and the long-term viability of the planet. Ms. Shiva contends that a mutually-supportive network of empowered local communities might be able to create a global society that is based on humanitarian principles of peace, compassion and solidarity.
Ms. Shiva has long been highly regarded as an activist and scholar. She has authored many books and is a frequent media commentator. "Earth Democracy" serves to further Ms. Shiva's stature as a leading intellectual who continues to eloquently voice the concerns of the poor. Her unique ability to blend science, history, politics, economics, gender issues and other fields of study into her text is impressive. The result is a book that rewards its readers with many pages of thought-provoking insight and analysis.
Ms. Shiva points out that two thirds of humanity owes its livelihood to a sustenance economy that finds itself under increasing pressure from capital. She finds similarities in the earlier eras of enclosure and colonialism with today's struggle over intellectual property rights and patents, where the powerful use the law to privatize resources for profit. Arguing that overconsumption by the wealthy is the root cause of environmental destruction and human injustice, Ms. Shiva makes a compelling case for granting local communities more control over resources so that alternative, sustainable economies can be nurtured.
Ms. Shiva brilliantly connects the insecurity wrought by globalization with the "ideologies of exclusion" and "cultural nationalism" that fuels war and terrorism. As state power largely serves to protect corporate interests, the economically uprooted and excluded masses seek identity through nationalist conflict and sometimes prove vulnerable to manipulation by religious extremists. On the other hand, Ms. Shiva cites the Indian farmer's struggles over seed and water rights as examples of how people might come together in a positive way to reclaim a more peaceful and secure future.
Ms. Shiva reminds us that Mahatma Gandhi proved how small acts of resistance can hasten the end of empire. She believes that a multiplicity of movements such as Terra Madre that are struggling for food security, the environment, democracy and human rights will help us break free from the self-destructive path that has been prescribed for us by the corporate elite.
I highly recommend this important and inspiring book to everyone.
An excellent primer.......2006-02-24
A well-written discussion of some of the most important issues facing humanity in the 21st Century. The book does, however, jump from topic-to-topic with relatively little deep discussion. Still, "Earth Democracy" is a refreshing change from what passes for "scholarship" in much of the Left-press. On the other hand, being a shorter work does make it more accessible to the neophyte environmentalist who may be unfamiliar with the issues concerned. An excellent primer on the new corporate-ecology facing us all today.
Book Description
The 37th edition of the SIPRI Yearbook analyses developments in 2005 in o Security and conflicts o Military spending and armaments o Non-proliferation, arms control and disarmament The SIPRI Yearbook contains extensive annexes on the implementation of arms control and disarmament agreements and a chronology of events during the year in the area of security and arms control. The annual accounts and analyses are extensively footnoted, providing a comprehensive bibliography in each subject area.
Average customer rating:
- Graphic SF Reader
- Super, man!
- ahh, supes
- Excelent buy!
- Not for those looking for one of Superman's usual adventures
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Superman: Peace on Earth
Paul Dini
Manufacturer: DC Comics
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ASIN: 1563894645 |
Customer Reviews:
Graphic SF Reader.......2007-09-03
Superman : Peace on Earth is a bigarse sized character spotlight by Alex Ross, basically. Also, it is Superman looking at the everyday basic problems that people on the planet face, as opposed to chasing Lex Luthor around. What to do about people that are hungry, and that sort of thing. So, lots of people will find this tame.
Super, man!.......2007-06-08
I love this book. The art is what drew me to it and a double plus is that it is Superman, the world's greatest hero. EVER!
ahh, supes.......2007-03-26
The bigger the better for ross's beautufl paintings, so this supersized book is a joy. Collect them all!
Excelent buy!.......2007-01-06
Even though Superman totally sucks, for all bad things he stands for, this book is an awesome work of art. Just the paintings by Alex Ross would be enough reason to buy it. The story is well written, showing that a great writer like Paul Dini can produce some great stuff even when the ingredients aren't that good.
Not for those looking for one of Superman's usual adventures.......2006-04-15
My dad bought this book for me for my birthday without looking inside first. When he eventually looked through it, he was disappointed; I wasn't. This book is not about fighting the usual comic book villains, this is more about facing the real-life situation of world hunger. I don't want to spoil it for you, but Superman learns that even with all his super powers, he can't do everything.
There were parts of this book that almost made me cry. I highly recomend this book to anyone who likes Superman but wouldn't mind seeing a little less of the Lex Luthor stuff.
Although I didn't give this book 5 stars, I still think it's a great book. The illustrations, while not my favorite, are nicely done.
...now if I could just find my copy. Must have lost it somewhere in one of my many moves...
Book Description
This book is about one woman's vision and commitment to learning to live sustainably and in harmony with life on Earth. Since 1976 Anna Edey has made one astonishing discovery after another, developing methods of sustainable living under the name Solviva Solar-Dynamic, Bio-Benign Design. The results of her experiments and methods have again and again exceeded highest hopes and expectations. Solviva describes the exciting trials and triumphs of her journey and offers convincing proof that we can, with today's technology and knowledge, live in ways that reduce pollution and depletion of resources by 80 percent or more, and at the same time reduce the cost of living and improve the quality of life in urban and rural locations. Solviva contains 155 color illustrations and detailed instructions and recommendations to help others along their own journeys toward living sustainably.
Customer Reviews:
Viva Solviva.......2006-06-23
Solviva is a fresh and brillant exploration of the complexities involved in constructing a solar home. Anna Edey is beautifully human as she describes her real life adversity in bringing such a complex project into fruition.
Edey is an honest and telling author. She articulates her emotion involved in creating the energy necessary to endeavor so seemingly innocent and simplistic a notion as a house that you sustain and that sustains you as you sustain the Earth.
She vividly describes having to consider the marketing and distribution not to mention profit margins of raising organic restaurant quality garden vegetables and greens within the confines of her modest solar home.
With candor she conveys how interesting ones life becomes while taking on rabbits, chickens, and goats as a part of ones daily life, and indeed, in fact, as co habitants in as much as they too survived within the small solar house and that their presence yielded a profit.
Edey humbly describes discovering each vegetable and green with such surprise and satisfaction and that her vegetables were in fact prize winning and well sought after.
Because of the biproducts of such an efficently contained microecosystem Edey is able to support herself and her lifestyle comfortably within a selfsustaining home. Not without the residual income of the modern associate but with the profit yielded from her ingenius business and gardening method.
Ultimately the complexity of the solar structure itself combined with Edey's originality and genius in housing and growing botanicals within the solar home, in addition to the interactivity of the animals at the house, combine to make a kind of EARTHSHIP that does inevitably produce a profit.
Lots of practical ideas, even if you have only a small yard.......2006-05-19
This book reads much like a diary, rather than a how-to book. However, if you are mechanically inclined (or have access to someone who is), you can fairly easily glean the instructions for building most of her projects from her book. The sections on her wastewater disposal system are great. The author's website is also very informative, detailing her experience with a Solviva biocarbon wastewater system installed at the Black Dog Tavern in Vinyard Haven, MA.
Reason for only 4 stars: I feel she overestimates how much you can make from her operation. You might be able to do it if you have a family partnership going, as opposed to hiring employees. The right crops are also important (when she started, there were no bagged gourmet lettuce salads in the stores as there are now), as is your location--she's in Massachusetts, where there are plenty of people wealthy enough and willing enough to pay for chi-chi food. California is another place where this kind of niche farming works.
Bottom line: She definitely makes a case that a family could easily supplement their food supply and reduce their energy consumption, as well as creatively recycling waste products. The book is worth buying for that alone.
How to grow $5,000 on one acre.......2006-01-22
I am unable to figure out why Anna Edey came up with the title that she did for this book, but it certainly is a "hook". She may even be a bit eccentric or even quirky, with a second subtitle of "Revealing the Truth About How We Can Provide Electricity, Heating, Cooling, Transportation, Food, Solid Waste and Wastewater Management in Ways that Reduce Pollution and Depletion of Resources by 80 percent or more, and that At The Same Time Reduce Cost of Living and Improve Quality of Life". Whew!
The fact is that this individual has successfully developed her farm at Martha's Vineyard since 1977 into a working solar dynamic, bio-benign environmental system as a result of her experiments and research with greener cultural practices. Her book relates her success story. It begins with an ample section of color illustrations of her farm, outbuildings, and waste management system. She provides details of constructing them and their maintenance. She shares the secrets of her year-round kitchen garden that supplies salad greens and tomatoes. And she shares her experiences with greenhouse gardening where she harvested 1600 servings a day of her organic salad mix without an artificial heat source (did she sell this at $30 a bag?).
In addition to sharing her farming and gardening experiences, she wants to save our planet and bring peace on earth. In Edey's "Call to Action", she envision her solar dynamic, bio-benign environmental system as being transferable to schools, businesses, and even the White House. Her robust optimism gives the reader a good feeling knowing that there are people voicing environmental convictions that actually practice what they preach! I am glad I had the opportunity to acquaint myself with this author's visions for peace on this planet.
Don't waste your money.......2005-09-09
This book doesn't tell you anything about making money from growing food. The author's only statement about the $500,000 amount is found on page 219 in the "Addendum for 2nd Printing" which states "Based on my experience, I still believe that it is possible to generate a gross income of $500,000 on one acre, IF it is done with great efficiency, steadily rollling full production, consistently hightest quality and totally reliable delivery."
Tarnished Hopes.......2005-06-07
I purchased this book a year ago and found many of its ideas quite provocative. Also I am in the planning stages of developing a farmstead home for which I want an attached solar greenhouse. My home plans encompass crushed volcanic rock, earthbaggs, roundwood, a northside earth bearm and a southside solar green house.
Within the last 10 days I sent Anna Edey two emails with links to my home plan and have made one phone call to her answering machine. Thus far our heroine of a greener world has ignored me. I expressed an intention to purchase a $250 set of her drawings and also a $50 drawing on her suspended grow tubes. I had hoped to find a way to adopt the solviva concept to my home plan. It seems that green angel Anna has no regard whatsoever toward guiding me, thus my Solviva dream is rapidly evaporating.
Book Description
"This will be a book to be proud of!"—Ruud Lubbers
· First book on the Earth Charter
· World famous authors
· Available in English and Spanish
· Large, full-color book
The Earth Charter is an inspiring declaration of shared ethical principles. It arises from diverse sources--the wisdom of indigenous peoples, international law, contemporary science, and philosophical and faith traditions. It is an integrated vision of caring for all life, of universal human rights, of economic justice, and of the creation of a culture of peace. The Earth Charter in Action is a collection of over seventy thematic and descriptive essays inspired by Earth Charter, and demonstrating the rich diversity of its uses. It points toward the many possibilities of future utilization, including its ability to bridge the Islamic and Christian worlds and to work across the divide between the northern and southern hemispheres.
Well-known contributors include Homero Aridjis, A. T. Ariyaratne, Leonardo Boff, Kamla Chowdhry, Jane Goodall, Yolanda Kakabadse, Ruud Lubbers, Federico Mayor, Steven C. Rockefeller, and Erna Witoelar. Contributors are practitioners, experts, and Earth Charter activists from around the world. There is a special emphasis on contributions from youth. Includes an afterword by Princess Basma Bint Talal and 75 full-color illustrations.
This book is published in cooperation with Earth Charter International, Costa Rica, and the NCDO, The Netherlands.
Customer Reviews:
The U.N. Global Agreement For Peace, Prosperity, and Sustainability.......2007-01-06
For many years now I have been wondering what an agreement on international cooperation that all nations could readily agree to would be comprised of. With the publication of The Earth Charter In Action, my musing is over. The Earth Charter is simple yet succinct; it is profound and compelling. The first paragraph from the PREAMBLE sets the tone:
"We stand at a critical moment in Earth's history, a time when humanity must choose its future. As the world becomes increasingly interdependent and fragile, the future at once holds great peril and great promise. To move forward we must recognize that in the midst of a magnificent diversity of cultures and life forms we are family and one Earth community with a common destiny. We must join together to bring forth a sustainable global society founded on respect for nature, universal human rights, economic justice, and a culture of peace. Towards this end, it is imperative that we, the people of Earth, declare our responsibly to one another, to the greater community of life, and to future generations."
The Earth Charter book has the entire Earth Charter document interspersed with commentaries from it's many contributors such as: Wangari Maathai, Mikhail Gorbachev, Jane Goodall, Peter Blaze Corcoran, et al. The Earth Charter website also has the entire Earth Charter in a viewable and downloadable format. There is a large and growing body of world-wide endorsers at the website and the list includes almost every country along with an impressive and varied list of NGOs, schools, business, religious groups, and individuals.
The Earth Charter will hopefully be the document that brings every person on Earth together for a peaceful, democratic, and sustainable future with a knowledge of our interconnectedness and interdependence not only amongst ourselves, but with all other life forms on Earth. My heartfelt thanks to the many contributors world-wide for this beautiful document!
Average customer rating:
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Tom Stoppard: Plays 3: A Separate Peace, Teeth, Another Moon Called Earth, Neutral Ground, Professional Foul, Squaring the Circle (Faber Contemporary Classics)
Tom Stoppard
Manufacturer: Faber & Faber
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Binding: Paperback
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Tom Stoppard Plays One: The Real Inspector Hound and Other Entertainments (Faber Contemporary Classics)
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The Real Inspector Hound and Other Plays
ASIN: 0571194281 |
Book Description
Plays Three:
A Separate Peace
Teeth
Another Moon Called Earth
Neutral Ground
Professional Foul
Squaring the Circle
Introduced by the author, this third collection of plays written by Tom Stoppard contains his television plays, written between 1965 and 1984. They show that Stoppard's writing for the small screen is comparable to his more celebrated stage work, as the masterly and timely Professional Foul demonstrates. In his introduction the author briefly describes how the pieces came to be written and the circumstances of their original production.
Customer Reviews:
Stoppard Collection.......2000-10-11
Stoppard is a wonderful playwright, but these are not some of his best plays. The collection is good, but I recommend buying some of his better plays even though they're not in an easy format like this, simply because it's better worth your money. If you already own those, however, this book will make a fine addition to your collection.
Book Description
In the early 1990s, three young people attracted to the ambitious global peacekeeping work of the UN cross paths in Cambodia. Andrew, a child of missionaries and a New Zealand-trained doctor, strives for a better world through medicine. Heidi, a New York social worker, is in need of a new challenge and a better paycheck. Ken, fresh from Harvard Law and full of idealism, is searching for a meaningful career. As the Cold War ends and the new world order dawns, as the peacekeeping community in Phnom Pehn throws wild parties-the three become friends for life. In this powerful, devastatingly honest memoir, Andrew, Heidi, and Ken mingle their distinct voices and experiences to paint a searing portrait of life amidst war and genocide. Andrew's journey takes him to Haiti, and then to Rwanda and Bosnia. Heidi and Ken are posted together in Somalia, during the infamous Black Hawk Down incident. Each of them risks death and, one way or another, survives. As their stories interweave, the trio reveals a dangerous world of witnessed atrocities, mass graves, desperate loneliness , and primal desires. By day they work in brutal war zones; by night they stave off fear and futility with revelry, in sex, in any human connection in a frightening world. Emergency Sex and Other Desperate Measures is a startling celebration of the strength of the human spirit-and the gritty power of friendship to keep you alive.
Customer Reviews:
Could have been so much better.......2007-07-22
Saving lives while putting yours under risk sounds like the perfect material for a compelling memoir and the juicy title of this one sounds like it would deliver in spades. However I was ultimately disappointed by "Emergency Sex".
The book is written by three aid workers: Ken, a recent Harvard graduate; Heidi, a social worker from New York; and Richard, an idealistic doctor from New Zealand. The three meet initially when they are all working in Cambodia and their stories intersect as they work together and separately on assignment in various `90s trouble spots: Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia. The book is written by each of them in turn and the pace is quick and lively. Parts are exciting (the description of being in Somalia when the Black Hawk helicopter was downed) or very moving (the description of the terrible atrocities in Rwanda and Liberia).
So it's an interesting read but somehow it failed to grab me. The book does convey what its like to be an aid worker: alternating fear, adrenalin, exhaustion, hopelessness, cynicism and only very occasionally the sense that you've made a small difference to the world. It certainly gives the flavor of how terrible things were in these places and how the UN could have done things better. However the three personalities never rang true for me. I didn't feel that I got to know these people. As another reviewer has commented, they all sounded curiously alike and I got the sense that Ken perhaps penned all three stories. Heidi's story was too much Ken's fantasy of the girl with the limpid eyes and the active sexual appetite. Richards's story was also Ken's fantasy of the heroic and noble doctor who windsurfed in his spare time. I'm not saying that these aren't real people, just that they never leapt off the page and became real to me.
Perhaps because of this, or perhaps because the nature of aid work is such that it's one long grind, the book dragged along for me. While I didn't mind it, I never felt the urge to pick it up and read more. I felt several times that I could have skipped 100 pages here or there and it wouldn't have made much difference. Really, you could flip open the book in a bookstore, read a few pages here and there, and get the flavor of the entire piece. It's not a bad book by any stretch, but it could have been better with judicious editing.
LOVED this book.......2007-07-13
I really enjoyed this book. I was hard-pressed to put it down. I am an avid reader and politics/history person yet at times I still found my self appauled that some of the things discussed in the book never made it to light in the media. We all know how the media is - they report locally not globally. It was so refreshing to hear the personal accounts of 3 individuals about what their lives were really like living in these war-torn areas. Average citizens should be so lucky to be informed of these unfortunate events. It's a huge wake up call....
5-star stories. 3-star writers........2007-04-09
I picked up this book and read it, almost compulsively, during a trip to Cambodia earlier this year. Structured as interspersed diary entries of three people who become involved in one way or another in the big moments of UN interventions from 93 on -- democracy to Cambodia, Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia...
Although lacking the narrative skills of more accomplished writers or the insightful introspection of truly self-aware diarists, you cannot help but develop an understanding (no matter how objectionable) to the different characters, their motivations and the different ways they choose to react to and cope with the overwhelming reality of the horrors that surround them.
Andrew is a doctor driven by a genuinely humanitarian streak; all the more poignant for his painful shyness which seems to make him unable to relate to others as strongly as he relates to humanity as a race. Ken's motivation seems to be a desire to live up to quixotic ideals which he wants others to acknowledge -- feels can best be served through his involvement in the humanitarian work. Heidi appears a shallow narcissist who deals with her own insecurities with a dominating personality and a self-destructive hedonism and abandonment that seems to be only heightened by an impending feeling of doom.
Overall, the stories are riveting. Deeply personal moments sprinkle what little gems of unexpectedly prescient insights -- the mistakes of the "international community" and NGOs in handling the crises, the lack of many shades of gray and the impersonal amorality and frailties of many of the people who we would hold to a higher standard.
But perhaps what I found most powerful was the creeping realization -- almost imperceptible -- of the futility of the whole thing. Spirits are high at the start of the book, the sense of purpose almost messianic. But as the stakes climb and the disappointments become harder to justify, the very real limitations of human interventions and the personal toll they take on those who are asked to be involved become apparent. There is a numb feeling of nothingness as the book draws out and the reader is left with a numb emptiness as he realises how little there is left to hope for.
The ending of the book is an awkward attempt at closure (with some interesting words by Ken) but overall suffers from the limited skills of the authors. However, purely for the benefit of the experiences they lived and the lessons they learnt, the book is worth a read.
Oh, and as most others point out, Heidi's sexual exploits (from where the book gets its title) are as sordid and pitiable as they are unnecessary.
Intense Reality Check of History in Our Lifetime.......2006-12-29
This book was absolutely amazing. Written as a memoir from three different perspectives (twenty-somethings working for the UN with widely various backgrounds), the use of point of view is incredible and adds significant insight into the characters and the different aspects of world conflict through the nineties.
I would recommend this book to anyone who is interested in world events or anyone who hates history because it's boring. The detail of character and plot development provide such an interesting foreground for the tumultuous, wartime background that you almost don't even realizing you're learning about real historical events.
Please read this book. It will open your eyes and entertain your socks off.
A gripping, candid story of wartime events which refutes popular myth........2006-12-13
Here's a winner: a book which reads with all the high drama and action of fiction, but which is a nonfiction first-person story of three U.N. Peacekeepers who exposed atrocities during a decade of peacekeeping missions. This book received much acclaim in hardcover: its paperback rendition includes a new afterword by the authors and provides readers with a gripping, candid story of wartime events which refutes popular myth.
Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch
Book Description
Military Geography involves the application of geographic information, tools and technologies to military problems — across the spectrum of military operations from peacetime to wartime. History is replete with examples of the influence of terrain, weather, climate and culture on combat operations during war. Military problems, however, are immutably linked to geography regardless of the context in which they occur. This book retains the wartime focus of “traditional” military geography, yet broadens the scope of the subfield to incorporate a wide range of Stability and Support Operations (SASO), as well as peacetime endeavors. Notwithstanding its purpose, the conduct of any military enterprise is conditioned by the character of the area of operations--the military operating environment. This book focuses on the synergy between geography and military operations wherever they occur.
Customer Reviews:
Nice, new perspective.......2000-06-12
While this book did allow me a glimse into a far away world (Mainly Africa)only some of the stories were truely worth reading. Most of them seemed to drag on and have no particular point. Even so, the environment and the dialogue were exceptional, and i truely learned about other cultures. There were only two stories in there i thought actually deserved four stars. One was "My First Lion Hunt." This story had plot, characters, humor, and a great ending. I would recommend just reading this story! I was a bit dissapointed in the lack of depth and plot in a few of the stories, and the terrible endings (they didn't seem very well thought out). However, for the most part this was an enjoyable and educational book. FOR FURTHER READING go the PEACE CORPS web site and read some of the stories there! Enjoy!
by CHARLES LARSON in THE WASHINGTON POST.......1996-06-19
Geraldine Kennedy's choices cannot be faulted. I don't know of any other volume that has captured the Peace Corps spirit as insightfully as "From the Center of the Earth."
from VILLAGE VIEW.......1996-06-19
The collection contains a surprising amount of humor for a book grounded in cultrual turmoil, global poverty, linguistic confusion, and a decent amount of tragedy. . .a crash course in cultural relativism while capturing the pecular sights, struggles, and smells of distant places
from THE ATLANTA JOURNAL, THE ATLANTA CONSTITUTION.......1996-06-19
The writers share the belief that people of different cultures can come together in mutual appreciation and respect for their differences, though the experiences they describe are at times wrenching. A superb collection, the book captures the Peace Corps spirit insightfully
from BOOKLIST, The American Library Association.......1996-06-19
"Pretty exotic" will be many a reader's conclusion, but so will "thoroughly human," i.e., funny, raffish, tragic, cruel, . . this is a powerful, engrossing collection
Books:
- Eat, Pray, Love: One Woman's Search for Everything Across Italy, India and Indonesia
- Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion -- Revised & Expanded (Xbox360, PC) (Prima Official Game Guide)
- Elle Decor: The Grand Book of French Style
- False Profits: Seeking Financial and Spiritual Deliverance in Multi-Level Marketing and Pyramid Schemes
- Freewheeling Homes (The House That Jack Built Series)
- Girlfriend Getaways, 2nd: You Go Girl! And I'll Go, Too
- Gnosticism: New Light on the Ancient Tradition of Inner Knowing
- Gurps Powers, Fourth Edition
- Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows (Book 7)
- Harry Potter Schoolbooks Box Set: From the Library of Hogwarts: Fantastic Beasts and Where To Find Them, Quidditch Through The Ages
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- History: Fiction or Science
- A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
- The Clairvoyant Countess
- The curious gardener
- The Penderwicks: A Summer Tale of Four Sisters, Two Rabbits, and a Very Interesting Boy
- Applications of Stochastic Programming
- VHDL Starter's Guide
- The Galapagos Islands: The Essential Handbook for Exploring, Enjoying and Understanding Darwin's Enc
- Sir John Templeton: From Wall Street to Humility Theology
- The First Week with My New Digital Organizer: A Very Basic Guide to Palm OS PDAs
Stolen Harvest: The Hijacking of the Global Food Supply
Water Wars: Privatization, Pollution, and Profit
Biopiracy: The Plunder of Nature and Knowledge
Staying Alive: Women, Ecology and Development
The Great Turning: From Empire to Earth Community (BK Currents)
