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A History of Iraq Author: Charles Tripp Publisher: Cambridge University Press Publication Date:August 2007 Summary: To understand Iraq, Charles Tripp’s history is the book to read. Since its first appearance in 2000, it has become a classic in the field of Middle East studies, read and admired by students, soldiers, policymakers and journalists. The book is now updated to include the recent American invasion, the fall and capture of Saddam Hussein and the subsequent descent into civil strife. What is clear is that much that has happened since 2003 was foreshadowed in the account found in this book. Tripp’s thesis is that the history of Iraq throughout the twentieth-century has made it what it is today, but also provides alternative futures.  Unless this is properly understood, many of the themes explored in this book - patron-client relations, organized violence, sectarian, ethnic and tribal difference - will continue to exert a hold over the future of Iraq as they did over its past. Book Description To understand Iraq, Charles Tripp’s history is the book to read. The updated book includes the recent American invasion, the fall of Saddam Hussein and the subsequent descent into civil strife. Tripp argues that the history of Iraq throughout the twentieth century has shaped where it is today.  ISBN:0521878233

A History of Iraq

Author: Charles Tripp

Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Publication Date:August 2007

Summary:

To understand Iraq, Charles Tripp’s history is the book to read. Since its first appearance in 2000, it has become a classic in the field of Middle East studies, read and admired by students, soldiers, policymakers and journalists. The book is now updated to include the recent American invasion, the fall and capture of Saddam Hussein and the subsequent descent into civil strife. What is clear is that much that has happened since 2003 was foreshadowed in the account found in this book. Tripp’s thesis is that the history of Iraq throughout the twentieth-century has made it what it is today, but also provides alternative futures. 

Unless this is properly understood, many of the themes explored in this book - patron-client relations, organized violence, sectarian, ethnic and tribal difference - will continue to exert a hold over the future of Iraq as they did over its past. Book Description To understand Iraq, Charles Tripp’s history is the book to read. The updated book includes the recent American invasion, the fall of Saddam Hussein and the subsequent descent into civil strife. Tripp argues that the history of Iraq throughout the twentieth century has shaped where it is today. 

ISBN:0521878233

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Evil Hour in Colombia Author:Forrest Hylton Publisher: Verso Books Publication Date:September 2006 Summary: From Publishers Weekly  Colombia’s long-drawn-out internal strife between guerrillas, paramilitaries and the state is confusing to many outsiders. The numerous groups fighting for land and power, combined with the presence of powerful narco-traffickers, have created an environment of violent chaos and political conflict. Hylton, a researcher in history at New York University, helps make sense of this disorder in his detailed and concise history of Colombia over the last 150 years. In this short book, he manages to create a full picture of Colombian history and the violence that marks it. At a quick, consistent pace, the book moves through the early causes of radical mobilization in the mid-19th century and the system of repression that emerged in response.  Hylton examines the fractured social and political circumstances that spawned the extremist groups as well as the forces, such as the rise of coffee exports after 1880, that have fueled them. He also examines the major role the United States has played in Colombia’s history, and how the “war on drugs” was often executed with Washington’s broader political and economic goals in mind. By the end of this well-researched book, Hylton clarifies Colombia’s endemic violence as a social and political phenomenon.  (Nov.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.  Review As Forrest Hylton argues,  the view that violence is inherent to Colombian society ignores…the country’s…history of democratic reform. —James Sanders, London Review of Books A major theme of Hylton’s book is to bring ethnicity as well as class into the account of the historical and contemporary violence in Colombia. —Jenny Pearce, Journal of Latin American Studies Colombia’s war-without-end has been sustained by US intervention and subsidized by our own ignorance and indifference to the fate of this great country. Evil Hour in Colombia is a brilliant investigation of a complex and tragic history, as well as an eloquent indictment of Washington’s policies.  (Mike Davis ) A corrective to those servants of empire who would have us believe that the main threat facing Latin America today is left-wing populism, Forrest Hylton’s Evil Hour in Colombia describes in alarming detail the real danger to the region: the spread of paramilitarism, which in Colombia has grown beyond its rural death-squads roots to graft itself into the highest branches of government, crime, and society. This book is an exacting portrait of the face of American ‘hard power’ in the Andes, a must read for anyone interested in what awaits the rest of the world if Washington’s power remains unchecked. (Greg Grandin ) ISBN:1844675513

Evil Hour in Colombia

Author:Forrest Hylton

Publisher: Verso Books

Publication Date:September 2006

Summary:

From Publishers Weekly 

Colombia’s long-drawn-out internal strife between guerrillas, paramilitaries and the state is confusing to many outsiders. The numerous groups fighting for land and power, combined with the presence of powerful narco-traffickers, have created an environment of violent chaos and political conflict. Hylton, a researcher in history at New York University, helps make sense of this disorder in his detailed and concise history of Colombia over the last 150 years. In this short book, he manages to create a full picture of Colombian history and the violence that marks it. At a quick, consistent pace, the book moves through the early causes of radical mobilization in the mid-19th century and the system of repression that emerged in response. 

Hylton examines the fractured social and political circumstances that spawned the extremist groups as well as the forces, such as the rise of coffee exports after 1880, that have fueled them. He also examines the major role the United States has played in Colombia’s history, and how the “war on drugs” was often executed with Washington’s broader political and economic goals in mind. By the end of this well-researched book, Hylton clarifies Colombia’s endemic violence as a social and political phenomenon. 

(Nov.) Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. 

Review As Forrest Hylton argues, 

the view that violence is inherent to Colombian society ignores…the country’s…history of democratic reform. —James Sanders, London Review of Books A major theme of Hylton’s book is to bring ethnicity as well as class into the account of the historical and contemporary violence in Colombia. —Jenny Pearce, Journal of Latin American Studies Colombia’s war-without-end has been sustained by US intervention and subsidized by our own ignorance and indifference to the fate of this great country. Evil Hour in Colombia is a brilliant investigation of a complex and tragic history, as well as an eloquent indictment of Washington’s policies. 

(Mike Davis ) A corrective to those servants of empire who would have us believe that the main threat facing Latin America today is left-wing populism, Forrest Hylton’s Evil Hour in Colombia describes in alarming detail the real danger to the region: the spread of paramilitarism, which in Colombia has grown beyond its rural death-squads roots to graft itself into the highest branches of government, crime, and society. This book is an exacting portrait of the face of American ‘hard power’ in the Andes, a must read for anyone interested in what awaits the rest of the world if Washington’s power remains unchecked. (Greg Grandin )

ISBN:1844675513

1 note

Vietnam Inc. Author : Philip Jones Griffiths Publisher: Phaidon Press (September 25, 2001) Language: English ISBN-10: 0714841528 ISBN-13: 978-0714841526 Editorial Reviews Review ‘Few photo books can claim the social and historic importance of Vietnan Inc.’ (Bookforum) ‘The greatest description of war since Goya”, raved Henri Cartier-Bresson… Thirty years on, Vietnam Inc. is still a classic… essential to anyone interested in Vietnam’s history, America, photography or war.’ (Far Eastern Economic Review) —This text refers to the Paperback edition. Product Description First published in 1971, Vietnam Inc. was crucial in changing public attitudes in the United States, turning the tide of opinion and ultimately helping to put an end to the Vietnam War. Philip Jones Griffiths’ classic account of the war was the outcome of three years’ reporting and is one of the most detailed surveys of any conflict. Showing us the true horrors of the war as well as a study of Vietnamese rural life, the author creates a compelling argument against the de-humanizing power of the modern war machine and American imperialism. Rare and highly sought-after, the book has become one of the enduring classics of photo-journalism. It is now available in this new edition a careful recreation of the original with Philip Jones Griffiths’ personal layouts and commentaries. A new introduction by US linguist and political critic Noam Chomsky discusses the book’s impact in changing public opinion. http://amzn.to/e7AxoV 

Vietnam Inc.

Author : Philip Jones Griffiths

Publisher: Phaidon Press (September 25, 2001)

Language: English

ISBN-10: 0714841528

ISBN-13: 978-0714841526

Editorial Reviews

Review

‘Few photo books can claim the social and historic importance of Vietnan Inc.’ (Bookforum) ‘The greatest description of war since Goya”, raved Henri Cartier-Bresson… Thirty years on, Vietnam Inc. is still a classic… essential to anyone interested in Vietnam’s history, America, photography or war.’ (Far Eastern Economic Review) —This text refers to the Paperback edition.

Product Description

First published in 1971, Vietnam Inc. was crucial in changing public attitudes in the United States, turning the tide of opinion and ultimately helping to put an end to the Vietnam War. Philip Jones Griffiths’ classic account of the war was the outcome of three years’ reporting and is one of the most detailed surveys of any conflict. Showing us the true horrors of the war as well as a study of Vietnamese rural life, the author creates a compelling argument against the de-humanizing power of the modern war machine and American imperialism. Rare and highly sought-after, the book has become one of the enduring classics of photo-journalism. It is now available in this new edition a careful recreation of the original with Philip Jones Griffiths’ personal layouts and commentaries. A new introduction by US linguist and political critic Noam Chomsky discusses the book’s impact in changing public opinion.

http://amzn.to/e7AxoV 

1 note