Customer Reviews:
Inside Cold War Mexico.......2007-02-16
This book is an honest account of one's mans many experiences with several left-wing organizations in Mexico during the sixties and seventies. He personally chaffeured guerrillas throughout Mexico to transfer weapons, meet up with other leftists, and get money and medicine to the guerrillas in southern Mexico. But, he paid a heavy price for his idealistic actions--he was kidnapped and tortured and held at Mexico's infamous Military Camp No. 1 for over two months never knowing his fate. Luckily he has lived to tell the tale of the horrific human right's abuses commited by the government in military during these years.
Book Description
"My notes are written for the future. They are the testimon of the innocent victims of the new Chechen war, which is why I record all the detail I can" ANNA POLITKOVSKAYA
The Chechen War was supposed to be over in i996 after the first Yeltsin campaign, but in the summer of iggg the new Putin government decided to "do the job properly". Before all the bodies of those killed in the first campaign had been located or identified, thousands more would be slaughtered in another round of fighting.
The first account to be written by a Russian woman, A Dirty War is an edgy and intense study of a conflict that shows no signs of being resolved. Exasperated by the Russian governments attempt to manipulate media coverage of the war, journalist Anna Politkovskaya undertook to go to Chechnya, to make regular reports and keep events in the public eye.
In a series of despatches from July 1999 to January 2001 she vividly describes the atrocities and abuses of the war, whether it be the corruption endemic in post-Communist Russia, in particular the government and the military, or the spurious arguments and abominable behaviour of the Chechen authorities. In these courageous reports, Politkovskaya excoriates male stupidity and brutality on both sides of the conflict and interviews the civilians whose homes and communities have been laid waste, leaving them nowhere to live and nothing and no one to believe in.
Customer Reviews:
Russian Muckraking.......2006-06-23
This is a hard book to judge. In the first place, it's a collection of articles for what the author refers to as a newspaper, though the "New Gazette" appears to publish biweekly. This leads to some jarring articles next to one another: the first article denounces officials involved in the identification of the corpses of Russian soldiers killed in the first Chechen War 1994-6, and the second article, immediately following, denounces the first one as biased and reverses all of its statements. It's a bit strange.
There's also the issue of bias. Strangely, here in the States, most political conservatives disliked Putin's war in Chechnya, and Yeltsin's before him. In Russia, however, support for the war lies among Russia's conservative political community, while liberals oppose it. The war itself is run as you would expect a Russian war to be run: the soldiers sell their weapons and ammunition to the rebels, who shoot it back at the same soldiers. The soldiers are rarely, if ever paid, and are regularly charged with everything from rape to murder to the relatively mild drug posession. Civilians trapped in the middle are starving, lacking clean water, medical supplies, housing, jobs, pretty much everything. The Russian government makes a lot of promises and then doesn't fulfill any of them. The Chechens steal everything that isn't nailed down (and what is, they pry up and *then* steal), hold old people hostage, set oil wells on fire if they can't own them themselves, and set mines in their neighbors' apartments in order to encourage them to leave. Everyone in this book is a vicious, nasty, mean person, except the innocent civilians the author interviews who are caught between the two forces.
I mostly disagree with the accusations of bias on the part of the author. She clearly doesn't like Putin or any of the Russian administration, but she also rips the Chechens regularly. One reason for her concentration on the negative aspects of the Russian army is that they're not so violent that she can't interview them, while the Chechen fighters, especially their leaders, are dangerous enough that she either didn't try, or failed. Either way, there's more material here on the Russians (most of it negative) than there is on the Chechens. She does show some sympathy for the soldiers at the front: she outlines everything from how underpaid they are to the lousy food (it comes to the front rotting in the cans it's packaged in) to the indifferent officers and the horrible conditions at the front. The whole book, frankly, is full of negative, depressing things. This isn't a book you read to cheer yourself up.
I really thought this book informative, though given its anecdotal nature and content there's very little material on the course of the war itself. I would recommend it to anyone interested in the subject.
Good overview.......2004-12-15
I have to disagree to some degree with those who say this is a *completely* biased piece. I also have suspicions that those who trash this work have not read it in it's entirety, if at all. Anna is certainly an advocate for the Chechen people, but she also attempts to show, albeit in small bits, the human side of Russian troops. Her writing is vivid, impassioned, but sometimes choppy. It can be difficult to read sometimes, but that may be the translation. I'm not sure how the September 11th attacks should obscure any opinions in favor of Chechen independence. Those views expressed appear to be shallow, with a blind, "follow the leader" approach. This shouldn't be an issue where you chant, "go team!"--Why not consider both sides? If you go to www.hrw.org there are plenty accounts of Russian abuse of Chechens, to be fair there is also abuse from Chechen fighters on civilians. This is a dirty war because it is corrupt on all sides. You can also find numerous other articles, not just from Politkovskaya, that echo the same problems with corruption, human rights abuses, etc. Steven Lee Myers of the New York Times is also a good source. Why is it so unfathomable that soldiers might commit abuses, be xenophobic, rape, etc. What about Elza Kungayeva's rapist? He was a high ranking colonel. Even though her rape was ommitted from her autopsy report and he was never actually convicted of rape, he still murdered her. Is that okay? Is that fair or right? Is that not terrorism at it's finest? To form a solid opinion you really need to consider all sides; you need to look at the root problems, it isn't a simple issue.---And it's obvious that it cannot be resolved through military measures alone. There really has to be some considerate discussion. (Putin has blasted that idea so I don't think it will happen.) And you cannot put blinders up and think that abuse is impossible, or even okay. It's too easy to reduce the Chechens to a nation of terrorists.
An Interesting Story yet Too Biased for Comfort.......2004-10-18
This book was somewhat of a disapointment. This is largely due to it's obviously biased viewpoints. However, what really bothered me was its lack of real information. The story was basically a compilation of dramatic stories all stressing how inhumane or heartless the Russian soldiers were and how ignorant westerners are, which would have been okay had that not been the only thing Politkovskaya said throughout the book.
Nonetheless, their was some good content in this story. It does in the end have some interesting stories which will help you understand the region slightly better and one must respect Politkovskaya for her courage in writing such a story. Ultimately, If you are not interested in the political complexities surrounding Chechnya or already know and want first hand stories about the region this book is for you if not, save your money.
Real lies ..........2004-10-15
I completely agree with one of the reviewers : a "democratic trash" financied by terrorists ....
biased.......2004-07-03
Politkovskaia is Russia's Jane Fonda, if you liked Hanoi Jane you'll love Grozny Anna. Why read her biased liberal sympathy for Chechnya, go straight to the source and read the kavkaz websites. Read the wahhabi rebels own propaganda and see some nice videos of wahhabi mujahadeen beheading Russian soldiers and Chechen sufis. Or read Osama bin Laden's praise for Chechen Islamist jihadists. Politkovskaia was called in for the Nord Ost terrorist raid to try to negotiate with the smertniki (suicide attackers)since she is known to be a sympathiser. Afterwards she wrote an article for a Russian liberal gazette about how the Russian theater hostages "got what they deserved because Chechen rebels are suffering too." You get the idea, reading her books, she does not relate Chechen rebels with al-Qaeda and Taliban supporting Wahhabi terrorists. Politkovskaia, Fonda.
Average customer rating:
- Southern Wambaugh
- You Will Remember This Book
- A most personal, touching story about the tragedy of war
- Dirty Work Indeed
- Damn.
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Dirty Work
Larry Brown
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ASIN: 0945575203 |
Book Description
"A novel of the first order...gripping and virtually seamless....The writing, the characters, and the plot are so compelling that you can't help but stay with the book until its conclusion."--Washington Post Book World
"One sure way to deromanticize tomcat is to show its long-term effects. That's what Larry Brown does in this fine...first novel."--Newsweek
"Brown probes the hard luck of the down and out, the grim realities at the bottom of the scrap....His prose has a dark, horrific urgency. ...a real knockout."--Newsday
Customer Reviews:
Southern Wambaugh.......2007-02-22
This period of the south and the steamy afternoons of country drama play all the cards for Family, Patriotism, Race, Class and long forgotten prejudices. Joseph Wambaugh took the rural north for a journey and recently departed Larry Brown does the same for the northern reaches of Mississippi. Not an easy book to put down and not an easy set of emotions to find comfort in. Much like the works of author & Tennessee Sheriff David Hunter's works the less pleasant and the un-glossed image of the south remains.
You Will Remember This Book.......2006-03-08
I'm new to reviewing books on Amazon and have started out with reviews of my newest favorite author, Larry Brown. For great southern storytelling I love Brown's books "Fay", "Joe" and "Father and Son", and if you are a fan of any of those you probably love them for the same reason I do. But it's what is in "Dirty Work" that proves that Larry Brown was one of the very very best. I didn't know where I'd land once I started reading this book, but it took me to places that just astonished me. The narrative changes in its chapters never became stale or contrived and the development of the characters through thoughts and minimal expression is masterful. It's a powerful book.
A most personal, touching story about the tragedy of war.......2005-03-11
If you're prepared to step into a not-so-well-known zone of emotion, turmoil, introspection, strife, heartbreak, and seemingly infinite, dogged self-questioning, then this story may begin to have a lasting effect on you. It is a brief but powerful exploration into a tumultuous, emotional maelstrom about men who have been at war and live its most personal aftermaths. This novel absorbs you, and if you are so inclined, produces an empathetic connection with you that may take a while, if it ever does, for you to break.
Dirty Work is a glimpse at a pivotal moment in the lives of two men who are seemingly brought together for an important purpose. Both are victims of war through devastating wounds; physical, mental, and emotional; and are also victims of the aftermath of their recoveries. They each lived through their physical injuries but found, alas, that their survival placed them in another type of war; a war waged in the way that people react to them and in how they are expected to act around them.
Being from different races and backgrounds, the main characters, Braiden and Walter, irreparably scarred by the Vietnam conflict, are brought together in the confines of a veterans' hospital and are initially wary of each other. But as they soon discover very quickly through their stories to one another, quickly imparting emotional and unspoken understandings, they are bound to form a special bond for a special purpose.
The short time period covered in the "present" part of this story is told amidst non-stop, brief volleys of story swapping and philosophizing from Braiden and Walter. They speak of times when they were young, while in the war, about times after their war experiences, and about their present circumstances. Their exchanges are gripping, and you come to know each of these men at a level that gives you something akin to an emotional bond with them. They stay with you long after you close the back cover of the book.
Dirty Work Indeed.......2000-09-29
I'm a stone sucker for gritty Vietnam tales and don't care whether they are fantasy or realism, as long as someone is holding in their innards with a sweaty bandanna or emptying their 60 into the trees. In this novel, Brown goes where other writers like Robert Stone, Thom Jones and Bill Shields also go; things get ugly, they go to hell through nobody's fault, luck and Jesus run out at the same time. On paper, the plot seems somewhat hackneyed - the short-fuse father who ends up in the Big House, the school bullies, the Vietnam ambush scenes, etc. But Brown makes it work. We want to know what both of the main characters are thinking. Even more interesting than any of this is the budding relationship between the protagonist and another wrecked soul who sells him the beer that blunts his pain. Although the early Cuckoo's Nest reference telegraphs the ending somewhat, this book reads quick and rough, like the first elementary school beating I ever took. Recommended.
Damn........1999-11-20
Brown opens with a reference to "Johnny Get Your Gun," and the novel definitely contains parallels, but his pacing, characters and dialogue are far and away reason enough to pick this up. Like Thom Jones and Tim O'Brien, Brown elicits my great thanks and praises to both vets and the fact that I was born in 1972.
Book Description
1969 was a year of rising tension, violence and change for the people of Northern Ireland. Rioting in Derry's Bogside led to the deployment of British troops and a shortlived, uneasy truce. The British army soon found itself engaged in an undercover war against the Provisional IRA, which was to last for more than twenty years.
In this enthralling and controversial book, Martin Dillon examines the roles played by the Provisional IRA, the State forces, the Irish Government and the British Army during this troubled period. He unravels the mystery of a war in which informers, agents and double agents operate, and reveals disturbing facts about the way in which the terrorists and the intelligence agencies target, undermine and penetrate each other's ranks. The Dirty War contains startling disclosures and throws new light on previously unexplained events.
Customer Reviews:
Conflict in Ulster.......2007-08-20
Very good book detailing the three way secret war and the tactics used by the British military and law enforcement, the Ulster Paramilitaries and the IRA. It details the beginning of the modern Irish conflict in the late 1960's, it goes through the social conditions that started it off and it keeps going into the chaos that kept it going for years.
This Veteran Irish Investigative Reporter doesn't pull and punches and spells out the abuses of power and atrocites on all three sides in great detail, so it isn't like he picks favorites in this. All three sides are equally guilty of murdering innocent people at some point during the conflict and then trying to cover it up.
Interesting read if you want to know what's going on behind the headlines regarding the conflict in Northern Ireland and what drives the Ulster Paramilitaries, the IRA, the British Army and the Northern Irish Police.
Age old problem for a modern dilemma..........2004-10-25
In this `whose to blame' world the paradox portrayed by this work are the responsibilities involved in peacekeeping. The conflict in Northern Ireland has been a huge burden for the British, who have little real sympathy for either side.
However, the main thesis of Martin Dillon's The Dirty War surrounds the notion that covert intelligence procedures and operations, which require a greater intimacy between the hunter and the hunted, are sinister by nature. Somehow, to the uninitiated there seems to be a cleansing process associated by not knowing the enemy.
The `dirty' part of The Dirty War centers on the concept of assassination. Because, in an unconventional war much of the fighting and dying is done in the shadows, ambushes and small-unit actions dominate the battlefield. The problem then, seems to be that if the attacker did not know the identify of those killed it was war; if they did, it was assassination. The difference is arbitrary, in as much, as every soldier who responds to the will of those who make policy, and war understands the ugliness and reality of combat.
Herein lies the nexus between the historical struggle between the British and Northern Ireland, and the American forces in modern low intensity conflict. Operating in a democracy, controlled by the rule of law, the overriding principal that governs counterinsurgency warfare tactics is that of minimum force. This self-imposed code of ethics often appears to offer the insurgents an unfair advantage. However, as is the case in Northern Ireland so it is in Afghanistan, Iraq, and future conflicts to come...responsibility comes with power, and the United States and Great Britain, if they want to be treated with global respect, must exercise one with the other.
Best book I have read on Northern Ireland.......2000-02-28
There are many reasons to buy and admire Martin Dillon's 'The Dirty War,' which is nothing less than a monumental achievement in investigative journalism. Dillon peels the lid off a very large can of worms--two decades of undercover conflict between the IRA (Official and Provisional), British Army, RUC, Loyalists and assorted other players in Northern Ireland from 1969 to 1990. The author's painstaking research (including many first-hand interviews with participants) and scrupulous objectivity should make this book required reading in newsrooms and journalism schools everywhere. But it's not some dry exercise. A lot of 'The Dirty War' rivals the best non-fiction crime and detective writing. Dillon knows how to tell a story. He also has a knack of involving the reader in his exhaustive analysis of individual incidents and themes. When answers aren't evident, his not afraid to admit it; rather, he asks questions and draws us in. This book is an absolute must for anyone interested in the modern British Army and its counterterrorist tactics. But it's not an anti-British book and it's not an anti-IRA book. It IS continually fascinating and, refreshingly, has a strong moral compass in the author's value set to help the reader through the unpleasantness.
Dillon knows his Irish history.......2000-01-28
A good book by Dillon. He covers all parts of the Northern Irish Troubles, including British Army and security forces undercover actions and the way in which the IRA use devious "honeytraps" to tempt British Army men to their deaths. It also gives a section on the little known Loyalist paramilitary forces. I Liked this book as it was easy to read and gives a good insight into the past 30 years of the troubles. Anyone who is just getting into Irish history and is unsure about what to read, The Dirty War is an excellent starting point as, from the start, it gives you no illusions, even the title tells the truth.
An Excellent Account of an Undercover War.......1999-10-04
Having just read 'The Dirty War', I realised the charachter of the conflict in Ireland which was fought away from the headlines. Martin Dillon presents an account which is now proving correct. He objectively reveals the practice of secret burials, a story in the headlines currently, with families demanding the whereabouts of the bodies of the "disappeared". Dillon also -- without predjudice -- shows how all the combatants fought this dirty war. In particular, it is interesting that his revelations are part of the on-going discussions in the British media, especially pertaining to the role of the British intelligence agencies. Consequently, I was astounded by the review written here by Phil306@aol.com. Apart from the fact that he confused two of Dillon's books - The Dirty War and The Shankill Butchers -- it appears that he did not have a sufficeint grasp of the material. In response then why should we believe Phil306 about Sgt. Oram and not Mr. Dillon, who does not hide behind an e-mail address? Significantly, the author's revelations in both books are such that when he does not name people for legal reasons, those reasons are obvious to the intelligent reader. In his comments, Phil306 offers us a seminal awareness of a national trait which is something that Dillon clearly rejects in his balanced portrayal of all the players in both books. If phil 306 had fully digested the material in The Shankill Butchers, he would have understood that Messers. A and B were never charged with their crimes. In that context, the law in the United Kingdom would not have permitted their names to be published. Did Phil306 recognise the obvious risks to the authors' life in even giving us the insights in the facts that A & B existed? Since Phil306 appears to be the oracle in these matters, let him name A & B publicly in the British Isles, and explain his 'closeness' to Sgt. Oram. The Dirty War is an excellent book on the undercover war, and The Shankill Butchers is a stunning account of mass murder. If Phil 306 had properly read the Post Sript to the Shankill Butchers, even he could have made reasonable deductions about the identities of A and B. Perhaps, he should re-read both books and next time, avoid confusing the facts when writing a review. I am an Englishman living in the United States, and Mr. Dillon enabled me to grasp the complexities of a conflict which found its way onto my shores. I applaud Mr. Dillon for his investigative skills and his unbiased approach in his writings.
Book Description
"Provides important insider information concerning Sierra Leone's recent war . . . and builds on [the author's] established reputation as an insightful and courageous journalist." —William Reno, Northwestern University
A Dirty War in West Africa recounts Lansana Gberie's harrowing experiences as a journalist during the decade-long civil war in Sierra Leone. Since 1991, this West African nation has been brought to its knees by a series of coups, violent conflicts, and finally, outright war. The war has ended today, but it is clear that things are hardly settled. Focusing on the group spearheading the violence, the Revolutionary United Front (RUF), Gberie exposes the corruption and appalling use of rape and mutilation as tactics to overthrow the former government. Gberie looks closely at the rise of the RUF and its ruthless leader, Foday Sankoh, as he seeks to understand the personalities and parties involved in the war. This sobering and powerful account reveals the domestic and international consequences of the Sierra Leone conflict.
Customer Reviews:
Facinating and Well Written.......2007-09-25
I've never had any interest in writing a review before, but I felt compelled after reading Mr. Gberie's book. It is thorough and detailed but not overly 'academic'. I think part of what makes it stand out so much is the authors background and personal involvement in the story. He shows how the world was fooled by their pre-conceived notions about 'typical African conflicts' and by the statements of the rebels themselves. By examining the actual facts on the ground and the actions of the rebels he proves that their only motivation for existence was monetary gain. This had a profound effect on the multiple peace negotiations, which many times only made the confict worse. He traces back all of the atrocities that we associate with the RUF war and shows how human beings like you and I were coerced into carrying them out. I've traveled to Sierra Leone and the region several times but until I read this book I never felt like I really comprehended how such atrocities could occur.
I think a good complement to this book would be Blood Diamonds by Greg Campbell. Although Mr. Gberie covers some of the ways that diamonds were used to fund the war, Mr. Campbell was able to provide even more detail.
Book Description
Surrounded by an aura of political duplicity and civic unrest the even now obscures the objective eye, the Vietnam War remains one of the most highly charged subjects in our national history. But with its unique and perceptive examination of the conflict, Dirty Little Secrets of the Vietnam War offers a critical addition to the library of Vietnam War history.
Essentially a compendium of unknown facts, hidden details, and revealing statistics, Dirty Little Secrets of the Vietnam War allows us to see what really happened to American forces in Southeast Asia, separating popular myth from explosive reality in a clear, concise manner. Containing more than two hundred examinations of different aspects of the war, the book questions why the American military ignored the lessons taught by previous encounters with insurgency forces; probes the use of group think and mind control by the North Vietnamese; and explores the role technology played in shaping the way the war was fought. Of course, the book also reveals "the dirty little secrets," the truth behind such aspects of the conflict as the rise of the Montagnard mercenaries--the most feared group of soldiers participating in the secret war in Laos--and the details of the hidden struggle for the Ho Chi Minh Trail.
Like the other two books in the Dirty Little Secrets series, this book is an indispensable companion to any Vietnam War collection, a lens that allows the reader to separate the necessary facts from the reality, of one of our nation's most complex and haunting wars.
Customer Reviews:
Incomplete information.......2007-08-30
I bought the book in hopes it would add to the research material that I have collected to study my father's service in Vietnam. He was a Marine helicopter door gunner and flew hundreds of missions in a CH-46 Sea Knight. This book gives what appears at first glance to be a comprehensive chapter on the air war but makes no mention of the CH-46 helicopter. This is an unfortunate dissapointment because the CH-46 played such an important role for the Marine's in I Corps. The Marines used the Sea Knight in similar roles as the Army utilized the Huey Slick (resupply, medevac, troop & recon inserts/extracts, etc) and there were many squadrons throughout I Corps from 66-71. Obviously the author felt it unnecessary to include Marine Helicopters yet included stats on three different models of the Chinook CH-47. This omission makes this whole book suspect in my view for it is likely there are many others.
Comments on "people sniffer" are totally bogus.......2007-03-15
I was there and I did that and he is techinally and tactically completely incorrect. Not even close. Didn't read any more of the book (online), but based on that intimate assessment, don't believe anything he writes.
A entertianing, fact-filled overview of the Vietnam War.......2005-04-30
The title of this 375-page book about the Vietnam War is not accurate. There really aren't too many so-called dirty little secrets revealed and most of the material is not controversial, but the book does have a lot of interesting perspectives and factual data re the war. Eschewing the chronological approach Dunnigan and Nofi write a lot of short interesting chapters on everything from a sketch of the pre-U.S. involvement history of conflict in Vietnam and adjoining nations (which still continues as the growing ethnic Vietnamese population continues suppressing and displacing minority groups) to summaries of each aspect of combat (Army, USMC, helicopters, air war, Naval campaigns (perhaps the weakest section), etc.), descriptions of major actions and incidents and overviews of in-country "cultural" issues (drugs, racial relations, popular music, etc.).
One hallmark is lots of statistics on various topics (casualties, military demographics, air craft, weapons used, etc.). Most of these are from official sources and source references - increasing lacking in much today's politicized nonfiction - are provided. Some of the statistics are explained and provide illustrative insights but unfortunately some of the intriguing data are not well explained.
For instance, there's a general impression that surface-to-air missiles (SAMs) were the overwhelming danger to U.S. aircraft and air-to-air combat was a significant aspect of the war. But the authors present statistics which show that only 11% of aircraft lost in combat were lost to SAMs, 4% were lost in air-to-air combat while the remaining 76% were lost to anti-aircraft artillery and various conventional ground-based weapons fire. However, the authors don't clarify that many, if not most, of aircraft losses occurred over South Vietnam where SAMs and MIGs were not available to our adversaries. The 25% rate of US Navy loss to SAMs and MIGs compared with only 12% for USAF/USMC presumably reflects that the Navy operated relatively more over North Vietnam itself from Tonkin Gulf-based carriers while the USAF/USMC operated a larger percentage pf their fixed wing aircraft over the South.
Another fascinating tidbit are the statistics about deserters who accepted amnesty in the mid-1970s - many of whom had gone to Canada - showing they were disproportionately (86%) in the lowest two classifications out of four military intelligence test classifications.
A suggested reading list, multi-page glossary and extensive indexing give what is basically an entertaining read for military history buffs who are not expert on Vietnam a bit of extra value as a reference for further study.
Recommended for Vietnam War, Cold War and general military history buffs and is an excellent book about the Vietnam-era for people not even born before the war ended.
Reviewed on the 30th anniversary of the fall of Saigon. On April 29, 1975, Radio Saigon began playing Bing Crosby's "White Christmas" (an interesting fact NOT mentioned in this book) as a signal to begin Operation Frequent Wind, the evacuation of all American personnel from South Vietnam.
FORGET THE TITLE... IT'S MARKETING FOLKS.........2004-03-28
OK, SO THE TITLE IS A MISNONER..
AS A HISTORY LOVER, (44 years ) I CAN HONESTLY SAY THAT THIS IS A MUST READ FOR THOSE OF YOU WHO WANT TO KNOW THE INTER WORKINGS OF BEING AT WAR IN VIETNAM.
THIS IS NOT A BOOK YOU BREEZE THROUGH IN A COUPLE HOURS.
I FOUND MYSELF STOPPING, DIGESTING INFORMATION, SORTING OUT WHAT I HAD THOUGHT WAS FACT AND EVALUATING THE AUTHORS COMMENTS.
SO WHERE IS IT WRITTEN THAT EVERYTHING IN A NON-FICTION BOOK IS 100% CORRECT?
MISTAKES ARE MADE AND OF COURSE THE AUTHORS PERCEPTIONS OF " FACTS " POP UP IN HIS WRITINGS.
THAT IS EXACTLY WHY ONE MUST READ THE SUBJECT MATERIAL
BY OTHER WRITERS.
THIS BOOK OFFERS A GOOD QUICK INDEX TO GO BACK AND RE-READ THOSE AREAS THAT INTEREST YOU MOST.
THIS BOOK IS JAM FULL OF MILITARY INFO THAT MOST US REALLY ENJOY KNOWING ABOUT.
GO BUY IT AND I THINK MOST OF YOU WILL AGREE WITH ME.. THIS IS GOOD STUFF.
Title is misnomer.......2004-02-29
The title is a misnomer. Virtually everything is covered in other books on Vietnam. I suspect that the reviewers who praised this book on the basis of it containing hitherto unrevealed information simply have not read anything else on the subject. It does give a pretty good, if somewhat superficial overview of the war as well as the background history leading up to it. I would recommend it except for the pervasive (but not overwhelming) right wing cant. For example, the authors state that one of the reasons the war was lost by the South was that the superpowers supporting the North had more will and staying power than those (actually, one, the U.S.) supporting the South. They neglect to mention that the Americans were fighting and dying there but Russians and Chinese were not. They also adhere to the pervasive, but very questionable premise that had we been allowed to bring our full military power to bear, we would have won. They do acknowlege that U.S. losses would have been much higher and the subsequent occupation would also have been very costly and prolonged. Still, there is much information conveniently collated here from many diverse sources and if one decided to read only a single book on Vietnam, one could do worse.
Book Description
Postmemories of Terror focuses on how young Argentineans remember the traumatic events of the military dictatorship (1976-83). This work is based on oral histories with sixty-three young people who were too young to be directly victimized or politically active during this period. All were born during or after the terror and possessed an entirely mediated knowledge of it. Susana Kaiser explores how the post-dictatorship generation was reconstructing this past from three main sources: inter-generational dialogue, education, and the communication media. These conversations discuss selected and recurrent themes like societal fears and silences, remembering and forgetting, historical explanations, and accountability. Together they contribute to our understanding of how communities deal with the legacy of terror.
Book Description
Lewis provides a comprehensive, impartial examination of Argentina's "Dirty War." He analyzes the causes, describes the ideologies that motivated both sides, and explores the consequences of all-or-nothing politics. He begins by tracing the Dirty War's origins back to military interventions in the 1930s and 1940s, and the rise of General Juan Peron's populist regime, which resulted in the polarization of Argentine society. Peron's overthrow by the military in 1955 only heightened social conflict by producing a resistance movement out of which several guerrilla organizations would soon emerge. The ideologies, terrorist tactics, and internal dynamics of those underground groups are examined in detail, as well as their links to other movements in Argentina and abroad. The guerrillas reached the height of their influence when the military withdrew from power in 1973 and turned over the government to Peron's puppet president, Hector Campora. They quickly found themselves in opposition again after Peron returned from exile, and as Peronism dissolved into factions after Peron's death, the military prepared to take power again, inspired by a new "National Security Doctrine." The origins of this ideology in US Cold War doctrine and in French "revolutionary war" doctrine are fully explored, because the Argentine military's Dirty War strategy and tactics grew directly out of these ideas. The arrests, the treatment of prisoners, and the mindset of the interrogators are treated in detail. Special attention is given to the anti-guerrilla war in Tucuman's jungles, the strange history of David Graiver-the guerrillas' banker-and the Timerman case. In the last part of the book, Lewis describes the intrigues that undermined the military regime, its retreat from power, and the human rights trials that were held under the new democratic government. Those trials eventually were stopped by military revolts. Presidential pardons followed and have left Argentina divided once more. An important survey for scholars and students of Latin American politics, contemporary history, and civil-military relations.
Customer Reviews:
The one book you should read about the Dirty War.......2003-01-07
I have studied the Argentine Dirty War for over 20 years, and if I were to recommend one book to anyone to read on the subject it would be this one. There are two things that Lewis does which really set this book apart from the literature on the subject so far.
First, Lewis describes and makes sense out of all of the background starting with Peron that led up to the Dirty War. This really helps place the Dirty War in its proper context so the reader can comprehend why such terrible things occurred later. He then gives a full account of all the atrocities committed by the Argentine military. In this way he does not exonerate or excuse the Dirty War, but does make sense of why things happened the way they did.
Second, Lewis points out that there really was a war going on. The guerrillas were active, were powerful, were committing acts of terrorism and were seriously threatening to destabilize the Argentine state. A lot of anti-military sources try to portray the security threat posed by the guerrillas as a figment of the military's imagination. This was simply not true. There was a real war going on and Lewis shows that this was the case. Lewis does not excuse the ways the military chose to deal with the guerrilla threat, but does explain why rational and normal men would choose to commit such horrorific acts. In their mind they were in a desperate life and death struggle, and they acted accordingly. In retrospect they made some very bad choices, but Lewis helps explain how it all seemed rational and necessary at the time.
This book is balanced, honest and cuts through a lot of the cherished popular myths. It is fair to both sides of the conflict. Finally it is well written and flows well. I got through it in two days. This book will become a classic text on the Argentine Dirty War.
Book Description
"A remarkable account of Britain's last stand in Kenya…This is imperial history at its very best."—John Hope Franklin
In "a gripping narrative…that is all but impossible to put down" (Joseph C. Miller), Histories of the Hanged exposes the long-hidden colonial crimes of the British in Kenya. This groundbreaking work tells how the brutal war between the colonial government and the insurrectionist Mau Mau between 1952 and 1960 dominated the final bloody decade of imperialism in East Africa. Using extraordinary new evidence, David Anderson puts the colonial government on trial with eyewitness testimony from over 800 court cases and previously unseen archives. His research exonerates the Kikuyu rebels—hardly the terrorists they were thought to be—and reveals the British to be brutal aggressors in a "dirty war" that involved leaders at the highest ranks of the British government. This astonishing piece of scholarship portrays a teetering colonial empire in its final phase—employing whatever military and propaganda methods it could to preserve an order that could no longer hold. 18 photographs, 2 maps.
Customer Reviews:
a loathsome task.......2007-05-02
With the fracas about the American prison at Abu Ghraib in Iraq, one could read this book for a different perspective. It looks back at the anti-colonial rebellion in Kenya after World War 2. Best remembered in Britain and the US for the depredations of the Mau Mau. Who were demonised as the terrorists of the 1950s. A war against the Mau Mau was portrayed as a war between civilisation and savagery. See "The Hunt for Kimathi" by Henderson, as an example of the British viewpoint.
But the book writes of a different reality. The Mau Mau were only part of the manifestation of a people rising up against European colonialism. The British resorted to harsh tactics, including the detention of 70 000 Kikuyu, without trial. Here in the text is another and different account of the Kenyan struggle. Independent of the British government, and sympathetic to the Kenyans. Not that the author holds any brief for the Kenyan-style socialism which Jomo Kenyatta pursued after independence.
As the title alludes, the book gives unstinting coverage of the death penalties handed out by the British, in a valiant but futile attempt to hold back the tide. The book reminds me of how in the late 70s, in Perth, Australia, a local newspaper interviewed a white bloke who had been one of the hangmen in Kenya. His job was to execute the convicted guerrillas. But not just hang. Often, the shock of the drop would decapacitate the head. And, in any event, the bowels would evacuate. He had to clean up the mess. "A loathsome task" and "nothing like [what] the movies" depict about the gallows.
To be fair to the British, they were at that time also executing people in Britain by hanging. Albeit in far smaller numbers.
White Settler Empire.......2006-08-09
As a professional legal historian with an interest in both social history (I was nurtured in "Warwick school" historiography) and in colonial legal histories I have a strong professional interest in the subject matter of David Anderson's account of the Mau Mau period in Kenya. The book is first-rate in all respects.
It is more than this however. Thoughtful and learned, it nonetheless reads beautifully.
The book resonated with my own family history however - as it will for many readers around the world. Born into the British Empire of the 1950's, I was raised in a British settler society (Canada), saluted the Union Jack in school each day, and heard stories of Dominion and Empire as I grew up. The British Empire was the best of all possible Empires and its treatment of subjects more humane than others (the USA "Indian Wars" provided particularly strong contrast for one raised in the prairie west). Part of an Irish diaspora family, my cousins lived and live in the old country but also in Canada, Australia, the United States, and New Zealand. One uncle lived out his days in India and one black sheep dedicated herself to a communist liberation of Ireland (another served Scotland Yard arresting suspected IRA terrorists: I think they never met).
Anderson's account of Mau Mau is disturbing, not just for explaining the violence on all sides and the state excesses conducted in the cause of "security" in times of "terror", but for its account of settler society in a colony where the "native" was in the numerical majority.
Ever-smug, Canadians are too prone to celebrate our country's commitment to civil liberties, human rights, and anti-racism. The parcitular features that make Kenya's "White Highlanders" (as the settler society was known) seem vile, however, are features also present on both sides of the border in North America: the first-people's deprivation of lands; the denial of customary entitlements long-established under native law; the refusal of one generation to acknowledge the wrong-doings of their testators; the insistence on non-native political control; and subtle and not-so-subtle racism directed against the lands' first inhabitants.
Though the reader is drawn at every juncture to critical judgment of "White Highlanders", and - by necessary implication on the part of anyoone locating the book in its temporal and spatial context - white Rhodesians, and the creators of South Africa's apartheid state, no descendant of immigrants to any "settler land" can fail to recognize that their own status bears more relation to the "White Highlanders" than to the "native" victims of colonization.
HISTORIES OF THE HANGED is must-reading for settlers and their children everywhere.
Read against the background of telling classics such as Harold Cardinal's UNJUST SOCIETY, it is informative and disturbing in equal measure.
W. Wesley Pue,
Nemetz Chair in Legal History,
University of British Columbia
F.I........2005-09-21
Even as a child, and as an African, I have always been interested in the TRUE HISTORY of my continent not told by the so called conqueror, which has always shown people who rebel in a disgustingly bad and unture light. Especially the american majority, who somehow get amnesia regarding the how and why this STOLEN LAND got its so called democracy.
Once again, this book is very detailed and tells how and why really the ENTIRE CONTINENT OF AFRICA, was inflicted with dirty politics (GOLDS,DIAMONDS, MINERAL WEALTH, ETC.),for the ill gotten gaines and total disregard of the indgenous people by europe and the united HATES of america.ESPECIALLY THOSE OF COLOUR.
Shadow of empire.......2005-02-02
This expose of the English colonial history of Kenya does a good job setting the record straight on some key issues, and brings to light the suppressed shadow side of the endgme during the period of the Mau Mau. The infamous reputation of the Mau Mau always deflected attention from the totally inept and repressive nature of the last hurrah of the colonialists in the sunset of the British Empire. The colonialization of Kenya was ill-conceived and predatory from the start, and the whole history was a riddled with a set of contradictions, such as the artificial creation of the exploitative white settler culture dooming Kenyan development from the first. You cannot let loose such a gang of people such as the white settler crowd, poor white trash in a true sense, without the rapid appearance of a malignant culture and infrastructure. This account brings to light what was quickly downplayed, the massive repression of the Kikuyu during the Emergency, with the creation of acutal Gulags. The depiction of many of the judicial processes of the period, including the trial of Jomo Kenyatta, is of a mockery of justice. The Kenyan style colony was really an instance of the Empire in decline from its nineteenth century peak and at least the British had the sense after Suez not to prolong the inevitable. See also _Imperial Reckoning_, by Elkins
Book Description
In Disappearing Acts, Diana Taylor looks at how national identity is shaped, gendered, and contested through spectacle and spectatorship. The specific identity in question is that of Argentina, and Taylor’s focus is directed toward the years 1976 to 1983 in which the Argentine armed forces were pitted against the Argentine people in that nation’s "Dirty War." Combining feminism, cultural studies, and performance theory, Taylor analyzes the political spectacles that comprised the warâconcentration camps, torture, "disappearances"âas well as the rise of theatrical productions, demonstrations, and other performative practices that attempted to resist and subvert the Argentine military.
Taylor uses performance theory to explore how public spectacle both builds and dismantles a sense of national and gender identity. Here, nation is understood as a product of communal "imaginings" that are rehearsed, written, and stagedâand spectacle is the desiring machine at work in those imaginings. Taylor argues that the founding scenario of Argentineness stages the struggle for national identity as a battle between menâfought on, over, and through the feminine body of the Motherland. She shows how the military’s representations of itself as the model of national authenticity established the parameters of the conflict in the 70s and 80s, feminized the enemy, and positioned the publicâlimiting its ability to respond. Those who challenged the dictatorship, from the Mothers of the Plaza de Mayo to progressive theater practitioners, found themselves in what Taylor describes as "bad scripts." Describing the images, myths, performances, and explanatory narratives that have informed Argentina’s national drama, Disappearing Acts offers a telling analysis of the aesthetics of violence and the disappearance of civil society during Argentina’s spectacle of terror.
Customer Reviews:
A subjective examination of the Dirty War..........2006-06-17
As a graduate student of Latin-American literature, and a history buff, I can recommend this book to any uninformed individual on the Dirty War and its origins. But at the same time I would recommend that you take some of Dr. Taylor's comments with a grain of salt. Her neo-feminist attitude and strict anti-Christian stance on U.S. politics would lead some readers astray in understaning the Junta and their torture, abuse, rape, and subsequent murder of over 30,000 desaparecidos (disappeared persons).
She begins the book with her analysis of a play entitled "Paso de Dos" in which a woman, who represents the "Patria" is brutally abused in a sexual encounter with a uniformed man in a mud pit - not exactly an appropriate way to begin educating the ignorant reader about Argentine history or theatre. She could have begun differently. But after having read many of the plays of Argentina, and analyzing them in a University setting, I CAN say that Argentine theatre was written in order to be a metaphorical representation of Argentine history and "Paso de Dos" does indeed serve as an accurate metaphor.
Dr. Taylor's basic argument - which is well-documented with pictures, plays, and other historical sources - is that the Dirty War's inevitability lies in the struggle of violence (particularly against women), and that the "feminization" of opponents of past regimes in Argentina coupled with the loss of basic rights to the more subaltern groups of the country when the military are in power, both worked together after the regime of Juan Manuel Rosas to produce the Dirty War.
She gives a brilliant analysis of the Peron regime and the power wielded by both Evita and Isbelita (which had opposite results) and she also includes vivid "testmonios" when analyzing the claims of torture on the average citizens of the country from 1976-1983. I applaud her objectivity when describing the Junta and their homophobic and sexually charged desire to create an artifical definition of what it means to be "Argentine".
Now to why I give it only three stars: she does an horrific job at comparing the torture of the fascist government and their murder of the innocents of Argentina to the actions of the religious right in the U.S.A. today. As a member of what many would refer to as "the religious right", I am aghast that she would even begin to think that right-wing Christians would be in favor of creating a government even remotely similar to the Junta. Her comments in the opening chapters and the last chapter expose her misunderstanding of what it means to be Christian - because none of her comments contain the use of any Scripture, they are made from the standpoint of being a spectator, and, like most ignorant academics, she probably confuses Biblical Christianity with Roman Catholicism and sees little to no difference between them because she does not know theology.
Dr. Taylor should be ashamed at even thinking of bringing American politics into a book about Fascist Argentina thirty years ago. There is NO, I repeat, NO comparison to be made between the Junta and the religious right in the U.S.A. As a Christian, my goal is to show non-believers that they are sinners, that they diserve hell, that Christ died to pay for the penalty of their sin so that they do not have to go to hell, and that by a repentant faith in Him alone one can be saved from eternal damnation. I believe that homosexuality (because she brings it up in the book) is indeed sinful - but I would never torture a homosexual. Even if I considered homosexuals my enemies (which I do not), Christ commands me to love my enemies. I also would not slit the stomach of a pregnant woman who I planned to throw out of a plane to make her body sink faster, nor use electric shocks to torture "subversives", nor even think about mixing the Catholic church - or even my own Church - with the state of a country. The consequences of mixing church with state are evident in 16th century Europe - when under Bloody Mary thousands of Protestants were murdered at the stake. The last thing a Christian would want is to give the power of the state authority over the Church and vice versa - but try telling that to Taylor - she is more concerned with praising Hilary Clinton and other liberal women in a book that is supposed to be about Argentina. Go figure.
So, in conclusion: read this while only paying attention to what she has to say about Argentina and its history. That is valuable. Her commentary is not.
Not a First Resource Seeking Information on The Dirty War .......2005-03-10
Diana Taylor is a brilliant writer and an obviously informed expert on the Dirty War of Argentina (1963 - 1976), a writer who has composed a Doctoral Thesis approach to her well-informed information about this misunderstood atrocity that nearly destroyed Argentina. Yet sound as her thoughts are and intensely well documented though her theories prove to be, this book is not recommended as the first line of information about this subject.
Taylor's premise involves theories as to how the Dirty War, or the atmosphere under the military juntas that replaced Peronism, are based on her observations as to how the public remained fearfully silent during this time of concentration camps, torture, atrocities, and most importantly the 'desaparecidos' (or disappearing ones) whose only voices were in the quiet marches of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo. She informs us that the use of plays and spectacles attended by the Argentinians were in their own way a show of defiance to the manipulative military juntas. Performance, theatre, and poetry were the elected means of tacitly protesting the totalitarian military rule that choked this country until the fall of the juntas in the war over the Malvinas/Falkland Islands with Great Britain.
While all of what Taylor has to say is interesting and novel and important, what is needed to gain the most from this heady book is more time spent educating the reader about the political and social history of Argentina. Though the "Dirty War' is at times referenced in conversations about South American politics, sadly most of what we as the general public know of what lead up to the military takeover of the government is what we glean from such feeble resources as the musical EVITA! Though Taylor attempts to reference the state of Peronism in contrasting the fall of Juan and Evita (and subsequently Isabelita) Peron as a period of hallowing the feminine influence of the 'weak' but loved leaders, she jumps too quickly into the theory of the military overthrow as a reaction to the feminine, the desecration of the female standard so toppled by the military in its abusive treatment of women and children.
Where Taylor particularly shines (and there is MUCH to appreciate in this turgid, difficult to read book) is in her extended discussion of the Madres de la Plaza de Mayo. Here her theories all seem to gel. What is copiously discussed in the plays, poetry, and public spectacles (and Taylor is an experienced performance artist herself) is very important information, but draws excessive focus to the sedentary response to the Dirty War.
This book is doubtless an important document about a too little understood period of Argentinean history and Taylor is careful to point out similarities of public response in the US and in other countries whose governments seem less and less For and Of and By the people. I would recommend starting with more basic book about this period in time to reap the rewards that Diana Taylor has to offer in DISAPPEARING ACTS: SPECTACLES OF GENDER AND NATIONALISM IN ARGENTINA'S 'DIRTY WAR'. Grady Harp, March 05
Wonderful, fresh look at Argentina's Dirty War.......1998-07-31
Taylor has created beautiful book out of a horrendous period in Argentina. She is a wonderful writer, and the book left me with a prfound sense of sadness and a desire to save the world. I am currently studying the Dirty War and I found this book has been the meat of my studies. She looks at the Dirty War at many different angles and ties them together masterfully. From its theatricality, its war against women, and what we, as Americans, must do as spectators to this Dirty War, Taylor urges that the spectators have the greatest role of all. Even twenty years after the war has ended, Taylor has created a book that forces Americans to evaluate our situation as spectators and contributors to the darkest period of Argentina's recent history. A must read...the book is easy to understand even if you know next to nothing about Argentina.
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