Book Description
Immaculee Ilibagiza grew up in a country she loved, surrounded by a family she cherished. But in 1994 her idyllic world was ripped apart as Rwanda descended into a bloody genocide. Immaculee’s family was brutally murdered during a killing spree that lasted three months and claimed the lives of nearly a million Rwandans.
Incredibly, Immaculee survived the slaughter. For 91 days, she and seven other women huddled silently together in the cramped bathroom of a local pastor while hundreds of machete-wielding killers hunted for them.
It was during those endless hours of unspeakable terror that Immaculee discovered the power of prayer, eventually shedding her fear of death and forging a profound and lasting relationship with God. She emerged from her bathroom hideout having discovered the meaning of truly unconditional love—a love so strong she was able seek out and forgive her family’s killers.
The triumphant story of this remarkable young woman’s journey through the darkness of genocide will inspire anyone whose life has been touched by fear, suffering, and loss.
This is Immaculee’s first book.
Customer Reviews:
Left to Tell.......2007-10-16
This is the most powerful, inspirational book I have read this decade. Her faith and love of God radiate from cover to cover. This book will make a believer out of everyone who reads it.
Powerful, gripping.......2007-10-16
I don't think there's any way I could possibly identify with what Immaculee Ilibagiza experienced in Rwanda. But her story has gone a long way towards helping me see the devastating effects of civil war in her country.
I am just beginning to learn what has happened in Rwanda, and stories like Immaculee's in turns horrify me, and give me hope. If someone who has experienced what she has can find room in her heart to forgive her aggressors and move on, then I can overcome some of the petty angers and trials I experience in my own life.
Left to Tell: Disvovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust.......2007-10-13
Left to Tell should be translated into every possible language, for adolescents in school read with discerning, sensitive teachers and discussed, required with discussion for all secondary and higher education students, and indispensible for everyone else.
The author's prompt response when asked the cause of genocide in an EWTN interview was simply: government leaders; her definition of her culture's respect for and obedience to parents, Rwandans devotion to Mary the Mother of Jesus because of her appearance to children in a Rwandan school forwarning the holocaust ten years previous to the genocide--her story represents the epitome of what can happen to every human being who chooses to be directed to Love in spite of overwhelming fear, anger, personal loss and torment.
A Life Giving Antidote to Self Pity and Unforgiveness.......2007-10-04
This book deeply touched my heart. I found it was too difficult to read before bed but I had a hard time putting it down as well. Immaculee's story is one of true character and forgiveness that is more than just words. It truly challenged me to let go of unforgiveness. Nothing that was ever done to me....and I thought I had been deeply hurt...can compare to what she has had to forgive. This story is a light that shines the way on the difficult path of letting go of hurts, a path to which we have all been called by God. Immaculee tells of how this is, however, a path where Jesus leads and sustains and that ultimately ends in a freedom we could never have imagined.
Left to Tell Left Me Wanting.......2007-10-04
Left to Tell: Discovering God Amidst the Rwandan Holocaust was written by Immaculee Ilibagiza, a survivor of the Rwandan genocide. The story stands as an amazing testimony to the power of prayer and the importance of faith in prayer, but I wonder, how does all the God talk strike a non-Christian? Does it resonate with truth, with an A-ha! that changes a life, or does it exist as a concept without relevance?
The fact that the book is on the New York Times bestseller list says something, but what is it? Does the message of surrendering to Christ get glossed over by the same voyeuristic appeal that drives American culture to support Ultimate Fighting?
As a Christian, the way God moved in Imaculee's life is breathtaking and clear. It's without question. It inspires a hearty "Yes God. Bless you! You are faithful!" It stirs the soul, paints the picture of God's purpose in this world and shows where God was during the slaughter.
But despite that, the book didn't grip my soul. I enjoyed reading it, but it didn't possess me to the point of being unable to put it down. Living in a bathroom with seven other women for three months should be more than a statement of fact; I should live the emotional struggle between fear and faith, between death and life, with Immaculee. Instead, I experienced a foregone conclusion.
It's easy to say forgive your neighbor, but when that neighbor murdered your mother, butchered your brother and looted your home the magnitude of the act is incomprehensible. And the telling of that tale should have stirred more in me.
Left to Tell gets bogged down in details, of walking us through a holocaust timeline as lived by the author, and it's a journey without feeling. But that may just be my problem.
Amazon.com
"Hutus kill Tutsis, then Tutsis kill Hutus--if that's really all there is to it, then no wonder we can't be bothered with it," Philip Gourevitch writes, imagining the response of somebody in a country far from the ethnic strife and mass killings of Rwanda. But the situation is not so simple, and in this complex and wrenching book, he explains why the Rwandan genocide should not be written off as just another tribal dispute.
The "stories" in this book's subtitle are both the author's, as he repeatedly visits this tiny country in an attempt to make sense of what has happened, and those of the people he interviews. These include a Tutsi doctor who has seen much of her family killed over decades of Tutsi oppression, a Schindleresque hotel manager who hid hundreds of refugees from certain death, and a Rwandan bishop who has been accused of supporting the slaughter of Tutsi schoolchildren, and can only answer these charges by saying, "What could I do?" Gourevitch, a staff writer for the New Yorker, describes Rwanda's history with remarkable clarity and documents the experience of tragedy with a sober grace. The reader will ask along with the author: Why does this happen? And why don't we bother to stop it? --Maria Dolan
Book Description
Winner of the National Book Critics Circle Award for Nonfiction.In April 1994, the Rwandan government called upon everyone in the Hutu majority to kill each member of the Tutsi minority, and over the next three months 800,000 Tutsis perished in the most unambiguous case of genocide since Hitler's war against the Jews. Philip Gourevitch's haunting work is an anatomy of the war in Rwanda, a vivid history of the tragedy's background, and an unforgettable account of its aftermath. One of the most acclaimed books of the year, this account will endure as a chilling document of our time.
Customer Reviews:
Compelling.......2007-09-22
My prep for going to Rwanda was reading this book. This is a snapshot of the state Rwanda was in during the 100 days and the aftermath. However, much has been done to repair the damage. This is a time of reconciliation and healing. Go to Rwanda and see for yourself. It will change your life.
Will really let you see into this tradgedy........2007-05-29
What a great book. Such insight and it really helps you understand what happened in Rwanda. Especially the history of all the long ago violence and things that have happened over the years. Great book and a must read for everyone.
This could happen everywhere or anywhere in the world. Can really open your eyes into how much we all could be killers or saviors at any one time.
Highly recommended.
The Heartbreak of Hate.......2007-04-10
Gourevitch's jarring telling of the atrocities of hate hit with an imact of severe sorrow. The overwhelming scale of the murders in Rwanda are incomprehensible. It is sad to realize that in this age people allow hate and propoganda to rule their lives.
Excellent Book.......2007-03-27
This book was very well written and informative about the genocide that occurred in Rwanda.
Heartbreaking stories from Rwanda.......2007-03-19
This is a superb book, a collection of interviews and incidents from the genocide in Rwanda. There are portraits of unimaginable betrayal, brutality and horror, but also of heroism--the owner of the Hotel Rwanda, for instance. The description of the conduct of the "refugee" camps is particularly useful as a warning on what is likely to happen in the next crisis, and should force us to re-examine our ways of providing relief for people in distress across the world.
Book Description
For the first time in the United States comes the tragic and profoundly important story of the legendary Canadian general who “watched as the devil took control of paradise on earth and fed on the blood of the people we were supposed to protect.” When Roméo Dallaire was called on to serve as force commander of the UN Assistance Mission for Rwanda, he believed that his assignment was to help two warring parties achieve the peace they both wanted. Instead, he was exposed to the most barbarous and chaotic display of civil war and genocide in the past decade, observing in just one hundred days the killings of more than eight hundred thousand Rwandans. With only a few troops, his own ingenuity and courage to direct his efforts, Dallaire rescued thousands, but his call for more support from the world body fell on deaf ears. In Shake Hands with the Devil, General Dallaire recreates the awful history the world community chose to ignore. He also chronicles his own progression from confident Cold Warrior to devastated UN commander, and finally to retired general struggling painfully, and publicly, to overcome posttraumatic stress disorder—the highest-ranking officer ever to share such experiences with readers.
Customer Reviews:
An important book that could have used a good editor........2007-07-16
I agree with some of the negative comments about this book. It's an important book, but a good editor should have pared away a fair amount of the "today I had a meeting with..." and other items from his daily journal. The book would have been stronger by eliminating all too many of his detailed daily journal items. He could have gotten the message across better without burying us in all the acronyms, as someone mentioned. If someone gave a speech to the general public, and used all of those acronyms, a fair number of listeners would tune out. Sorry, but it's true. Very glad that I read the book, though!
Excellent book, a MUST read for all.......2007-03-07
I had high expectations when I began reading this book due to the praise it had received. When you start with such high expectations, you normally end up being disappointed. That wasn't the case here, this book lived up to my expectations!
Dallaire's book is, I believe, the best account out there of the tragic events that unfolded in Rwanda in 1994. Due to his responsibilities, he was aware of most of what was happening in most places within Rwanda, and he was also aware of what was going on at the UN and at the security council. He's the one person who was in the best position to tell this story as it happened. He also did a fine job writing it, the book reads quite well.
The main lesson that seems to come out of this story is that all the people or organisations that could have made a difference were too self-interested to take risks for innocent people. The RPF (the Tutsi rebel army that eventually took over the country and ended the slaughter) took their time to advance since they tried to minimize their casualties, the Western countries in the security council didn't want to spend money or send soldiers, and the moderates in the Rwandan government watched silently in order to save their prestige or for their security. In the end, a handful of UN soldiers (none from the West besides Dallaire and a few Canadians) and brave and generous Rwandans were the only ones that tried to help, despite the odds that were against them.
This book does a great job at informing us and in drawing lessons from this horror. In essence, it's a great work.
if you expect stories, be prepated to be disappointed.......2007-02-21
This is a great book, a must read to balance the voice of the UN Sceptics out there. The UN Peacekeeping Missions are not all incompetent, the system is. Who is the system? It's the Security Council with their various Committees. When things go right, the Security Council gets the praises, when things go wrong, people like Roméo Dallaire gets the blames.
There are many things UN Sceptics out there do not know but love to criticize i.e. the UN does not have its own troops, the UN Peacekeeping Mission's Military and Civilian Personnel rarely has control of the strategic operations or budget of a mission; it is the UN Security Council who does. Another very important must know-point, before criticizing the quality of the troops in a UN Mission; please please first ask the question "Where are the troops from those `high quality' countries?" When you pay peanuts, you get monkeys. When there's no political will to stop bad things from happening, the Rwandan genocide is what you get.
Roméo Dallaire wrote from first hand experience, for those who could not write out because of contractual obligation. Dallaire's account was a good picture of betrayal, naïveté, and international politics we all experience.
While Roméo Dallaire wrote briefly about the Mission 's Chief Administrative Officer who seemed indifferent to Dallaire's request for urgent requirement, he failed to understand another UN internal political undercurrent, nobody will stick their neck out, not then, not now .. because they get chopped.
Someone wrote that book has too many acronyms, people and jargons, too much frustrations .. well folks, welcome to the UN world. In-depth analysis? What's that? Never heard of. This book is REALITY. Period.
A log book, no consistent story flow, yes. An amazing book, yes.......2006-10-23
I have read the reviews of some others here below that this book didn't have a good story line and looked to much like a dairy of this former general.
I agree but that is what puts this book aside from the others. As I work at the UN I know the (basic) frustrations that the he is experienced in his fight and by giving us a cold, day to day, story of how things happened, he actually managed to capture the frustration and disapointment that he wants us to experience.
Most people say that it's a good review when they can not put a certain book down. For me this book was a completly different experience. I simply HAD to put it down, my frustration became to much.
I recommend this book to anyone, its a lesson in humanity. It might be frustrating, disgusting and everything in between, but it should be a mandatory reading for every human being.
Compelling.......2006-10-11
I just finished reading this book and found it both compelling and haunting. I couldn't put it down. If you are looking for a balcony analysis this is not for you but if on the other hand you want to know what it was like... no what it was really like, day to day, and step into the shoes of someone who was there then this is the book for you. Gen. Dallaire had access to and negotiated over and over again with the top leaders on both sides of the conflict and tells the story, the few triumphs and many failings of the groups in Rwanda, the member nations, and the UN itself, like no one else possibly could. My hats off to him for taking the time to tell this story, no doubt a painful one, in detail and for having given so much personally during that year of his life to save lives and minimize the deaths in Rwanda with the cards that were dealt him. Few, I believe would have persisted as long as he did trying to make a difference under similar conditions.
Book Description
This is the only available book on the Congo war, the most important current conflict in Africa. Two chapters situate the war in its historical and theoretical context, while others survey the interests of the Congolese government, of the rebel groups, and of intervening states in the war. These chapters reveal the underlying sources of the war and explain the strategies of the various combatants. Other chapters examine the impact of the war on neighboring countries, individual citizens, refugees, and other non-state actors in the zone of conflict and beyond.
Book Description
This is Alex Boraine's account of South Africa's acclaimed Truth and Reconciliation Commission which was set up after the collapse of the apartheid regime. The TRC had the monumental task not only of uncovering decades of systematic human rights violations, but of doing so in a way that would help a very damaged nation to reconcile and move forward. Boaraine clearly sets out the process leading to the establishment of the TRC, describes the hearings at which victims and perpetrators testified about human rights violations, and considers reactions - inclusding criticisms - to the TRC and its final report. He analyses the key features that contributed to the Commission's success, and gives an honest assessment of some of its mistakes. This is also a personal story, giving insight into the feelings, disappointments, and rewards that the TRC's participants experienced. This book helps to elucidate and answer the many difficlut questions that were crucial to South Africa's TRC , and that need to be addressed by all people who are working with societies in transition.
Book Description
Equatorial Guinea is a tiny country roughly the size of the state of Maryland. Humid, jungle covered, and rife with unpleasant diseases, natives call it Devil Island. Its president in 2004, Obiang Nguema, had been accused of cannibalism, belief in witchcraft, mass murder, billion-dollar corruption, and general rule by terror. With so little to recommend it, why in March 2004 was Equatorial Guinea the target of a group of salty British, South African and Zimbabwean mercenaries, traveling on an American-registered ex-National Guard plane specially adapted for military purposes, that was originally flown to Africa by American pilots? The real motive lay deep below the ocean floor: oil.
In The Dogs of War, Frederick Forsyth effectively described an attempt by mercenaries to overthrow the government of Equatorial Guinea - in 1972. And the chain of events surrounding the night of March 7, 2004, is a rare case of life imitating art-or, at least, life imitating a 1970s thriller-in almost uncanny detail. With a cast of characters worthy of a remake of Wild Geese and a plot as mazy as it was unlikely, The Wonga Coup is a tale of venality, overarching vanity and greed whose example speaks to the problems of the entire African continent.
Customer Reviews:
Good story, Written Boringly........2007-07-01
It really is quite an interesting story. I just personally feel that it is a little slow and overly detail oriented - semi repetitive, slightly lacking. Once again, this is a great story, but I think that you would be able to find all the information you would find in this book on wikipedia. There aren't enough quirky facts given to make someone interested in this subject want to read this book. Download it offline, research the names on wikipedia. The End. Thank you and Good Evening!
Great read.......2007-05-25
Fascinating, humorous, and ultimately human and touching look into a world few of us ever see.
Ok, just up front, let's mention in bold type: being in prison in Africa really, really sucks. I think this book makes that abundantly clear.
Second: having a lot of excess time and money on your hands, and then being British or South African to top it off, and living in Africa also tends to create "mischief", apparently (especially if you have military experience and know other guys with military experience and time on their hands, plus wives who don't mind them going on some "reality adventuring" every 5 years).
I have been reading a few books about Africa recently (by the way, the "Zanzibar Chest" is totally amazing). Wong Coup is very good and I read it fast (2-3 days). It tells the story in an amusing and human way of mercenaries who tried to overthrow a small African country. On the one hand, a "fun" read, on the other hand, very harrowing. And yes, it does give us a picture into the human being, because it shows how people react under pressure (for instance, Simon Mann writing "we" from prison, not just about himself, but at least having some notion of being responsible for others, not just himself).
While the author does mock the men who tried the coup, at the same time, he does have a bit of sympathy I think for them. For instance, the statement by one of the South African mercenaries as to "would you try it again", was "Yes. Life is for living" sticks with me. Life is not for holding one's cards to one's chest, but for living out life. Let's face it, most of us sit at boring desk jobs until we retire, with no real risks involved, and no real great rewards either. These guys rolled the dice big-time and lost. I go home now to a Heineken and some reading, or a bar or movie. They spend their time in a hell-hole prison cell in Africa, made for one man, but that now houses 4, shackled and beaten and with food that would make us sick. Their life is terrible. They risked it and lost. At the same time, you do kind of have to admire their courage and sheer moxy for trying this. I am not saying it was ethical or morally desireable. The fact that the men did not keep the coup details private, and tried to just fly the guns in, is pretty much a joke, and the author portrays it as such. The coup itself was a joke, and the read is entertaining. These were men trying to live in the 21st century as if it were the time of Cecil Rhodes, in 1880s Africa. We can laugh at them, but let's face it, few if any of us will role the dice the way they do. I found it interesting to learn that there really are men like this out there. I was very interested in how the "world" works in Africa, of private armies, and dictators exchanging prisoners, mercenaries in their "mercenary frat house" (!), the wives, the media, etc, etc. It was fascinting because I knew so little about this world.
By the way, if you want to see one of the main characters (plotters) in the movie - Simon Mann (ex-SAS and British officer), rent or buy the Paul Greengrass DVD "Bloody Sunday". Mann plays Colonel Wilford. You can get a good idea of what Mann is like. (Mann has since lost weight, so he is heavier in the film than he is now. That "African Prison Diet" took the pounds off).
The Pups of War.......2007-03-21
This is a fun book about a group of aging white mercenaries who plotted to overthrow the dictator of oil-rich Equatorial Guinea. The conspiracy was hatched by one Simon Mann, a bored alumnus of Executive Outcomes, who had visions of getting rich from oil concessions and government contracts after the coup. Alas, Mann had trouble raising money and buying arms, and the out-of-work apartheid-era veterans he recruited as gunmen leaked like sieves (and couldn't hold their liquor). Inevitably, the plot came to the attention of South African intelligence, which arranged for Mann and his troublemakers to be arrested in Zimbabwe en route to Equatorial Guinea.
The author had access to insiders and confidential documents, and he writes knowingly about the seamy side of African business and politics. However, he has a weakness for conspiracy theories and seriously entertains rumors that the U.S. and Spain were behind Mann's plot. In fact, no government installed by white mercenaries could survive in today's Africa, and the U.S. knows that. Our government seems reasonably content with Equatorial Guinea's dictator, who locks up opposition politicians but enables U.S. oil companies to make mountains of money. Condie Rice has publicly called him a friend. Sometimes the truth, however banal, is sleazier than speculation.
Fantastical Story.......2007-02-18
This is a quite amazing story, told with wit and verve. The greed and arrogance of the coup plotters is matched only by their fecklessness and stupidity. Beyond the complexities of the botched plot, the book provides a fascinating portrayal of the political, economic and military dynamicss of contemporary Africa -- it is a thoroughly engrossing read. I read the book cover-to-cover on a long-haul flight between London and Singapore and can thoroughly recommend it to anyone with 13 hours on a 747, time will fly by!
Terrific story, poorly told. 2-3 stars.......2007-02-05
The Wonga Coup has all the ingredients of a sensational story - conspiracy, action, drama, celebrity names, glamorous lives and terrible misfortune - all true. However, the unfortunate part is that it is not only written in a dry, uninteresting way, but the language is awkward, disjointed, repetitive and sometimes lacking in maturity. Although well researched, one feels the author never really organized his copious notes but just copied them down - one thought does not necessarily follow smoothly on to another. It makes for laborious reading. Also, a book like this cries out for photographs. As the events described took place relatively recently, photographs must have been readily available and one can only wonder why the author did not bother to include them.
That said, it is an amazing tale. The plot was for a small, privately funded group of mercenaries to overtake a small rich country situated in the `armpit' of Africa. They would topple the leader and set up an exiled opponent in his place. For their efforts, they would have access to some of the considerable oil in that country.
The country in question was Equatorial Guinea and its president, Obiang Nguema is one of the most corrupt and tyrannical leaders in Africa, a continent that has produced many terrible despots over the years. While keeping his people pitifully poor and without health care, education or any real public services, he himself squirrels away hundreds of millions of dollars in foreign bank accounts. In this he is aided by American oil companies and banks, who are basically prepared to do anything to keep him happy. Those under him live in constant fear of imprisonment, torture, rape, murder and even cannibalism.
In the group of plotters there were wealthy British financiers and aristocrats, technocrats, weapons dealers, adventurers, mercenaries and foot soldiers. But from the start, their plot was doomed through bad planning, betrayals and loose lips. Before the operation ever really got underway, they were arrested in Zimbabwe and Equatorial Guinea. Thereafter, they suffered unspeakable conditions and brutality in African jails while ludicrous charges were being trumped up against them, to be followed by trials in kangaroo courts.
Instead of the long slog I found the book to be, it should have been a truly gripping tale and could have been material for a good movie.
Book Description
In
A Continent for the Taking Howard W. French, a veteran correspondent for The New York Times, gives a compelling firsthand account of some of Africa’s most devastating recent history–from the fall of Mobutu Sese Seko, to Charles Taylor’s arrival in Monrovia, to the genocide in Rwanda and the Congo that left millions dead. Blending eyewitness reportage with rich historical insight, French searches deeply into the causes of today’s events, illuminating the debilitating legacy of colonization and the abiding hypocrisy and inhumanity of both Western and African political leaders.
While he captures the tragedies that have repeatedly befallen Africa’s peoples, French also opens our eyes to the immense possibility that lies in Africa’s complexity, diversity, and myriad cultural strengths. The culmination of twenty-five years of passionate exploration and understanding, this is a powerful and ultimately hopeful book about a fascinating and misunderstood continent.
Customer Reviews:
Fantastic read.......2007-09-06
This masterfully written book is essentially a history of Africa from the eyes of an eyewitness to most of the major events that has shaped the country to the place that it is today.
Outstanding book!
NOTHING NEW!.......2007-08-28
Typical of the travelogue accounts of foreign journalists whose negative perception of everything Africa and Africans are honed in their home countries.
But Africa keeps soldiering on defying the prognostications of interlopers.
THE ILLS AND INTRIGUES OF A CONTINENT.......2007-05-13
THIS IS A MUST-READ FOR ALL MEN OF GOODWILL WHO LONG FOR A PROPER UNDERSTANDING OF AFRICA AND ITS COMPLEXITIES BEYOND THE SUBJECTIVE REFERENCE OF ITS SEEMINGLY INTRACTABLE PROBLEMS.
An extensive review of the African reality.......2007-01-12
An excellent book, filled with history and details about the reality of a shaked continent. Very well written. I recommend it withouth any hesitation!
Understanding rather than just headline reading.......2007-01-02
This book, combined with "The Shadow of the Sun" by Ryszard Kapuscinski illuminates a part of the world that most Americans who think they follow current events well (like myself?) really don't know much about. I recommend reading the Kapuscinski book first as it will give you a better understanding of the events related in Mr. French's book. Both are excellent and worth reading to understand what happens in Africa.
Average customer rating:
- A witness's account of the Cold War
- Elegant, compelling prose
- World View Changing
- Mankind kicks endless own goals
- Ryszard can do Much Better
|
The Soccer War
Ryszard Kapuscinski
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
 General
| Biographies & Memoirs
| Subjects
| Books
Soccer
| Biographies
| Sports
| Subjects
| Books
Africa
| History
| Subjects
| Books
| African Studies
| Algeria
| Angola
| Benin
| Botswana
| Central Africa
| Comoros
| Democratic Republic of Congo
| Djibouti
| East Africa
| Egypt
| Equatorial Guinea
| Eritrea
| Ethiopia
| Gabon
| Gambia
| General
| Ghana
| Guinea
| Guinea Bissau
| Ivory Coast
| Kenya
| Lesotho
| Liberia
| Libya
| Madagascar
| Malawi
| Mali
| Mauritania
| Morocco
| Mozambique
| Namibia
| Niger
| Nigeria
| North Africa
| Rwanda
| Sao Tome and Principe
| Senegal
| Sierra Leone
| Somalia
| South Africa
| Southern Africa
| Sudan
| Swaziland
| Tanzania
| Togo
| Tunisia
| Uganda
| West Africa
| Western Sahara
| Zambia
| Zimbabwe
General
| Military
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| World
| History
| Subjects
| Books
General
| Politics
| Nonfiction
| Subjects
| Books
Similar Items:
-
Another Day of Life
-
Imperium
-
The Emperor
-
Shah of Shahs
-
The Shadow of the Sun
ASIN: 0679738053
Release Date: 1992-02-04 |
Book Description
Part diary and part reportage, The Soccer War is a remarkable chronicle of war in the late twentieth century. Between 1958 and 1980, working primarily for the Polish Press Agency, Kapuscinski covered twenty-seven revolutions and coups in Africa, Latin America, and the Middle East. Here, with characteristic cogency and emotional immediacy, he recounts the stories behind his official press dispatches—searing firsthand accounts of the frightening, grotesque, and comically absurd aspects of life during war. The Soccer War is a singular work of journalism.
Customer Reviews:
A witness's account of the Cold War.......2006-11-06
It is a striking book. Mr. Kapuscinski is a great writer and the narrative is simply wonderful.
It is a great account of the cold war, as fought in Africa and Latin America.
Elegant, compelling prose.......2006-01-30
Kapuscinski is the master of international journalism. Often he prefaces his accounts by saying something to the affect of, "Everyone told me that trying to get into the Congo was suicide. I had to do it." The result is a perspective that no one else is able to give, a sometimes brutal but eye-opening account of the effects of war.
The best part of The Soccer War to me is Kapuscinski's ability not only to report on war, but to capture the humanity of the people involved. He is in this way an anthropologist as much a journalist. True, this book covers extensive topic matter: Ghana, Benin, Nigeria, Algeria, Congo, Burundi, Cyprus, etc, but Kapuscinki's voice is powerful enough to unify these seemingly disparate stories.
If you are curious about world history, if you want a humanistic and first-hand view of events that have shaped our world today, this is your book. There were times when I was literally on the edge of my seat wondering if Kapuscinski would make it out alive. Of course, we know he did because he pubished a book about these experiences.
Visit my blog: http://www.writingup.com/blog/namingame
World View Changing.......2005-11-30
It's almost impossible to process the news with the same perspective after reading this book...what was true in the 60s still rings true today. I picked up this book while simultaneously reading articles in Esquire and The New Yorker about people (Bill Gates, Bill Clinton...) trying to make a difference in Africa. While I was made hopeful by the observations in today's mainstream press, I grew increasingly frustrated when confronted with the dark reality that Kapuscinski exposes.
Mankind kicks endless own goals.......2005-11-04
As somebody who once lived in Honduras before the infamous soccer war of 1969, I long had Kapuscinski's book on my "must read" list. Though I bought it five years ago, I didn't get around to reading it till just now. I'm glad I did. THE SOCCER WAR is another sterling volume from this master of description.
THE SOCCER WAR isn't a book about the absurd war between El Salvador and Honduras, triggered by World Cup qualification matches, but really caused by El Salvador's overpopulation and the subsequent overflow of Salvadorenos into much-emptier Honduras. The war may also be ascribed to the fact that neither country has been able to tame its landowning classes, who continue to this day to run rampant over the poor masses of people. In any case, this war, which happened decades ago, occupies only 30 pages of a 234 page book. The rest of the book contains vignettes from Ghana, Nigeria, Congo, Burundi, Algeria, Tanganyika, Syria, Cyprus, and Ethiopia. I think another title would have given readers a better idea of what the book is about. Anyway, I would not say this book is about particular societies or countries, rather it is about the human condition. Kapuscinski, if you have read any of his other (excellent) work, specializes in inserting himself into extreme situations----war, rebellion, conflict, and abnormal behavior. Where the strictures of daily life have fallen down, we find him reporting, usually at considerable risk to his person. He is nearly burned to death in Nigeria, nearly executed in Burundi, nearly lynched in the Congo, nearly blown up in Honduras. In every case, he manages to portray some participants as humane and decent, or as simple people caught up in events beyond their control. He never writes off groups of people as `wild' or `barbarous', but manages to `read' them even as he faces almost certain death. The absurdity of all this violence, the violence that never ends on this planet, comes through loud and clear. Ryszard, you wrote your best, but nobody in charge listened. Readers of the book, however, will come away with a better understanding of human nature and its universal similarity on every continent, among every race and religion. From the stupidity, waste, and blood, we can learn. We just don't.
Ryszard can do Much Better.......2004-04-08
The Soccer Wars is a timeless diary( timeless in the sense that it lacks chronology, not timeless in the sense of transcendance) that bounces from Eastern Europe to West Africa, the Great Lakes region, Central America and through the west back to Poland. Kapuschinski is usually a more thourough analyst and offers insights along the journey.He suggests many times that this is the book "he never got 'round to writing". Unfortunately, the lack of flow, ideas and critical thought makes it a book he shouldn't have written.
Book Description
In April-May 1994, 800,000 Rwandan Tutsis were massacred by their Hutu fellow citizens--about 10,000 a day, mostly being hacked to death by machete. In Machete Season, the veteran foreign correspondent Jean Hatzfeld reports on the results of his interviews with nine of the Hutu killers. They were all friends who came from a single region where they helped to kill 50,000 out of their 59,000 Tutsi neighbors, and all of them are now in prison, some awaiting execution. It is usually presumed that killers will not tell the truth about their brutal actions, but Hatzfeld elicited extraordinary testimony from these men about the genocide they had perpetrated. He rightly sees that their account raises as many questions as it answers.
Adabert, Alphonse, Ignace, and the others (most of them farmers) told Hatzfeld how the work was given to them, what they thought about it, how they did it, and what their responses were to the bloodbath. "Killing is easier than farming," one says. "I got into it, no problem," says another. Each describes what it was like the first time he killed someone, what he felt like when he killed a mother and child, how he reacted when he killed a cordial acquaintance, how 'cutting' a person with a machete differed from 'cutting' a calf or a sugarcane. And they had plenty of time to tell Hatzfeld, too, about whether and why they had reconsidered their motives, their moral responsibility, their guilt, remorse, or indifference to the crimes.
Hatzfeld's meditation on the banal, horrific testimony of the genocidaires and what it means is lucid, humane, and wise: he relates the Rwanda horror to war crimes and to other genocidal episodes in human history. Especially since the Holocaust, it has been conventional to presume that only depraved and monstrous evil incarnate could perpetrate such crimes, but it may be, he suggests, that such actions are within the realm of ordinary human conduct. To read this disturbing, enlightening and very brave book is to consider in a new light the foundation of human morality and ethics.
Customer Reviews:
Disturbing.......2007-08-22
a startleing look into the minds of the people who commited this horrible tragedy. i found myself sickened in some parts but still intrigued. wanting to read more to possibly gain insight as to why this happend. this book is very easy to follow and well put together. although i never really got an answer because the people interviewed seemed to be questioning their actions just as much as i did. great book.
Well done.......2007-06-18
This book is interesting in that it takes you into the world of those who killed during the Rwandan genocide in 1994. I've often wondered how a group of people can be handed a machete and sent out to kill. What was the motivation? How did it all start? What do we, as a society, need to be aware of so this sort of thing will not happen again? This book will help to answer those questions.
An enormously important book.......2007-05-27
Machete Season recounts the story of 10 men that were responsible for horrific murders and atrocities in Rwanda. Acts that are difficult to fathom for most of us. Mr. Hatzfeld's writing is wonderful and his interviews with the killers help shed light into the horrific mindset of these men. This is a very important book to read since it makes clear the peril of group thinking and how easily the corruption of the human being can descend lower than that of the worst beasts. To dismiss these actions as pure evil is both simplistic and terribly dangerous. There are great lessons to be learned by the atrocities that were committed in Rwanda. We ought to feel a certain amount of shame for not getting involved, as a country, sooner, and we should seriously consider the utter ineffectiveness of the United Nations in conflict resolution.
Matter of horrible fact........2007-03-13
An excellent exposure of some of the killers and motivations behind the day to day genocide in Rwanda.
It gave me even more insight into the horrors of the time. I have not read the account of the survivors by the same author, but this is a good place to start. Regular citizens from the Collines tell us what we don't want to hear, confirming the complicity of the holy and the high and the fleeting satisfaction of covetousness and acquisition- All accompanied by the regular, relentless and heartless swinging of the machetes.
You feel helpless, like those unfortunates hiding in the marshes.
A great educational read........2007-03-09
This book offers insight into the minds of the killers at the time of the genocide. Make no bones about it, they actively and willingly participated in the day to day activity of killing innocent families.
It is probably better to do some research on the topic before reading this book, to get the most out of it. The book is well written and candid, my only criticism is it becomes a little repetitive at times.
However getting convicted killers to talk for a book is a great coup, as most in Western Worlds are reticent to do so, or are not honest.
Book Description
Hartley, a frontline reporter who covered the atrocities of 1990s Africa, embarks on a journey to unlock the mysteries and secrets of his own family's 150-year-colonial legacy in Africa, and delivers a beautiful, sometimes harrowing memoir of intrepid young men cut down in their prime, of forbidden love and its fatal consequences, and of family and history, and the collision of cultures that defined them both.
Customer Reviews:
Best book on modern Africa.......2007-09-30
I just wrapped this one up about a week ago and WOW, I can tell you already it's one of those books that lingers in your head. When I wasn't reading it I found myself thinking about it (at work, on the bus). Aidan Hartley is an african born (4th generation, of english decent) journalist, in the field during the tumultuous late 80's to mid 90's. He covered wars in Ethiopia, Somalia, Rwanda, and even in the Balkans. The Zanzibar Chest weaves the experiences of Aidan's father, his own childhood in Kenya and his experiences working as a stringer for Reuters into the history of Africa itself. Hartley's ability to capture the bittersweet love affair he has with his homeland is remarkable. He fully realizes (more so than most) the horrors perpetuated on the african people, by outside forces and by one another. Neither overly condeming nor sentimental, Hartley writes with a passion that is firmly grounded in his vast knowledge of the contintent to create a narrative that is romantic, horrifying and gut wrenchingly honest.
Another thing I enjoyed about his writing style was that he conveyed a sense of both the epic and the intimate about his own experiences. Although his knowledge of things like history, geography and politics is impressive, he also consistantly includes detailed descriptions of people, objects, foods, customs, locations, etc. These small personal details often convey a humanity and even humor despite the horrifying events throughout the book. He creates a real sense of being there that I think most non-fiction writing ignores. I hope Hartley writes more, because this book fleshed out my own thinking on Africa as no other single book has. I suggest anyone interested in expanding your world view, to read this book and prepare to do so with a lump in your throat. Intense and wonderful!
A page turner, but...........2007-01-06
...The Zanzibar Chest is at times nearly obscene in it's adrenaline filled adventure. Many of the stories are beyond belief. Mr. Hartley has lived a life none have lived and few would wish to live. But it is certainly entertaining reading.
Hartley also does an excellent job developing a unifying theme of Africa and it's mystery and relates it to his fathers life.
Other similar books I'd reccommend would be Don't let's go to the dogs Tonight by Alexandra Fuller and Dark Star Safari by Paul Theroux. Zanzibar chest tops both in excitement but is perhaps their equal in writing quality.
Very Different.......2006-12-30
I agree this book is an "amazing" and "stunning" not to mention terrifying glimpse of the "depths of hell". I had to put the book down often because I needed breathers from the atrocities and horrors described.
While I agree with some of the reviewers who didn't like the way the stories change abruptly and that it does seem like three books in one, I think that the writing overcomes these minor annoyances.
Someone else wrote critically that you can't learn anything about the Africa today from this book. I disagree. There are many countries in Africa and most of them seem to be in turmoil much of the time. Things are constantly changing and today's book won't describe tomorrows news. However, isn't the best way to learn about something is to know its history?
There are some terrific reviews here that sum up the book much better than I could. I'm looking forward to Mr. Hartley's next book which should be very different from this one.
Truth about Africa told so well it is poetic.......2006-12-13
This is the best memoir of Africa I have read. The honesty and introspection is stunning. Adrian Hartley's prose is so beautiful it is almost poetry. The first below is inspired by this wonderful book, the second is from the book:
Africa Is Bathed In Light
Inspired by Adrian Hartley's
The Zanzibar Chest
Rising before dawn
Waiting for sunrise
The deep light reveals
Everything in incredible detail.
The morning is awash
In color and shadow until
Blinded by the orange sun's ball
I'm trapped in the crescendo of radiance
As Africa is bathed in light, and
The world becomes two-dimensional.
Somalia
from Adrian Hartley's
The Zanzibar Chest
In the all out war
Of Everybody
Against Everybody
Lies a grim paradox:
If you have nothing,
You Starve.
If you have something,
You are attacked.
Either way,
You get killed.
Could Not Stop Reading.......2006-08-23
A finely crafted account of the gritty, dangerous, sometimes glamorous experiences of a journalist in war-torn Africa. Gives the reader a new appreciation for those who risk their lives to bring us the news. Highly recommended!
Books:
- Life: 100 Events That Shook Our World : A History in Pictures from the Last 100 Years
- Oracle Bones: A Journey Between China's Past and Present
- Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid
- Patterns in Prehistory: Humankind's First Three Million Years
- Portrait of a Priestess: Women and Ritual in Ancient Greece
- Precious Records: Women in China's Long Eighteenth Century
- Red Carpets and Other Banana Skins: The Autobiography
- Same Kind of Different as Me: A Modern-Day Slave, an International Art Dealer, and the Unlikely Woman Who Bound Them Together
- Shenandoah Summer: The 1864 Valley Campaign
- Ship of Ghosts: The Story of the USS Houston, FDR's Legendary Lost Cruiser, and the Epic Saga of Her Survivors
Books Index
Books Home
Recommended Books
- Smooth Moves
- Marley & Me: Life and Love with the World's Worst Dog
- Eisenhower and the Art of Warfare: A Critical Appraisal
- Guests of the Ayatollah: The First Battle in America's War with Militant Islam
- History: Fiction or Science
- Pitcairn's Island: A Novel
- Life Histories of North American Gallinaceous Birds.
- Job Interviews for Dummies
- Guidelines: Development of National Parks and Protected Areas for Tourism
- Doing Business With Africa 2000/1
Inspiration: Your Ultimate Calling
Incredible You! 10 Ways to let your greatness shine through
The Diary of Immaculee
Ask and It Is Given: Learning to Manifest Your Desires
Meditations for Manifesting : Morning and Evening Meditations to Literally Create Your Heart's Desire
