The common ground of these essays which span twenty–five years of journalism is the ground where Arabs and non–Arabs co–exist. The author of several novels, including ‘The Map of Love’, which was a Booker Prize finalist, wrote these articles from 1981–2004. She says that they “are the direct product of the interaction between myself and the condition of living in the UK.”.
She is keenly aware that the UK and western media present a twisted and biased view of the Arab and Middle Eastern world. She writes that, “It was impossible Read more [...] Category Archives: Book Reviews
Soueif, Ahdaf. MEZZATERRA: Fragments from the Common Ground. 2004. Anchor Books, USA.
The common ground of these essays which span twenty–five years of journalism is the ground where Arabs and non–Arabs co–exist. The author of several novels, including ‘The Map of Love’, which was a Booker Prize finalist, wrote these articles from 1981–2004. She says that they “are the direct product of the interaction between myself and the condition of living in the UK.”.
She is keenly aware that the UK and western media present a twisted and biased view of the Arab and Middle Eastern world. She writes that, “It was impossible Read more [...] Comments Off on Soueif, Ahdaf. MEZZATERRA: Fragments from the Common Ground. 2004. Anchor Books, USA.
Filed under Ahdaf Soueif, Book Reviews
Soueif, Ahdaf. THE MAP OF LOVE. 2000. Bloomsbury Publishing. London. UK.
This is wonderful sweep of fiction across a century of people and their place in society, war, oppression, and cultural differences in the vast and complex history of North Africa. Its colonial past and the seeds of contemporary violence in Egypt and Palestine are woven into the development of two love stories, one hundred years apart, both highly unconventional for their times.
Anna Winterbourne is the widow of a soldier who was emotionally destroyed by his role in the British massacre of Sudan where, “An army of 7000 British and 20000 Egyptian Read more [...] Comments Off on Soueif, Ahdaf. THE MAP OF LOVE. 2000. Bloomsbury Publishing. London. UK.
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Soviet Princeton: Slim Evans and the 1932-33 Miners’ Strike by Jon Bartlett and Rika Ruebsaat.2015. New Star Books, Vancouver BC. .ISBN:9781554201099
Review by Theresa Wolfwood
“This is the story of a heated confrontation that took place in Princeton during the depths of the Great Depression- a struggle over coal mine owners’ attempt to roll back miners’ wages…features mounted police charging picket lines; searches of workers’ homes for subversive literature, physical assaults; the creation of a Citizens’ League to oppose the miners; union; a kidnapping; crosses burning in hills above the town…”
This is a fascinating little-known vignette of Canadian history, the story Read more [...] Comments Off on Soviet Princeton: Slim Evans and the 1932-33 Miners’ Strike by Jon Bartlett and Rika Ruebsaat.2015. New Star Books, Vancouver BC. .ISBN:9781554201099
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Sprague, Jeff. PARAMILITARISM AND THE ASSAULT ON DEMOCRACY IN HAITI. 2012. Monthly Review Press, NY, USA. ISBN 978-1-58367-301-0
Review by Theresa Wolfwood
Sprague, a USA scholar, has written a detailed and readable history of Haiti, now the poorest country in this hemisphere; once the source of great wealth for its colonizer, France. His emphasis after reviewing early history is on the last 40 years of paramilitarism. (Paramilitarism is militarism that is outside the structure of regular government military – in Haiti’s case, militarism controlled by wealthy elites.)
He writes, “The central focus of this book, the phenomenon of paramilitarism in Haiti and its Read more [...] Comments Off on Sprague, Jeff. PARAMILITARISM AND THE ASSAULT ON DEMOCRACY IN HAITI. 2012. Monthly Review Press, NY, USA. ISBN 978-1-58367-301-0
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St–Pierre, Éric with Emerson da Silva, Mathieu Lamarre, & Barbara Sandlands. FAIR TRADE: A HUMAN JOURNEY 2009. Les Éditions de l´homme. Montreal, Canada.
“Today neoliberalism and its Holy Trinity – deregulation, innovation and globalization – are facing a crisis, and we
are finding out that the trendy notion of ´sustainable development´ is… an oxymoron. The time is ripe to rethink our way of doing things and fight the spread of individualism and consumerism… Fair trade proposes an alternative based on the ideas of social justice, product quality and respect for the environment…Its aim is to encourage involvement and solidarity…This book is a sign of hope that another word is Read more [...] Comments Off on St–Pierre, Éric with Emerson da Silva, Mathieu Lamarre, & Barbara Sandlands. FAIR TRADE: A HUMAN JOURNEY 2009. Les Éditions de l´homme. Montreal, Canada.
Filed under Barbara Sandlands, Book Reviews, Emerson da Silva, Éric St-Pierre, Mathieu Lamarre
Stauber, John & Sheldon Rampton. Toxic Sludge is Good for You: Lies, Damn lies and the Public Relations Industry. Common Courage Press, Maine, USA. 1995.
Witty but wise look at the great lengths and deceit the corporate world will go to, to sell us products and lies that damage and destroy life and society. Some great anecdotes about how some have been exposed.
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Stauffer, Julie. The Water You Drink: Safe or Suspect? 2004. New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, BC.
The Water You Drink: Safe or Suspect? is a comprehensive manual on the use and conservation of our most precious resource. Stauffer starts by explaining that although much of our planet is covered with water, most is salt water and large scale desalinization of the oceans is not feasible. Only 3% of our water is fresh and of that, less than 1% is available for drinking water. Water does not disappear; it is a constantly recycling resource. We may drink and pee the same molecules many times in our lives. Much of our accessible water is becoming polluted Read more [...] Comments Off on Stauffer, Julie. The Water You Drink: Safe or Suspect? 2004. New Society Publishers, Gabriola Island, BC.
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Suarez, Thomas. PALESTINE: SIXTY YEARS LATER. 2010. Americans for Middle East Understanding. New York, USA.
“Palestine today is a wasteland of powerful nations´ hypocrisy…Palestine is also a land of people determined to hold on to their humanity, a people who refuse to be erased or pummelled into the role of victimhood.”
Suarez has taken powerful and revealing photos he accompanies them with a well-written, factual and authoritative text. Suarez observes and records with a sensitive eye and a keen empathy for the lives of Palestinians. If Azoulay´s book, From Palestine to Israel, is a record of the cataclysmic formation of the state of Read more [...] Comments Off on Suarez, Thomas. PALESTINE: SIXTY YEARS LATER. 2010. Americans for Middle East Understanding. New York, USA.
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The New Internationalist: The people, the ideas, the actions in the fight for global justice Monthly periodical. Published in UK, Canada and Australia.
This monthly magazine (NI) has been a constant source of inspiration and information for many years. NI is published by a collective in UK, Canada, and Australasia with contributions from many parts of the world. Every colourful, well illustrated issue has a special focus, over the thirty years of publication that has included specific countries, issues like AIDS, water, Climate Change, Slavery, Fair Trade, and Human Rights. Every issue has stories of success, as well as actions and analysis.
The August, 2003 issue is Songs of Dissent: the Politics Read more [...]
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Tilly, Meg. Gemma. Syren Book Company. 2006. Minneapolis, USA.
This is a harrowing, but believable novel by the actor Meg Tilly who grew up in British Columbia. Although it is a novel, Tilly says she suffered abuse from men her mother knew in her childhood; this novel is based on some of her experiences.
Childhood sexual abuse by close family members and friends is one of the last taboo subjects in our society. Yet nearly every family has experienced it, some acknowledge it and others ignore it. What is so hard to comprehend is expressed in this book, that often parents, particularly mothers, and others Read more [...]
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Tokar, Brian ed. Redesigning Life? The Worldwide Challenge to Genetic Engineering. McGill-Queen´s University Press. Montreal & Kingston, CANADA. 2001.
A great collection of essays from a global range of authors about all different aspects of biotechnology, from food to body parts, from cancer to cloning. Very hopeful that this is one struggle the people for life may win.
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Toledo, Rebecca, Teresa Guiterrez, Sara Flounders and Andy McInerney, editors. War in Colombia: Made in U.S.A. 2003. International Action Center, New York, USA.
“Cultural intervention can alter a whole society, destroying traditions, customs, values and mores developed over centuries…Far beyond its economic exploitation, cultural intervention destroys the aspects of life that best identify a whole people from all their history, imagination and character…
Psychological intervention invades the mind, telling its subjects what they are to believe and be.” Ramsey Clark in his opening essay
Some years ago I was struggling to understand the situation in the former Yugoslavia, the conflicts, wars and Read more [...] Comments Off on Toledo, Rebecca, Teresa Guiterrez, Sara Flounders and Andy McInerney, editors. War in Colombia: Made in U.S.A. 2003. International Action Center, New York, USA.
Filed under Andy McInerney, Book Reviews, Rebecca Toledo, Sara Flounders, Teresa Guiterrez
