1990 Books

This book provides a deeply moving portrait of the authors' time in Angola, working with MSF. They describe the most distressing work under difficult circumstances, in a country I knew little about. The book is written in an honest and sincere tone, which effectively expresses the enormous human tragedy. The sterling work done by the authors and other volunteers is presented in an unassuming way, but I am in awe of what they have done.
You must read this book. You will cry, you will sit up half the night to finish it and you will realise how fortunate we are - but you will not forget those who died in Angola.

As a political scientist interested in Angola I find myself caught-up in detailing battles, troop movements, political parties and leaders, etc. Upon reading this excellent book by two people, Doctors Without Borders vounteers) who spent time in Kuito, Angola I was stunned to realize that I often forget the human cost of warfare. Anyone who reads this book will get a gripping reminder, some with pictures, as to what a bullet or landmine can do to a human body. These brave people volunteered their time to work in conditions so primitive that one is in awe that they saved anyone at all. Yet, in this war torn city they performed miracles on a daily basis. The next time I read about injuries and casualties in warfare, this book will remind me that it is more than a word. It denotes human suffering that few of us can imagine. The authors do a good job of telling their story without being too judgmental of the government and rebels. As with many nations in the world, the people of Angola deserve our humanitarian aid, respect as human beings, and our prayers. An excellent book, buy it!

A wonderful collection of interviews, lectures, and short stories, some easily the equal of those found in "River." The interviews reveal a charming and intelligent man. His gift for opening lines is shown again and again, as his is talent for making prose blur quietly into poetry. I just reread "River" for the first time in several years, and remembered this book. I loaned it several years ago, and the borrower apparently couldn't bear the parting. A fine book.

I picked up this collection of essays and interviews after being dazzled by "A River Runs Through It." The high quality of Maclean's prose there is continued on in this collection. Particularly good are the essays "This Quarter I am Taking McKeon: A Few Remarks on the Art of Teaching" (this is an absolutely wonderful essay if one is interested, in any way, in careers in teaching) and "Billiards is a Good Game" (which Maclean believed was one of the finest things he ever wrote).

These and other essays and interviews reveal Maclean's character and style, and reinforce his position as a master of American prose. This position was evident in "River," and his essays here while reinforcing it also reveal another distinctly American quality to it - the ammount of care and hard work Maclean took in his writings.

This volume is recommended to those who want to read more of Maclean, are interested in writing or education, or are simply looking for good reads. As a collection of essays and interviews it succeeds admirably in all these qualities, and is well worth reading.

This book tells about the enchanting truth of Kim Il Sung and his son Kim Jong Il. I found it amazing and surprisingly accurate with abslutly no propoganda. Dae Sook Suh is one of the best authors of our time!

Book edited by two significant american North Korea researcher had good , no propaganda picture of North Korean State and Society. This information is very needed now after Korean Summit. The book is divided for four chapters. In first part of first chapter autor prof. Suh Dae-suk presented north korean leader Kim Jong Il.He presented preconditions prsonality Kim Jong Il , Childhood ,relations with father Kim Il Sung, stepmother,family relations , education , work expierence, Study in East Germany in Air Miltary Academy interst for movie and arts. Prof. Suh Dae -suk is the best in the world knowner Kim Il Sung and Kim Jong Il.Intersting are remarks on the future political activity Kim Jong Il. Second chapter written by prof. Marcus Noland analysed perspectives opening North Korea,s economy. Second part of book egsamineed american - North Korea relations. The authors are wide known experts like: Selig s. Harrison ,B.C.Koh ,C.Kenneth Quinnones. Third part book pay attention to security and nuclear issues . Authors are american scholars: Doug Bandow , Edward A. Olsen.They presented north korean stategy in this field. Fourth chapter egsamined the relations North Korea with China and Japan . The neighbour,s enviroment North Korea is very significant for the future interkorean dialogue . The last article tell about North South relations . Author is Lee Chong-sik. Prof.R. Scalapino in the introduction noted that North Korea have very limited possibility involve to international coopperation. That Kim Dae -jung engagement and sunshine policy give the chance open in the future Hermit Kingdom. The book is very useful for Scholars and students try understand Noth Korean Issue. Marceli Burdelski Ph. D. The Department Asia Pacific Studies Institute of Political Studies polish Academy of Sciences Warsaw Poland polmb@univ.gda.pl

For years now, Western observers of North Korea have tended to use absolutes in describing the country. It is, for example, said to be the last Stalinist nation on earth and the world's most secretive, isolated, autarkic society, while its leader (Kim Chong-il) is characterized and caricatured as odd and ruthless in the extreme. None of these descriptors is necessarily wrong, but individually and collectively they tend to obscure the fact that a great deal has changed over the past several decades.

Riding to the rescue, so to speak, is the distinguished Russian scholar Andrei Lankov, who has gathered together in "North of the DMZ: Essays on Daily Life in North Korea" articles originally printed in the "Korea Times" and "Asia Times." Lankov brings to his musings and this book exceptional skills and credentials: he writes beautifully, has a fine sense of humor, attended Kim Il-song University several decades ago, knows South Korea as well as its northern counterpart, and has personally experienced growing up in a Communist country. The resulting book is a delight to read and certainly one of the most valuable primers ever published on North Korea, with its 100-plus essays at once both anecdotal in tone and exceptionally well-researched.

Lankov's main focus in "North of the DMZ" is the life of everyday North Koreans, and in this regard the essays cover everything from the arts, media, social structure, and recreation to love and marriage, transportation, education, and food supplies. Another large portion of the essays cover policies and control systems that the government has tried to impose, with the emphasis here on how poorly these are actually working. The essays were not written with the intent of answering strategic questions about the viability of the North Korean state, and the book does not address the perspectives of those who rule or such issues as the role of nuclear weapons in ensuring the survival of North Korea. Nonetheless, "North of the DMZ" paints a compelling picture of a society and economy in flux. This society bears little resemblance to the tightly-controlled and idealized country described in official propaganda, and anyone seeking to answer strategic questions about North Korea's future will want to factor in the tactical ground truth uncovered by Lankov.

Most talking heads, or indeed all talking heads, especially those you see on TV or read from articles, can only pretend to know anything about North Korea, and then only superficially, and even that is from the speculations of others who themselves in turn, for lack of real knowledge, only imagine what life is like in North Korea, based on whatever meager rumors and arrogant and erroneous hearsay they picked up from places they don't remember, and necessarily supplemented and twisted using their own unfortunately totally unrelated life experience. All, that is, except Andrei Lankov.

It's amazing to realize how little we Westerners know about communism after 50 years and hundreds of billions of dollars fighting and analyzing it, let alone a far eastern version of it, let alone one that's pushed to the extreme.

North Korea is almost a make-believe world.

Andrei Lankov grew up in the communist USSR and spent two(?) years in the Kim Il-Sung university in the DPRK, and is now a lecturer/processor in a university in South Korea. His essays about life in the DPRK have run on the Korea Times website for some time, and have been some of the most sought-after articles. Now collected in book form, they tell of the daily life in DPRK from an insider's point of view, with profound understanding of how communism really works. They make a fascinating read for anyone who is interested in the bizarre but logical in its own way world of communism. The writing style is particular cozy and fun. Enjoy a few of these essays, and you can probably talk more intelligently or at least correctly about the DPRK than 90% of the talking heads who are too busy projecting opinions and making money to have any time left to understand something as difficult as communism or the DPRK.

In 1989 five states and two multinational corporations schemed to locate a 'low level' nuclear waste dump in an isolated northern Nebraska county by offering them, $3 million a year for 40 years. The town officials agreed to host the site - but what evolved was unexpected on all sides: a fierce battle by Boyd county's farmers who fought corporations, the state and the federal government to prevent this from happening. Author Susan Cragin was asked to write this story by Greg Hayden, Nebraska's commissioner to the Compact charged with sitting the dump, who was opposed to the Boyd County selection process. Her eye-opening account is moving and revealing.

Diane C. Donovan
California Bookwatch

This true story, researched and told by Susan Cragin, is an amazing tale that is so captivating, I couldn't put it down. The author deserves great respect for digging out the complexities of a story spanning over 20 years. The book is especially interesting because it not only tells the story from the perspective of a group of people struggling to stop the powers-to-be from building a nuclear dump in their agricultural community, it includes the actions, motivations and insights from those supporting the dump. Getting both sides of the story makes this book special. The book is never a dry recounting of facts. It is a powerful read as it enlightens, inspires and entertains.

From the beginning, through to Nashville Skyline and the Isle of Wight. From King of Folk to Ghosts of Electricity to Country Pie. This volume covers the decade when Bob Dylan redefined popular music and showed that rock music is a true art form of the twentieth century.

Olof Bjorner and I were separated by the Atlantic Ocean in the 1960's, but we had much in common. For example, we each discovered Bob Dylan's music in the 1960's, music which always seemed to reflect our lives. When we were outraged at injustice, we heard his voice; when we were confused or angry, we heard his voice; when we were in love, we heard his voice; when we were in the mood for a party, we heard his voice; when we feared the apocalypse, we heard his voice; and most of all when we wanted expression in music, we heard his voice. And we can change the past tense of the preceding sentence into present tense, for in fact we still hear his voice today.

The urgency of Dylan's influence makes his work a terrific subject for study, and this first volume of Olof's Files sets the standard for fans who want to know where and when Dylan was recorded, what he sang and said, and who was there. Those who have never sat down to study Dylan's performances may be stunned by the depth of available detail. Those who have studied Dylan will be very pleased by this in-depth reference work.

Open the book to any page, and see what you discover. (Page 240) Dylan performed 19 takes of She's your Lover Now (a fine song intended for Blonde on Blonde but never released until 1991's release of Dylan's THE BOOTLEG SERIES Volumes 1-3)on January 21, 1966, then dropped it summarily. (Page 58) Provides a chronicle of Dylan's show at Gerde's Flk City on April 16, 1962 - were you there?

You get the picture. This book is an extremely valuable resource for those who love Dylan's music and want to discover more about it.

Best of all, this is just the first Volume in a set that promises to become *the* reference book on Dylan.

It has a great soundtrack, too.

When the union's inspiration through the workers' blood shall run
There can be no power greater anywhere beneath the sun;
Yet what force on earth is weaker than the feeble strength of one,
But the union makes us strong.

This old labor hymn was written by Ralph Chaplin way back in 1915 and is the unofficial anthem of the US labor movement. It's sung at labor rallies and gatherings, but with an interesting twist. Organizers often pass out songsheets because many of the assembled labor activists don't know the words.

It's a sobering and even embarrassing moment for the US labor movement which is now down to about 8% of the private sector workers. Those who romanticize organized labor based on college history classes or nostalgic folksong fests need to remember that solidarity always begins with a hope....not a certainty.

And if solidarity ends in even a small partial victory, you can bet there will have been lot of hard work, hard feelings and heartaches along the way to that ecstatic moment when the victory celebrations begin.

Suzan Erem and E. Paul Durrenberger have put together a book that tells how solidarity really works and that yes, the words that Ralph Chaplin penned can become a reality even to those of us who can't remember the lyrics without a songsheet.The book is the product of years of research and writing from a team that consists of a former union organizer and an anthropologist . You couldn't ask for a better combo.­

January 19, 2000 was a bad night for the City of Charleston S.C. and the Port through which so much of it economy depends. What had been planned as a routine picket of a ship being unloaded by a non-union crew escalated into a bloody melee involving hundreds of mostly Black dockworkers and mostly white police. Even though some of the picketers were white, no one doubted that there was an ugly racial component to the behavior of the cops. It's a wonder no one was killed.

South Carolina has a long violent racial history that stretches back to the earliest slave days and many Black South Carolinians had to die before the chains of slavery and later Jim Crow were finally cast off. Although modern South Carolina likes to pretend that its days of white supremacy are over, its citizens know better.

The authors of On the Global Waterfront describe in detail what happened that January evening. Later, local police and union officials both concluded that the confrontation had simply gotten out of hand. Some workers apologized to the police the next morning for the rocks and railroad ties they had thrown. For their part, the local police wanted to settle the whole thing as simple cases of trespass. Police behavior that night was far from exemplary and their provocations and brutality had been fully recorded on video.

City officialdom wanted the whole incident disposed of quickly and quietly so as not give the city a reputation for being "troubled". Troubled ports repulsed rather than attracted the kind of shipping business that the Charleston economy had come to depend upon.

But this was a new Millennium and the realities of a globalized economy made it impossible for Charleston to quietly bury that violent evening.

The 5 men who were charged with serious felony offenses as a result of the riot become the focal point of a complex international struggle that involved competing US dockworker unions, an international network of dockworker militants who saw Charleston as an opening salvo against dockworkers everywhere, a politically ambitious rightwing Christian fundamentalist politician, competing interests among the shipping owners themselves and an expensive legal battle that managed to cross oceans before being resolved.

It would have been easy to lose readers in this bewildering story, but Suzan Erem and E. Paul Durrenberger manage to tell it without resorting to facile oversimplification. One comes away with a special appreciation for ILA Local 1422 President Ken Riley who led his local through the entire struggle with an intelligence and grace under fire that was key to their eventual victory.

Ken Riley's union was the East Coast based International Longshoremen's Association(ILA), an organization with a tainted history of corruption and gangsterism that had endeared them to the worst of the brutal shipping company owners. Ken Riley represented a new generation of dockworker leaders, people who wanted to clean up the union and adopt a militant stance toward the pressures of the new globalized economy. The oldline leadership of the ILA hated Ken Riley and everything he stood for. It would take many months before the national ILA leadership lifted a pinky finger to help Local 1422.

Fortunately, the West Coast based International Longshore and Warehouse Union(ILWU) had a much different tradition that had grown out of the bloody 1934 San Francisco General Strike. Their leadership evolved from the leftwing movements of the 1930's and their legendary former leader Harry Bridges had been accused of being a communist, not a Mafia thug. Their tradition was one of labor solidarity and alliances with social movements for peace and civil rights.

The modern ILWU leadership grasped immediately the importance of Charleston. If the international shipping industry could break ILA Local 1422 and the port of Charleston went non-union, the results could be catastrophic for dock workers everywhere. The ILWU immediately contacted Ken Riley and offered him the kind of money and international contacts he needed to save not only the 5 workers facing serious charges but his very union local.

On the Global Waterfront takes the reader step by step on how another kind of globalization was evolving, the globalization of the labor movement. As Charleston 5 defense committees sprang up and the creaky wheels of the AFL-CIO leadership began to turn in favor of ILA Local 1422, the authors make it clear that all of this was the result of long exhausting hours of work done by a core of very smart and very committed people with the support of thousands around the world.

When victory for the Charleston 5 and Local 1422 finally came in March of 2002 it was a time for joyful celebration. It also became a time of deep reflection as labor activists around the planet pondered their next move in a globalized economy when money crossed borders at light speed and the economies of entire nations were dwarfed by the largest global corporations

Global capital by its very nature seeks to cheapen the price of labor to increase its profits. To do this it must maintain efficient production while fighting to keep workers as disunited and divided as possible. But efficient modern production is difficult with a dispirited demoralized labor force, so the more far-seeing multinational corporate owners see a place for compromise with the global labor movement. This is not compromise based on any sort of moral values or sense of justice, but a cold calculation of power relationships.

It's class war. But even in war, enemies sign treaties and ceasefires while they anxiously assess what the capabilties of their adversaries might be when the peace is finally broken again.

The last chapter of On the Global Waterfront is called "Not Just Another Labor Story". The authors aren't kidding. It's easy to say,"Think globally, but act locally". But what are we exactly supposed to think about? And what actions are we supposed to take?

The morning after that bad night of violence in Charleston SC, Ken Riley and the other Local 1422 activists did not have immediate answers to those questions. But with their own formidable inner resources and the help of others around the world, they came up with some pretty good answers later on. How they did it is an organizers textbook for anyone concerned about social justice.

What Ken Riley and the members of ILA Local 1422 discovered when they took their campaign on the road was that there really is a solidarity community out there and it is truly global. We don't hear about it much from our corporate-owned media (surprise.....surprise), but it's real, it's growing and we here in the USA really need to take our place in this global community.

Whether you are a union militant, a feminist, an environmentalist, an anti-racist organizer, a peace advocate, a combination of all these things or any kind of social activist at all, it really is Global Solidarity Time.

Living in the world capital of individualistic dog-eat-dog cat-eat-mouse economics, solidarity is not something we are taught in school, inherit as part of our common culture or learn about on "Reality TV". It's going to take some effort, but the Ken Riley's of the world are patiently waiting to teach us all about it.

In our hands is placed a power greater than their hoarded gold,
Greater than the might of armies, magnified a thousand-fold.
We can bring to birth a new world from the ashes of the old
For the union makes us strong.

This compelling account of the fight to stop decimation of the labor movement by global corporations working in league with the racist anti-labor government of South Carolina may well be the best written and best researched book of its genre. The captivating story pits longshoremen's union local president Ken Riley against South Carolina Attorney General Charley Condon in a David vs. Goliath battle that will have you staying up late to finish the book. The skills of anthropologist Durrenberger and journalist Erem merge seamlessly to produce a tour de force that tells the story of labor action on the waterfront in Charleston before expanding globally to give the reader a clear understanding of how the religious right, neoconfederate southern racists, neoconservatives, and globalizing corporations are teaming up to crush and impoverish workers everywhere by criminalizing dissent while themselves disregarding law and propriety. In the process, the reader is treated to a course on the labor movement more concise and useful than any college semester on the subject. The high global stakes in what would appear on the surface to be an isolated local labor strike are clearly laid out, leaving the reader with an understanding of the threat we all face from the globalization juggernaut. If you only read one book on labor or globalization, this must be it.

This is a wicked book. It made the rounds on a family vacation and by the end of it, we'd all read it. It is a page-turner and gives an illuminating look into the savage thuggery of a particular rebel group in Sierra Leone and a window into some of what it's like in that part of the world.

OCD is a very thorough account of Operation Barras - the true story of British soldiers kidnapped by the rebel forces in Sierra Leone, and the dangerous and desperate mission to secure their release. This is a gripping read and a compelling page turner! Lewis has put a great deal of effort into characterisation which really pays off - I was transported from my armchair to the hideous hide-out of the infamous West Side Boys. There, the normal social rules had broken down and the hostages were subjected to horrendous and macabre displays of torture, rape and murder and were at the sharp end of beatings, humiliation and psychological terror. My only method of escape was to read on as fast and as furious as I could. Lewis finishes the book with thoughtful and timely comments about the failing role of the UN in its ability to keep the peace. It gives food for thought about how global security needs and the role of 'private armies' have to be reassessed.

Couldn't put it down - Bit of a puff piece for Bill - But I'm sort of a Newt guy - Extremely well documented - How did Erskine Bowles lose an election - D -

Bill Clinton and Newt Gingrich working together?! Despite the fact that these two political heavyweights have made careers out of bashing one another, this book shows that once upon a time they worked together on a secret alliance that might have fixed Social Security. Once the Lewisnsky scandal broke, Gingrich felt like he had to distance himself from Clinton and everything fell apart. The author uses a lot of first-hand resources (letters and interviews) to help tell this fascinating story.

Stephen F. Szabo presents a balanced if subjective look at the factors leading to the rift between Washington and Berlin over Iraq. He adroitly portrays how Sept. 11, 2001, was the shotgun in the marriage between U.S. conservative nationalists (Bush, Vice President Richard Cheney) and neo-conservatives (Paul Wolfowitz, Richard Pearl). The neo-cons seek to ensure American security by spreading democracy to every inch of the globe. Szabo ably profiles the historical and cultural circumstances that contributed to the German perception that Bush is a greater threat to world peace than Saddam Hussein. He also uncovers the underlying geopolitical fault lines causing the diplomatic temblors that are rattling the dishware on both sides of the Atlantic. His book is an excellent tactical portrayal of how a vital, longstanding diplomatic relationship can disappear virtually overnight. We strongly recommend this volume to any serious student of international relations, the Atlantic Alliance and the Bush Administration, particularly in regard to its response to 9/11.

Parting Ways: The Crisis in German-American Relations is the first in-depth examination of the German-American relationship written since the recent invasion of Iraq. While America's tensions with France over the war has held a higher profile, America's relationship with Germany suffered severe deterioration. Professor of European studies Stephen F. Szabo suggests that the clash between Germany and the U.S. regarding policy in Iraq reflects even greater changes shaping the relationships between the two nations, as the U.S.-German relationship loses strategic importance in the post-cold war era, a new German identity rises within Germany, and the U.S. foreign policy serves the will of what is arguably the most ideological administration since the mid-twentieth century. A meticulous, in-depth study of the cutting-edge political climate, paying special attention to the legacies of the Holocaust on the German psyche - both the older and the younger generations. A "must-read" for anyone closely researching German-American relations, written in detail yet using terminology highly accessible to the lay reader.