The Magnificent Mountain Women (Second Edition): Adventures in the Colorado Rockies

Book Description

Since the Pikes Peak gold rush in the mid–nineteenth century, women have gone into the mountains of Colorado to hike, climb, ski, homestead, botanize, act as guides, practice medicine, and meet a variety of other challenges, whether for sport or for livelihood. Janet Robertson recounts their exploits in a lively, well-illustrated book that measures up to its title, The Magnificent Mountain Women. Arlene Blum provides a new introduction to this edition.

Customer Reviews:

Undaunted Women.......2007-01-25

I was given this book as a gift about ten years ago. I have camped and backpacked in the Colorado Rockies many times and loved reading about its early pioneer days. Each story is carefully researched and presented. Many of the women encountered harsh resistance as they tried to homestead or pursue their varied outdoor interests, but, the overall theme for the stories is how courageous and strong the women were. I loved this book and although, I give away most of the books I buy, this one I keep close at hand.

This book is wonderful!.......1998-06-27

Read it before you go the the Rocky Mountains. Then have fun exploring the places that are described. These women are awesome and I would love to meet the author, Janet Robertson.

The Magnificent Mountain Women Adventures in the Colorado Rockies

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The Magnificent Mountain Women Adventures in the Colorado Rockies
Janet Robertson
Manufacturer: Bison, 1990
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000H256XW

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The Magnificent Mountain Women: Adventures in the Colorado Rockies
Janet Robertson
Manufacturer: Univ of Nebraska Press (Bison Books)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000MDBGCG

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The Magnificent Mountain Women Adventures in the Colorado Rockies
Robertson Janet
Manufacturer: University of Nebraska
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000UCS7HQ

Deliver Us from Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords and a World of Endless Conflict
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Deliver Us From the Evil of a Lack of Political Will

enlightening

Good discussion of the issues

A Review of Hell in the 90's

Essential Reading for International Thinkers

Deliver Us from Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords and a World of Endless Conflict

Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
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ASIN: B000F6Z5RM

Amazon.com

Foreign-affairs journalist William Shawcross travels around the world--Bosnia, Baghdad, and elsewhere--to paint a messy portrait of the post-cold-war world. Deliver Us from Evil is very much an on-the-ground book, full of reportage and descriptions of world leaders such as UN chief Kofi Annan. It includes a strong point of view: the dewy-eyed, do-gooder mentality that drives so much contemporary international relations is, as far as Shawcross is concerned, deeply wrongheaded. Peacekeeping missions often find that there's no peace to keep, and expectations of what they can accomplish soar far too high. "Today 'humanitarianism' often rules. It becomes a sop to international concern, and then it can be dangerous," writes Shawcross. Coupled with a world of instant media, where CNN broadcasts live from the killing fields, humanitarianism fuels a strong desire to have immediate reconciliation between warring factions. But it's a delusional goal, says Shawcross, pointing to the American Civil War and how long (even after Appomattox) it took North and South to reconcile fully. There's no reason to think other torn nations will respond more quickly. Peacekeeping missions often promise a heaven on earth they cannot deliver. "In a more religious time it was only God whom we asked to deliver us from evil," concludes Shawcross. "Now we call upon our own man-made institutions for such deliverance. That is sometimes to ask for miracles." --John J. Miller

Book Description

The Cold War has been followed by a decade of regional and ethnic conflicts, massacres, and forced exiles. Should America assume the role of peacekeeper and chief humanitarian in a world of endless wars and human disasters? Eminent foreign correspondent William Shawcross has spent much of his career in war zones and has had unrivaled access to diplomats, peacekeepers, and global policymakers at the highest levels, including UN Secretary General Kofi Annan, for whom he has high regard. In Deliver Us from Evil, which has a new epilogue for the paperback edition, Shawcross takes us behind the lines with him to Cambodia, Bosnia, Somalia, Sierra Leone, East Timor, Rwanda, and Kosovo to show us how complex and costly Western interventions are and how naïve are our hopes of peacemaking without bloodshed.

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Reporting from war zones around the globe, acclaimed journalist William Shawcross gives us an unforgettable portrait of a dangerous world and of the brave men and women, ordinary and extraordinary, who risk their lives to make and keep the peace. The end of the Cold War was followed by a decade of regional and ethnic wars, massacres and forced exiles, and by constant calls for America to lead the international community as chief peacekeeper. The efforts of that community -- identified with the United Nations but often dominated by the world's wealthy nations -- have had mixed results. In Africa, the West is accused of indifference or too little, too late. In Cambodia, the UN presides over free elections, but the results are overridden. In Iraq, Saddam Hussein continues to defy the UN, and in Bosnia and Kosovo, the West acts hesitantly after terrible slaughter and ethnic cleansing. Shawcross, a veteran of many war zones, has had broad access to global policymakers, including UN secretary general Kofi Annan, high American diplomats, peacekeepers and humanitarian-aid professionals. He has traveled with them to some of the world's most horrifying killing fields. Deliver Us from Evil is his stark, on-the-ground report on the many crises faced by the international community and its servants as they struggle to respond around the world. He brings home the price many have paid attempting to restore peace and help alleviate terrible suffering. He illuminates the risks we face in a complex and dangerous world. Some critics have concluded that some interventions may prolong conflict and create further casualties. The lesson we learn from ruthless and vengeful warlords the world over is thatgoodwill without strength can make things worse. Shawcross argues that recent interventions -- in Kosovo and East Timor, for example -- provide reason for concern as well as hope. Still, the unmistakable message of the past decade is that we cannot intervene everywhere, that not

Customer Reviews:

Deliver Us From the Evil of a Lack of Political Will.......2002-12-20

Deliver Us from a Lack of Political Will, by Peter Gantz, Partnership for Effective Peace Operations.

A review of Deliver Us From Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords and a World of Endless Conflict, William Shawcross, Simon & Schuster, 413pp.

So, yes, this book is about peacekeeping, that amorphous blob of activity the international community tasks the UN with accomplishing every day in conflict zones throughout the world. It is clear that expectations far exceed what the UN is capable of delivering, as Mr. Shawcross points out early on. The UN in the nineties was tasked with bringing peace to areas where conflict had erupted, following the end of the Cold War. Mr. Shawcross does an admirable job of describing how well and how often that did not work, and how deep the failures were.

This book is not a UN bashing book, though. It certainly points out the problems at the UN, but Mr. Shawcross knows that these problems, just as the UN itself, are the creation of the member states and their political leaders. In particular, the most powerful member state, the United States, has played a spectacularly unhelpful role. Congress nearly destroyed the UN financially in the late nineties, largely driven by provincial isolationists in the Republican Party. President Clinton and his top advisors were no better, perhaps most notably during the Rwandan genocide. Muddled decisions from the administration did much to worsen crises and conflicts the world over.

Mr. Shawcross puts his finger squarely on the problem. Time after time it has been a lack of political will. The inability of the international community to summon the courage to stop the deaths of millions of blacks in Rwanda, Burundi, and other parts of Africa is one of the more despicable features of the twentieth century, and one of the examples of problems with UN peacekeeping that Mr. Shawcross covers quite well. The U.S. and other countries are simply not willing to back up words with actions.

Hard and fast solutions are not offered by Mr. Shawcross. The reader would be better directed to other works for that. (The book came out prior to the UN's own surprisingly honest and straightforward assessment of peacekeeping, the Brahimi Report, commissioned by Secretary-General Kofi Annan.) But to understand the problems with UN peace operations, and to understand the fundamental root cause of these problems, the lack of political will to act, or to act well, this book is better than most. Mr. Shawcross suggests in the end that UN peace operations have too often been about asking for miracles.

But make no mistake; he does not suggest that peacekeeping should be abandoned. And certainly this book should not provoke a reader to gag at the idea of deploying peacekeepers-they should gag, however, at the antics of their elected officials. The U.S. and other countries sit at the Security Council and give the UN grand and noble tasks to save the world, but when it comes to providing the means to accomplish those tasks, failure is palpable. The abject failure of government officials to match actions to words is what we truly need deliverance from.

enlightening.......2002-10-22

For anyone interested in world affairs, or interested in learning more about the United Nations in today's fractured and dangerous world, I strongly recommend this work by Shawcross.

This work is essentially a survey of hotspots around the world that eventually boiled over spurring the intervention of foreign governments in the name of "humanity". Shawcross begins with the backgrounds of these conflicts and spells out the events leading up to and including foreign intervention and the aftereffects. Shawcross often begins to outline one conflict, leaves it to start another at a crucial point, may then introduce the reader to yet another, or return to the original. In this fashion, the reader is carried from conflict to conflict, without discovering a resolution until later. This device keeps the reader more interested and in the end perhaps mirrors the real world as well. Hotspots of the world don't wait for each other to resolve before cropping up.

Much of the work also focuses on Kofi Annan the current secretary general, and it is this topic that is most enlightening. As citizens of the world, we have painted a romantic picture of the U.N and become frustrated when it does not accomplish the things we would like it to. We often forget that the United Nations are composed of individual nations with individual interests. At the heart of the U.N. lies the Security Council. A veto by any of the members of the Security Council essentially cripples the U.N.'s ability to act. The U.N.is also reliant on its members for funding and equipment. It is in this context that Shawcross presents Annan, who himself is not without blame for some of the the U.N.'s shortcomings, but nevertheless comes across in a very sympathetic light.

The aforementioned members of the Security Council come across much more poorly, particulary the United States and France.

The highest complement I can give this work is that Shawcross is even handed. His writing does not heap blame on any party. He is merely spelling out the limitations of the world we live in and the simple fact that states are first and foremost looking out for their own interests.

Especially interesting is the material dealing with Saddam Hussein. He has been a thorn in the world's side for years. He also touches on Serbia, Kosovo, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, East Timor among others.

One comes away with a new perspective on the limitations and failings of the United Nations, but also a profound feeling that it is as indispensible and vital as ever.

Good discussion of the issues.......2002-06-14

This is a book about the role of the United Nations in international peacekeeping missions. Prior to the end of the cold war, the United Nations was not able to intervene in regional conflicts. The reason being that the split on the security council meant that one or other of the superpowers would veto actions which would conflict with their national interest. With the end of the cold war the world was faced with the possibility that the United Nations could for the first time try to act to limit human misery brought about by civil war and the collapse of civil authority in some countries. The early nineties also saw the election of the American President Clinton. Clinton at the start of his term was committed to trying to increase the importance of the United Nations as a means of bringing a rational approach to ending conflict. He appointed Madeline Albright as an Ambassador to the UN and there were expectations that something could be achieved.

Shawncross examines a large number of conflicts and looks at the attempts of the UN to achieve some positive result. The vast majority of the cases examined by Shawncross were failures. His book is an examination of how those failures occurred and what factors led to them.

There have however been some successes. The intervention in Cambodia, although it did not lead to the setting up of democratic institutions (Hun Sen was able to quickly set up an authoritarian state after elections were held which should have removed him from power) did lead to the end of the civil war in that country. Although it is only dealt with in a sketchy way the UN intervention in East Timor led to and end to the killing and it now seems possible that a democratic state will emerge.

The failures are however significant. The UN failed to do anything to prevent the genocide in Rwanda. What effectively happened in this case was that the Rwandan population was divided into two ethnic groups. One group the Hutus moved to kill the minority group the Tutis. Over 100,000 Tutis were murdered brutally with the UN taking no action at all. However the story did not end there. A guerilla movement consisting of Tutis was able to take control of the country. The Hutu groups responsible for the initial massacres forced huge numbers of their own people out of the country into neighbouring Zaire to form the basis of a guerilla army. This fought for some time against the victorious Tutis. Eventually the Tutis invaded Zaire massacring huge numbers of Hutu and in the process overturning the government of Mobutu. Some peace keepers were put in place to prevent this but the mission failed abysmally.

Another disappointment was Somalia. Again Somalia was a small country which had experienced a total break down in civil society. The collapse of order led to large numbers of rural people moving to the capital and a fall in food production. In place of civil authority the country became ruled by armed gangs. Both the United Nations and the United States became obsessed with one gang leader and spent most of their efforts trying to capture him. Alternative strategies might have involved the provision of food aid in country areas to move people out of the city as a means of increasing rural productivity. In addition attempts to disarm the groups one would have thought productive. Instead the UN and American troops fell into a confrontation with some gangs in the capital and suffered casualties which in the view of the US were not sustainable. This led to a pull out.

The book is interesting. It does not really propose a solution but it raises a huge number of issues. One interesting point made by the author is that it cost the Sierra Leone government $36m to hire a mercenary outfit Executive Solutions to deal with its rebellion. (The rebels involved were brutal and routinely amputated the limbs of village people for no good reason). The cost of hiring these mercenaries was cheaper than the cost of a UN force ($46m for the same period). As a number of the UN members do seem to have a stomach for the work one wonders if this may not be the future of peace keeping.

A Review of Hell in the 90's.......2002-05-31

This book is a good overview of the UN work as peace keepers during the 1990's and the horrible different wars that took place during the decade. Cambodia, Somalia, Rwanda, Bosnia, Kosovo, Sierra Leone, East Timor, and Iraq are the locations / wars the author takes us through. The descriptions of what these people did to each other are almost more then can be believed. The author also provides a good overview with each conflict as to why it was happening and the internal politics, which kept the killing going. He also gives us just enough details on the people effected that you really get a feel for the catastrophic impact the wars / slaughters have had on them. It really makes you wonder how people can do this to their neighbors.

The author also describes the deployment and efforts that the peacekeepers and aid works go through in these war zones. It is truly an aggravating reading experience to see the amount of internal and world politics that slows down the deployment of the soldiers to the point that thousands more people die waiting for the help. With that said that book also makes a very good point that the ideas and people that drive the push for peacekeepers are doing so in a misguided effort. The peacekeepers are solders and solders are not law enforcement officers, they are not trained or equipped for this function. The international and internal UN politics are so vast and ingrained that once a direction is proposed it is often too late in the execution, not well thought out, and ends without a plan for continued safety or improvements. The effect is often that the situation that brought the peacekeepers to the area quickly returns once the solders go home.

The book also covers a review of the politics and diplomacy that occurred during the 1990's in the world covering these events. We get an inside, but abbreviated view of these politics of the nations that are members of the UN Security Council. The author spent of good deal of time with the current UN Secretary General Kofi Annan so we get a lot of detail from his point of view. The author also gives us a few insights into some of the other world leaders involved in these issues. The pressures that the UN Secretary General faces trying to get pledges of funds, personnel, and approval for peacekeeping operations are very interesting and one wonders how anything gets done at all.

I thought the author was letting a little of his own politics or views into the writing by his comments that detailed the deliberate lack of intervention by the United States. The U.S. does surfer from not always having a clear path to follow in these type of issues, but I felt the author was trying to lay out that if the U.S. took the lead then many of the negative issues with peacekeeping would disappear. I would have liked the author to have included some maps of the parts of the world discussed. The fact geek in me would have liked to have seen a list of the UN peacekeeping missions they have done sense inception and a more in depth discussion on the criteria for choosing who sends men.

After reading this book you will understand that sending in United Nations peacekeepers means there is a huge mess that probably will not be resolved quickly. This is an interesting book and well worth it if you are interested in the topic.

Essential Reading for International Thinkers.......2002-04-26

Deliver Us From Evil provides a front row seat to the agonizing development, completion and aftermath of the most dramatic global post cold-war intranational conflicts: Bosnia, Cambodia, Rwanda and others. Shawcross's intimate access to the negotiations and communications surrounding the United Nations Secretary-Generals provide a revealing look at the deliberate lack of intervention by the United States and other members of the Security Council despite public statements to the contrary. Shawcross provides comprehensive background information to allow a thorough understanding of these intranational conflicts that continue to shape our current political state.

Deliver Us from Evil : Peacekeepers, Warlords and a World of Endless Conflict

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Deliver Us from Evil : Peacekeepers, Warlords and a World of Endless Conflict
William Shawcross
Manufacturer: Simon and Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover
ASIN: B000O61SNI

DELIVER US FROM EVIL: WARLORDS AND PEACEKEEPERS IN A WORLD OF ENDLESS CONFLICT

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DELIVER US FROM EVIL: WARLORDS AND PEACEKEEPERS IN A WORLD OF ENDLESS CONFLICT
WILLIAM SHAWCROSS
Manufacturer: BLOOMSBURY
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

War & Peace | Current Events | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books

Human Rights | Constitutional Law | Law | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0747548447

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Deliver Us From Evil: Peacekeepers, Warlords, and a World of Endless Conflict
William Shawcross
Manufacturer: Simon & Schuster
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000N7A7VW

Customer Reviews:

Wake Me When It Is Over.......2003-07-09

I do not think I have ever taken this much time to read such a short book. At least it seamed to me that it took a long time. It was like walking up a never-ending hill. The only reason I kept plodding along is that I was interested in the overall outcome. What I am trying to say is that the book is dull. It is also that the subject is a bit on the non-sexy side so coupled with the authors "mathematics textbook" style of writing, it made a little book into something close to the Battan death march. Ok, I may be overstating it a bit, after all I did work my way through the book. The one good thing I can say is that the first half of the book was far better then the second half. How the author turned his already dull prose into something that was almost life threatening I will never know.

With all this said there were some parts of the book that gave me some insight on how legislation works its way along the process. The part I thought was most interesting is all the groups that stick their hands into the bill. People with what appeared to me to have almost no or little effects from the bill got involved and tried to get their two cents in. Plus all the back handed and obstructionist activities made me wonder how anything gets done in Washington. Overall the book was dull, but did offer a tour of what it takes to get a bill passed. There has to be better books out there on the topic, I just do not know what they are.

Eh...bleh..........2002-10-28

The story itself isn't a very interesting or informative one. The author tries to end chapters with a catchy phrase that is cynical/humorous/meaningful, but they rarely come off well. Journalistic style, if you like reading a 250 page news article, then you'll love it, but if you have a hard enough time getting through the lead of a front page article in the "New York Time," then don't bother.

pretty good.......1999-08-24

Steven Waldman does an excellent job of explaining the substantive issues surrounding the national service bill and its corollary, student aid reform, and showing how conflicting ideals were reconciled or submerged. The detail gets a bit tedious in the last chapter, but the book does live up to its subtitle. Johnson & Broder's "The System," about the 1994 health care reform campaign, is a longer but more exciting book along the same lines.

Great insight into all that happens in Congress and why.......1999-04-19

Great look at all the inside games that must take place for a bill to pass Congress. Who switches sides, who you can trust, who stabs whom in the back at the last moment. Any AmeriCorps member should read this to get a perspective of all that went into creating the program that you were a part of. Made me realize why things are the way they are in a program that has stived to do so much for our country and the young people in it.

Book like politics: fun, leaves empty space in stomach.......1998-06-15

A well written book, exhaustive, sometimes boring. Lots of detail. Gives a very good look at politics, at how power, money, sinecure and ego all come together to get a bill passed. Shows that politics is 90% money and 10% intention. Lobbyists, senators and businessmen get together to divvy up the loot. Clinton is shown as a smart operator who attempts to play to the largest possible audience and still stay true to his beliefs/ethics/ideals.

The Bill: How Legislation Really Becomes Law A Case Study of the National Service Bill

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The Bill: How Legislation Really Becomes Law A Case Study of the National Service Bill
Steven Waldman
Manufacturer: Penguin (Non-Classics)
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OJ4M6K

Book Description

This rollicking chronicle of life on Daufuskie Island, one of the sea islands of coastal South Carolina, portrays a distinct culture shaped by the physical geography of place, the historic environment of the antebellum South, and the encroachment of modern golf resorts. The unique landscape of sandy beaches, marshes, and woods of pine and oak is inhabited by the fiercely independent locals who've lived on the island for generations. This book captures an island in transition as the native islanders watch the expanding battle between environmentalists and developers eager to claim the lush land for exclusive resorts. Tender, bawdy, sacred, and profane, this poignant rendering of this unique island includes tales of voodooists, smugglers, poets, shrimpers, and Fortune 500 executives.

Customer Reviews:

Lowcountry Characters.......2007-06-27

Pinckney is a master of character development, making his anacdotes of local residents more humorous than just the incident alone. He delves into the mindset and lifestyle of the island residents; rednecks, slave decendants, half-breeds, and transplanted outsiders; their Gullah roots, religion and superstitions (voodoo), politics, social structure, and lifestyle. There is a lot of lowcountry history to be learned in a series of funny and amusing stories. I liked this book so much I purchased a second copy for a friend's birthday and two more of Pinckney's titles for myself.

Opinion of George Wood, esquire: On the extent and character of the title of the city of New York, to the land lying between high and low water mark, on the Brooklyn side of the East River

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Opinion of George Wood, esquire: On the extent and character of the title of the city of New York, to the land lying between high and low water mark, on the Brooklyn side of the East River
George Wood
Manufacturer: E.B. Spooner, printer
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding

General | Urban Planning & Development | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B0008BH4NW

The right side of the river, Motley, Minnesota: A historic chronicle

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The right side of the river, Motley, Minnesota: A historic chronicle
Ella Hoover Topp
Manufacturer: Produced by Nordell Graphic Communications
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Unknown Binding
ASIN: B00071BSEE

The Right Side Up Town on the Upside Down River

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The Right Side Up Town on the Upside Down River

Manufacturer: Maricopa Historical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000GR0BHO

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The Right Side Up Town on the Upside Down River
No Author Identified
Manufacturer: Maricopa County Historical Society
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000JC3WT0

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