Our Votes, Our Guns: Robert Mugabe and the Tragedy of Zimbabwe

Amazon.com

In 1980, Zimbabwe was the great hope of Africa, a place where blacks were supposed to realize their postcolonial destinies under the enlightened leadership of Robert Mugabe. But now the country formerly known as Rhodesia is an international basket case with a wrecked economy and a dim future. In this disturbing book by Martin Meredith, a British journalist with extensive experience in southern Africa, Mugabe transforms into a villain. "Year by year, he acquired ever greater power, ruling the country through a vast system of patronage, favoring loyal aides and cronies with government positions and contracts and ignoring the spreading blight of corruption," writes Meredith. "Power for Mugabe was not a means to an end, but the end itself." His reign has been so wretched, in fact, that some of the most sympathetic people in Our Votes, Our Guns are the white farmers who once supported apartheid-style rule but decided not to flee when Mugabe came to power. They were promised multiracial harmony; what they got instead was a racist dictator who thought nothing of using violence against them. Admirers of Philip Gourevitch--or, indeed, anyone with an interest in African politics--will appreciate Meredith's depressing but important story. --John Miller

Book Description

The story of what Robert Mugabe did to the once-flourishing African state of Zimbabwe: how it happened, why it happened, and its implications for Africa.

Robert Mugabe came to power in 1980 after a long civil war in Rhodesia. The white minority government had become an international outcast in refusing to give in to the inevitability of black majority rule. Finally the defiant white prime minister Ian Smith was forced to step down and Mugabe was elected president of a country now called Zimbabwe. Initially hopes were high that he had the intelligence, political savvy and idealistic vision to help repair the damage done by colonialism and the bitter civil war, and to lead his country's economic and social development. He was admired throughout the world as one of the leaders of the emerging nations and as a model for a good transition from colonial leadership. But month by month, year by year, Mugabe became increasingly autocratic; his methods increasingly violent. In recent years he has unleashed a reign of terror and corruption in his country. Like the Congo, Angola, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Liberia, Zimbabwe has been on a steady slide to disaster.

What happened in Zimbabwe? Now for the first time the whole story is told in detail by an expert. It is a riveting and tragic political story, a morality tale, and an essential text for understanding today's Africa.

Customer Reviews:

Scholarly and well done.......2007-01-12

The book is incredibly well researched, yet manages to keep it all organized and interesting. If you want to learn more about Robert Mugabe and his rule over Zimbabwe, this is the book for you.

Zimbabwe: from liberation to kleptocracy........2006-02-26

A nice book about the kleptacracy of present day Zimbabwe. Robert Mugabe took a jewell of a country and turned it into a failed state. He has done this so he can enrich his family, friends, and supporters at the expense of the vast Zimbabwean people. Meredith describes the liberation of Rhodesia and the early promise of Mugabe's presidency. After the honeymoon, Mugabe gave jobs to his supporters and enriched his party, the ZANU-PF. Latest developments in Zimbabwe continue to show the mass exodus of the few remaining whites, and the poverty of the majority population. Mugabe enriches himself and his supporters, but leaves the rest of the population to fend for itself.

I couple of comments about what some of the other reviewers said. Zimbabwe is no longer a democracy. Hitler took Weimar Germany and made it into a Fascist state. Ferdinand Marcos took the Philippines and turned it into a tin horn dictatorship. Just because a country has some trappings of democracy, it is not a democracy. Remember the Soviet Union had elections, and they were not free. Zimbabwe may have elections and a somewhat free judiciary, but it is not a democracy any more than Rhodesia was a democracy. Mugabe is showing traits of a Fascist or Communist Dictator (i.e. hero worship of the leader). Mugabe is also showing signs of his racist nature. He often berates the former white leader Ian Smith, but Mugabe's leadership (or dictatorship) is worse. At least Smith gave up power, Mugabe wants to retain power forever.

Another comment made by another reviewer is that the West should not show debt forgiveness to certain Third World countries. I quite agree, why subsidize Zimbabwe so we can enrich the kleptocrats of the ZANU-PF and Mugabe's family. The West should have learned its leason with Mobutu and Zaire. Don't give Zimbabwe a dime until ZANU-PF and Mugabe are gone.

This is a good book from a great author. I am reading his latest work about the Fate of Africa, and this is a nice companion read.

A well told tragedy that still continues.......2004-11-27

This book puts into context better than anything I have read the major tragedy that has been occurring in Zimbabwe for over twenty years. The parallels with the Congo (as covered in the excellent book "In the footsteps of Mr Kurtz" on Mobutu's kleptocracy in Zaire) are matched here by the story of how a wealthy and well developed colony after a crippling war of independence came under Mugabe's control.

The saddest aspect is while matters started very promisingly with the country ripe for a muti racial experiment and very similar to South Africa, the early use of force to remove tribal opposition was then applied unremmitingly to the white minority with fatal long term effects on the country's economy.

That inequality existed and changes were needed on land distribution were clear - the redistribution when it occurred was done in such a manner that not only were the whites permanently alienated but the corruption and lack of planning as to what was to replace has had fatal consequences with mass poverty, unrest and a wealthy autocratic elite destroying the future prospects for the poorer native populace of the country.

The control of every facet by Mugabe's Zanu Party whenever challenged has been met with violence from local opposition using North Korean trained cadres to outright intimidation of the judiciary, one of the real heroes in this story.

A very well told and researched history.

Decline and Fall of Zimbabwe.......2004-01-12

This is a super-readable book about the career of Zimbabwean President Robert Mugabe, whose corruption, brutality, and paranoia have wrecked Zimbabwe's democratic institutions and have brought the country to the brink of economic ruin. The book is refreshingly free of cant, and the author has a sharp eye for political grotesqueries, which have abounded in post-independence Zimbabwe. My only complaint (and hence the rating of 4 stars) is the lack of footnotes or any real analysis of the social or economic currents underlying Zimbabwean politics. Instead, journalist Meredith is content to chronicle events newspaper-style.

Chronicling the Third World Tyranny of the Black Hitler.......2004-01-04

~Our Votes, Our Guns~ chronicles the tyrannical rule of Robert Mugabe, from his heyday as a revolutionary guerilla who was captured an imprisoned to a victorious leader in what was initially to be a coalition government in the 1970's with Ian Smith's Rhodesian white colonials, the various black factions, and Mugabe's ZANU party in unity. Recently he said he could be a "black Hitler ten-fold" in a political speech. By the early 1980's, Mugabe eschewed the idea of a coalition government, opting instead for total consolidation of rule by his party. Mugabe through Machiavellian manipulations managed to scapegoat the political opposition in the public eye. Thereafter, he justified purges ostensibly for the purposes of stifling his contrived threat of a coup d'etat. Mugabe's violence obviously only served to foment political opposition-both white and black-and browbeaten white farmers gradually dropped the conciliatory posturing as their farms were confiscated and family members were murdered. In his approach to counter-insurgency, Mugabe boldly proclaimed to his opposition, "We have to deal with this problem quite ruthlessly," with regards to resistance in Matebeland, so "Don't be surprised if your relatives get killed in the process..." Grim reports of Ian Smith's Rhodesian Apartheid regime knocking off guerillas pail in comparison to the horrors unleashed by Mugabe. Millions have been killed as a result of Mugabe's rule.

Robert Mugabe has secured his power base through a corrupt scheme of patronage to cronies while bribing armed cadres of murderous mobs to crush political opposition. Mugabe literally despises whites, but also shows his hatred for black minority opposition in his own nation. Espousing the familiar Afro-Marxist rhetoric of a demagogue dictator, he seemingly justifies any means requisite to purge his nation of the 'evil' vestiges of capitalism and colonialism. Mugabe rules with fanatical zeal and has morbid remarks in reference to his policies of forced famine and mass-murder, which are eerily reminiscent of Pol Pot. He offers no apologies for his cruel measures designed to solidify his rule. He has plundered the nation, stripped it of its productive capacity, and his made zealous efforts to confiscate and redistribute private farmland, which has utterly devastated the economy of Zimbabwe. He has reduced the productivity of a once largely self-sufficient agricultural nation to a destitute backwater republic. Besides utilization of political violence, Mugabe, much like the warlords of Somalia, holds onto power precariously by controlling the distribution of foreign aid and humanitarian relief through his spoils system of patronage. In doing so, he buys support from a loyal cadre of cohorts.

Recently, the fashionable thing amongst the media establishment and policymakers in the West-particularly Leftist cadres in the UK has been to tacitly support and praise Mugabe's efforts for land reform while conveniently ignoring the horrors of his regime perpetrated against both whites and blacks. The mass-media never does specials on ethnic cleansings in Zimbabwe. And unfortunately political correctness of leftist journalists in the West tends to extol leaders like Robert Mugabe (while ignoring his criminal track record as mass-murdering despot.) The one smug thing I really dislike about liberal journalist Martin Merideth is his initial enthusiasm for the good intentions of Mugabe when he first came to power... He acts as if socialism and anti-colonial wars of national liberation are all noble and admirable, but Mugabe simply came along and betrayed the principle. The communist bloc-the Soviets, Chinese, and North Koreans-launched anti-colonial propaganda campaign to fuel insurgent revolutions fusing nationalism with socialism in an effort to build a pro-communist, anti-Western bloc in the Third-World. Robert Mugabe and Nelson Mandela were among their minions. The red crown jewels in this endeavor included Ethiopia, Mozambique, Zimbabwe, and Zaire. The pictures documenting his torture and mass-murder at various web sites are repugnant to the human eye and conscious. Yet those champions of human rights, the UN and IMF, continue to bolster his regime with aid. Meanwhile, in the Western media turn a blind eye to the atrocities when reporting anything on Zimbabwe and only gloss over the need for the West to help arbitrate Mugabe's land reform proposals. Land reform in Neo-Marxist newspeak means confiscation and redistribution of private property. Mugabe's legacy is one of criminal mass-murderer who destroyed his country's economy while murdering and starving 'his people.' He is a murderous thug whose judgment may never come from some tribunal, but will when he meets his maker.

Many outside observers naively approach southern African politics and international relations with the idea that fighting is between blacks and whites. They ignore abuses by black revolutionaries against their own blood kin, but why should it be any less acceptable when perpetrated against whites? Nelson Mandella, the media darling, was a violent communist terrorist, but doesn't get exposed by the Western media, but rather is heralded as a patron saint. There is a book by a black clergyman Sipo Mzimela tied to the ANC opposition, which documents the murderous ANC-perpetrated terrorism and corrupt assent of Mandella called Marching to Slavery, which may be found on a used book search since it is conveniently out-of-print. Despite exposing Mugabe, Martin Meredith cannot bring himself to trample the sacred cow of Mandella's fictious legacy as a humanitarian hero in his other book.

Guns and Guerilla Girls: Women in the Zimbabwean National Liberation Struggle

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Guns and Guerilla Girls: Women in the Zimbabwean National Liberation Struggle
Tanya Lyons
Manufacturer: Africa World Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

South Africa | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

Zimbabwe | Africa | History | Subjects | Books

General | Military | History | Subjects | Books

General | World | History | Subjects | Books

General | Women's Studies | Nonfiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 1592211674

Book Description

Guns and Guerilla Girls: Women in the Zimbabwean Liberation Struggle is about women guerilla fighters in the Zimbabwean National Liberation war (1965-1980). It provides an examination of the plethora of representations of women who joined the struggle for national independence and contributes to a feminist understanding of Zimbabwe and African history and politics.

Most previously published accounts about women's roles in the Zimbabwean liberation struggle have tended to focus on their "feminine" or "natural" roles as mothers or alternatively on the post-independence concerns expressed by women in Zimbabwe. Both of these views have ignored and excluded women's actual experiences of guerilla fighting.

Guns and Guerilla Girls is the first text to both challenge the representations of "women as warriors" and provide a space for women ex-combatants in Zimbabwe to re-present their past and their histories. The text is also original in its aim to create a dialogue within postcolonial discourse in order to facilitate understanding and healing vis-à-vis women's war time experiences.

The book deals specifically with the case of the Zimbabwean liberation struggle, and provides an in-depth analysis of the different experiences women have of war when they take up arms to fight for their nation and liberation. The text allows women to describe their own history while providing a detailed analysis of the history of the struggle from a gendered perspective.

Guns of the South
Average customer rating:

confederate soldiers didn't own slaves

An interesting story but certainly not alternative history

A very interesting "what if" story.

Could not keep my eyes open

Unworthy of its subject

Guns of the South
Harry Turtledove
Manufacturer: Del Rey
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Historical | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 0345413660
Release Date: 1997-05-27

Book Description

Northern Virginia is ragged and ill-equipped. The battle of Gettysburg has broken the back of the Confederacy and decimated its manpower.

Then Andries Rhoodie, a strange man with an unplaceable accent, approaches Lee with an extraordinary offer. Rhoodie demonstrates an amazing rifle; its rate of fire is incredible, its lethal efficiency breathtaking--and Rhoodie guarantees unlimited quantities to the Confederates.

The name of the weapon is the AK-47.

"As a Civil War historian, I literally could not put The Guns of the South down. It is absolutely unique--without question the most fascinating Civil War novel I have ever read. Harry Turtledove knows his Civil War. And best of all, The Guns of the South is not simply great entertainment; it is also a serious and successful effort to come to grips with the central issues of the war. It is must reading for every Civil War student."
--Professor James M. McPherson, Edwards Professor of American History, Princeton University; Author of Pulitzer Prize-winning Battle Cry of Freedom

Customer Reviews:

confederate soldiers didn't own slaves.......2007-09-02

this is a great book i loved it so much and im very picky.at first glance this book seems racist but its just the opposite.because this book explains how the confederate soldiers were poor and didnt own slaves and werent fighting to keep slaves.if someone invaded your backyard you would fight too.and with the us invading the south these men had no choice but to defend their land.also the author has done much research on robert e lee and where he stood on slavery.and how he was against it.lee's writings back then prove this to be true.i enjoyed this book and all the great detail to all the things around during the cival war.good work harry.

An interesting story but certainly not alternative history.......2007-06-24

The Guns of the South begins in 1864, Lee has just lost Gettysburg and the Southis reeling. However, he is approached by a man, from the future, who offers him a service. This man promises a fully automatic weapon unlike any the world has seen, the AK-47.

This book is entertaining but it is by no means an alternative history. If you'd like an accurate alternative history book dealing with the Civil War I suggest a book called Gettysburg, the author's name illudes me however.

A very interesting "what if" story........2007-01-15

I was given this book to read, and I enjoyed it so much, I bought a copy for myself and another copy for my mom. What would happen if white supremacists from the future travel back in time to the Civil War to help the south win the war? I was amazed when I was only half way through the book, when the war ended. The war is over, what else could happen? We get to see what happens after the war, and how the opinions of people can be changed, for the better.

If you are not familiar with the works of Harry Turtledove, he writes stories centered around a "what if" theme. I am currently reading his series of books dealing with aliens invading during World War II. Harry Turtledove is the master of this style of fiction.

Could not keep my eyes open.......2006-12-21

A singularly dull book, the characterizations seemed flat and the peg on which the novel is hung, a South victorious with modern weapons, seemed too trivial. The author has to make something compelling in that conceit or for the reader the book will mean nothing. Unfortunately there seems little real purpose to the idea unless one finds the characterizations of historical figures believable and they are not. The character of Robert E. Lee in the book is just too, too good to be sympathetic or even credible and the stock characters that pop up to lend support seem like cardboard cutouts. I finally felt that the book was going in such an obvious direction that I put it down halfway through. I am not sure if it turns out the way I think but frankly there was nothing in the first half of the book to make me care one way or the other.

Unworthy of its subject.......2006-10-25

Does Turtledove devoutly wish the South had won the Civil War for its own sake, or is he just one of those admirers of Robert E. Lee (there were many at my alma mater, Vanderbilt) who can't bear that his hero came out on the losing side? Either way, surely Turtledove could have come up with a better vehicle for reversing the outcome of the Civil War than South African racists traveling back in time to arm the American rebels with yet-to-be-invented guns. The thugs of the 21st century have misjudged the motives of the noble South and the nobler-still Lee, but the general will accept their weapons anyway, thank you. This trick presages the wooden plotting and shallow characterizations to come. Turtledove's main non-historical character is a teacher-soldier who seems to come out of and return to nowhere, with no mention of family or background. Characterization in general has Turtledove stumped, so he turns to cliches, such as the prostitute with a heart of gold (this one masquerades as a male and dons a uniform to serve the Confederacy and service the main character). Turtledove even has a tragic mulatto woman on a postwar auction block. Blacks are few and rare in Turtledove's novel, and they are swept off the stage after the briefest of appearances, speaking only conventional phrases, and in dialect, of course. Both the rupture of the American Union and the continued births and deaths of millions of Americans in slavery (his Lee fashions a gradual emancipation in which blacks will "earn" their freedom decades into the 20th century) are treated by Turtledove as worthy of little more than a shrug. The more ambitious but nearly as wooden "alternate history" novel, Ward Moore's "Bring the Jubilee," at least was very sober about the consequences of a rebel victory. If you are going to reverse the outcome of a war so momentous in American and world history, don't do it as trivially as Turtledove has done in this book. There is potential for a great story in the fictional reversal of the outcome of our Civil War, but "The Guns of the South" is not it.

Average customer rating:

You go, Girl!
is a deep yet entertaining look at the abuse of the Second Amendment
Stylishly Hip Polemical Fiction From Lynn Hoffman
Lynn Hoffman Adds Another Feather to his Toque
Sharp and fast paced

bang BANG: A Novel
Lynn Hoffman
Manufacturer: Kunati Inc.
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

Contemporary | General | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
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ASIN: 1601640005

Book Description

Paula Sherman embarks upon a one-woman quest to change America, ultimately becoming national hero and villain, enforcer and outlaw, lover and leader, in this provocative, darkly exciting tale. When a bungled armed robbery gets Paula's friend killed right in front of her, she finds herself propelled to national attention as her words and image are stolen and used in a pro-handgun election campaign. Mousy little Paula is no longer just an overworked waitress with a beautiful singing voice—she has become a symbol for the violence that she detests. The pro-gun propaganda gives her an idea that will transform her, redeem her name and her image, and change the way an entire country talks about handgun violence.

Customer Reviews:

You go, Girl!.......2007-10-06

Lynn Hoffman does something of which few authors I know of are capable. He has written a novel in which the gun lobby, AKA, National Rifle Association, NRA, and the food lobby which I don't think has a lobby, and if it does, I won't hazard a guess at its acronym, are almost equal in their importance.

Perhaps it was bound to happen. A waitress witnesses the senseless murder of a friend and becomes incensed about the proliferation of guns. Before she can realize what has happened, Paula Sherman is in the eye of a political storm. Predictably, she grows in character and strength in the maelstrom of public outcry over gun control.

The bottom line is that you find yourself yelling at the pages, "You go, girl! Every time Paula speaks out. By the end of the book, you find that she has. Put simply, Bang Bang has a message and no reader will be unable to hear it.

Red Evans author of On Ice

is a deep yet entertaining look at the abuse of the Second Amendment .......2007-10-03

Philadelphia waitress Paula Sherman is distraught when her best friend was killed. She blames the shooter not the hand gun for murdering her pal. However, the most powerful gun lobby in the world the United Gun Association (UGA) learns of her comments and they along with the Pennsylvania senator in their back pocket quote Paula out of context in an ad campaign featuring her.

Outraged she wants the UGA to stop using her and her words, but the arrogant leaders ignore an overweight wannabe singer as beneath their notice except for their use and abuse of her words. Paula decides to create vengeance with a gun by targeting the windshields of cars with the UGA sticker on them as her motto is to fight fire with fire. Soon her vigilante campaign takes off as others begin shooting the windshields with UGA on them.

This is a deep yet entertaining look at the abuse of the Second Amendment by those who claim the convenience of certain constitutional rights. However, though a condemnation it is Paula who hooks readers once she realizes how her grief has been used by the spin doctors to defend the indefensible. No question author Lynn Hoffman will become criminalized, demonized, and a amoral leper as the NRA and their congressional slaves will have their media spin maestro servants use weapons of mass destruction as their right to assault her.

Harriet Klausner

Stylishly Hip Polemical Fiction From Lynn Hoffman.......2007-09-23

Philadelphia-based food writer Lynn Hoffman is one of our unsung literary treasures. He's an expert at writing clear, concise, snappy prose which will linger in your memory like some excellent sauvignon blanc wine you had at dinner. He's such an expert that I am surprised that he's had to rely upon a small independent press to have his latest novel, "bang Bang" published. It is unquestionably one of the most intriguing works of fiction published this year that I've stumbled upon; a work written by someone who should be regarded as among our finest American writers working now in any genre, period. It is also quite hilarious, a surefooted comic satire aimed right at the heart of NRA and its legion of diehard supporters intent on keeping our country awash in firearms. "bang Bang" offers a vivid literary portrait of modern Philadelphia that could have been written by the likes of Raymond Chandler or Elmore Leonard. Hoffman is a keen observer of human nature, using his prose as much as a film cameraman or photographer might use a camera and lens, carefully recording every important detail in a given scene. He also offers in Paula Sherman, a bright, tenacious heroine for whom the reader will be rooting for as she embarks upon her campaign to bring some sanity to the NRA and its leadership (I will be rooting for Hoffman too once this fine little gem of a novel captures the attention of the major New York City-based publishers; his future books deserve their serious consideration for publication.).

Lynn Hoffman Adds Another Feather to his Toque.......2007-09-20

Lynn Hoffman, a highly regarded food and drink writer from Philadelphia, tops his 1997 fiction debut of 'The Bachelor's Cat' with a fully mature novel 'bang BANG', a book so well conceived and stylishly written that it places Hoffman in the realm of top American writers. And while many readers may know him form his books on food, beer, and wine (terrific tomes of culinary skill admixed with humor and wit), few will be prepared for the impact of this superb new work.

Paula Sherman is a waitperson in a stylish restaurant Odetta, a wannabe singer simple girl whose best friend Tom is killed as she watches by a foolish gunman with little apparent reason for the deed. On the scene a reporter quotes the distraught Paula's comment 'It wasn't the gun, it's that man', a slogan picked up quickly and twisted by a senator who is backed by the UGA (United Gun Association) to campaign against gun control. Paula's life changes abruptly as she emerges into a woman with a mission: she manages to surface from an ordinary life as a vigilante who targets the cars bearing UGA decals, shattering windshields as her gesture against the wasted death of her friend Tom. In time Paula meets Daniel, a man she can actually love, and with his support she gains courage an influence that rapidly spreads across the country in an anti-gun movement.

One character who adds immensely to the story is constant Odetta gourmet diner Emanuel Cardoso (and his frequent dinner companion, the short of stature Lichtmann), who witnesses Paula's nighttime derring-dos and who eventually is Paula's elected source for political payoff. By introducing Cardoso, Huffman allows space for some wonderful writing about food and the culinary arts as well as some light comedy and compassion: pages from the observing Cardoso's diary are sprinkled through the pages of the novel: they are a pleasure all to themselves!

The story is a very powerful anti-gun statement, but fine as that theme may be it has rarely been accompanied by the extraordinary skill of a writer as creative and gifted as Lynn Hoffman. Hoffman has a way with words that makes the reader pause in this propulsive narrative to simply bask in the pleasure of well-crafted phrases. "Our park bench lets us see past Rodin's fame-slain Thinker, sucking his knuckles at the entrance to the Rodin Museum. In the distance, in the thin, late winter sunshine, we observe a swaying dark blob that widens and narrows without changing height. The blob becomes a group of six skaters, telephotically compressed. The widening is the centrifugal swaying as the saw their way up the street....". Such is only a brief example of how Hoffman paints his scenery for the story that is so keenly and succinctly addressed.

'bang BANG' is one of those little treasures of a book that rewards on every level and it most assuredly confirms the stature of an important American writer. Highly recommended for a very wide reading audience. Grady Harp, September 07

Sharp and fast paced.......2007-08-17

Here's something you don't see everyday- a polemical novel that's not just readable, but well written. Author Hoffman has penned a snappy little novel that moves along quickly and gets to the point. Stylistically, other reviewers have likened it to a script or perhaps a movie treatment, but to me it more closely resembles the sort of hip style you see in modern novels in the style of a Douglas Coupland, tempered by a bit of the old Mickey Spillane pulp style. Whatever it is, it seems to work for Hoffman.

The story itself is yet another recasting of Aristophanes' Lysistrata, this time with the women banding together to deny their men access to the conjugal bed unless they give up their firearms. Now every novel requires some suspension of disbelief, and how well this story works for you depends in large amount how sympathetic you are to the author's beliefs about guns and violence, and how much you know or don't know about the gun debate- for example, about 18 percent of women in America own guns, too, and that number is growing. I'm not sure that disarming the men alone is what the book's heroine has in mind.

But if you are among those who are sympathetic to Hoffman's anti-gun views, I think you'll enjoy this book. It's a quick read, the pace never drags, and the author does get off a few very witty lines.

No Gun Ri: A Military History of the Korean War Incident

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The Associated Press was hoaxed
Extremely One-Sided, Poorly Researched
One Sided Story
Refutation of Hanley's text: Should be read 2nd
Masterpiece

No Gun Ri: A Military History of the Korean War Incident
Robert L., III Bateman
Manufacturer: Stackpole Books
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Asia | History | Subjects | Books

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The Bridge at No Gun Ri: A Hidden Nightmare from the Korean War
This Kind of War: The Classic Korean War History - Fiftieth Anniversary Edition

ASIN: 0811717631

Book Description

Compelled by the known fallacies in the Pulitzer Prizewinning Associated Press story of the alleged slaughter of South Korean refugees at No Gun Ri, Major Bateman, an academic historian and professional soldier, presents an alternate explanation of the events through the perspective of the soldiers and their commanders, the 1948-50 South Korean civil war, and the broader state of U.S. military policy and force readiness. In a solid historical analysis of the incident he debunks the AP allusion to a widespread massacre of civilians by U.S. forces at No Gun Ri and shows how veterans who allegedly witnessed this event and influenced others were not even present. Told concisely with extensive documentation from previously overlooked sources.

Customer Reviews:

The Associated Press was hoaxed.......2006-11-20

There was always something fishy about the story the Associated Press published in September 1999 about a massacre at No Gun Ri, South Korea, in July 1950.
Anyone who has studied military history knows you cannot understand a small unit infantry action without a detailed terrain map, and there was no map.
Maj. Robert Bateman, who taught history at West Point, saw additional problems that wouldn't have been obvious to civilians. The AP account "did not jibe . . . with the things I knew as an infantry officer."
Before becoming a teacher, Bateman had been a company commander in the same unit -- 2nd Battalion, 7th Cavalry Regiment -- whose earlier incarnation was accused of slaughtering perhaps 400 refugees over (accounts varied) a few minutes to four days.
He knew and considered a friend the man the AP relied on most for confirming the claims of alleged Korean survivors, Ed Daily.
While other journalists began investigating Daily's bona fides, Bateman approached the mystery from a military historian's perspective: Could he reconstruct the events of the last days of July 1950, when American and South Korean armies and masses of civilians were retreating, sometimes in panic, from a North Korean attack?
It turned out to be easier to determine what could not have happened than what really did happen, but in "No Gun Ri: A Military History" Bateman presents a well-documented, coherent story.
Simultaneously, the South Korean and American governments opened their own investigations.
Eventually all these investigators proved several things. The one that got the most public attention was that Daily and all the other veterans who endorsed the South Korean allegations were frauds.
But there were other discoveries that put the AP story in even worse light. Not all the AP's inaccurate statements were just mistakes.
Bateman proves that what the AP called a "division order" to kill refugees was not a division order, could not possibly have been known to the 7th Cavalry and wouldn't have been a legal order if it had been. As Bateman says, majors don't give orders to colonels.
It was already obvious, but the AP reporters were incompetent and Bateman demonstrates this in a dozen ways.
It was not only that the AP reporters and editors did not understand how to read military reports. They made mistakes that no city editor in the sorriest tank town weekly in the country would have accepted, notably by alleging 400 murders without supplying, even tentatively, a name or a home village for even one victim.
But when it comes to atrocity stories, the usual rules often are not applied. The Pulitzer Prize committee, which has often been hoaxed, awarded the AP its prize.
Later, the committee said its duty did not include verifying the authenticity of the report, but that does not explain why it ignored holes in the AP report that wouldn't have been overlooked in a story about a one-alarm fire.
In the second half of his book, Bateman explores "the story of the story," and then things turn out to be much worse than they appeared, which was bad enough.
Quoting the AP reporters, he shows contradictions in how they claimed to have done their work. Worse, he proves that "AP used these accounts (by fake witnesses) despite its knowledge of the problems with witness credibility."
What is still very much in question is how many, if any, civilians were killed at No Gun Ri.
There is no grave to show there was even one death. Aerial photographs taken a few days after the supposed massacre show no evidence of any deaths.
Bateman thinks that perhaps six to 35 Koreans were killed by Americans, first in a mistaken mortar attack, then by rifle and machinegun fire from the 2nd Battalion after two South Korean Communist guerrillas who were among the refugees opened fire on the Americans.
Obviously, these figures are just a guess. Americans who really were at No Gun Ri that day claim to have killed two North Korean regulars (which Bateman says were South Korean irregulars) and recovered their weapons, which were duly registered later by the regimental supply officer.
Almost certainly some helpless villagers were killed, too. But between Bateman the historian and the honest reporters who followed up the AP, there can be no doubt now that the story of a massacre was a hoax.

Extremely One-Sided, Poorly Researched.......2004-08-08

A U.S. military perspective of the proceedings at No Gun Ri during the Korean War is a welcome one, and offers an interesting contrast to the human rights tone of "The Bridge at No Gun Ri." However, Bateman is extremely one-sided in his research, fitting facts around his argument rather than the other way around. His objective is to not to supply an accurate historic acount of what happened at No Gun Ri; instead, it is to argue blindly for his version of the story. As a Korean American, I was offended that Bateman took so little care in his research that he identified Chung Eun Yong's (Eunyong Chung) last name as Yong; I question whether someone with a legitimate background in East Asian Studies would make such an egregious error. Overall, the premise of the book is a good one, but Bateman's narrow vision turns this book into a radical diatribe rather than an objective academic work.

One Sided Story.......2004-06-21

I think Mr. Bateman only tells his side of the story; he almost totally ignores the other side. Mr. Bateman presents himself as a historian, but I think it's unacceptable for a historian to present such highly prejudiced material to the public. I have several reasons for saying this and I'll just make a few points here:

1. If he had paid a slightest attention, he wouldn't have been confused with the Korean names. He thought, for example, Chung Eun Yong's family name was Yong, despite the fact that Chung Eun Yong spelled his name as Eunyong Chung in his 1997 letter to President Clinton, and there were many Chung's in the list of No Gun Ri victims. Had he asked just one Korean American nearby, he would have been corrected. It appears that Mr. Bateman didn't give much thought on victims. In my view, he was only interested in presenting his prejudiced views for whatever reasons.

2. He says, without speaking to any Koreans or visiting the actual location, that the South Koreans' memories refer to other incidents and were conflated with the No Gun Ri incident when a South Korean author gathered them together into a 1994 novel. It's amazing that he could positively say this while he had very little understanding of Koreans. In my opinion, each person would have told his or her own story thousands of times from 1950 to 1994; it would have been pretty obvious to everyone if one suddenly changes his story in 1994.

3. He says without doubt that there were guerillas among the refuges. But I know the fact that by the start of the Korean War the guerillas were largely controlled. I think there still were some remnants, but generally deep in the Chiri Mountains, much farther south. No Gun Ri is on the nation's most important artery of rail lines (which was the only practical means of public transportation that time), where the South Korean government would have made sure to be free of guerillas. I lived near a secondary rail line (with only a single track) and much more mountainous and much closer to the Chiri Mountains, but there were no guerillas there that time. In fact many of village people (including my father) had been absent from home for a few years after the October 1946 riots nationwide, but they had all come home sometime before the war. Even if there were a few guerillas, it was highly unlikely that they possessed Soviet-made machine guns and foolish enough to shoot from the tunnel to GIs scattered throughout in the fox-holes. It doesn't make any sense.
4. I reviewed the arial photos of August 6, 1950 many times, and have widely different view of what might have happened there than what was described (very midly) in this book.

I have lived in America for more than 30 years and I understand that it's best to protect our government position and understand why Mr. Bateman, as a soldier and army historian, wants to protect the U.S. government position. However, publishing a historical book with incomplete research doesn't seem appropriate.

No Gun Ri was a tragic incident for the victims and their families, but under the circumstances, I understand why American GIs acted that way and even if the higher authorities had ordered to shoot innocent civilians, I can sort of understand why. Koreans themselves did worse things to their own people. And the Korean War was tragic for all Koreans as well as for all American GIs who fought in the war, their families, and the American people who had to foot the bill. I appreciate President Truman for sending the troops. But the indiscriminate bombings were very wrong. Perhaps the Korean War was inevitable, but it was the super-powers' fault to divide the innocent Korea into two (instead of dividing Japan like they did Germany).

In light of the Iraq War, we must think all the consequences, not just our own solders' lives, before ever going to a war. No matter how you cut it, a war is a messy business for all involved, especially for the innocent and helpless civilians.

Refutation of Hanley's text: Should be read 2nd.......2002-12-20

This is an excellent piece of military history in general and Korean War history in particular. Only Appleman's East of Chosin dissects the anatomy of a tragedy in Korea with as much sense of impending, inevitable doom and finality as Bateman's book does. Bateman achieves something few authors and historians do: weave diverse social, political, and military events so that they can hep us understand a major event.

Other authors would be content enough to 'merely' point out that Daily, Flint, and Hesselman weren't even near No Gun Ri at the time the alleged atrocities occurred. Thats the 'what did he know, and when did he know it' school of journalism. But Bateman has a much more powerful message. It begins as follows:

--American soldiers were never made aware that this area of Korea was rife with guerrilla battles between South Korean communist sympathizers and Rhee's army and militias. They never knew many civilians were armed and aligned with the NKPA.

--The American army had no recent experience conducting combat operations in their rear areas. They often left a task to the ROKs, who were notoriously brutal for slaying prisoners. The US army complained they did this so swiftly there wasn't even time to obtain intelligence from the guerrillas!

--While infiltration was probably not a tactic used all that often by the NKPA, nonetheless American outrage against its use was not based on racist views. It was based on the moral conviction that it was not a 'legitimate military ruse.' His contrast of German infiltration at the Battle of the Bulge, with that of the Koreans in the Naktong battles, is powerful and moving. It is part of a larger subsection Fear and Military Reality which is an excellent discourse on the moral conflicts presented by the combatants and noncombatants in a military theater.

--The famous order 'no refugees to cross front line. Fire everyone trying to cross front line' was never widely disseminated. It was a phone call that never reached the men at No Gun Ri.

There is much more. Lack of training at the Battalion level or higher meant the forces were easily dispersed and communications disrupted. The stripping of the units NCOs and Officers (for the 24th infantry division) meant there were not experienced men on site to keep the units coherent and issue their own orders. Commissioned officers would be able to distinguish between legal and illegal orders such as the one above.

All this makes his speculation about what happened at No Gun Ri more credible than Hanleys'. Bateman doubts an 'execution style massacre' occurred. Certainly mortar fire was a mistake, but 'two way fire was exchanged' between the Korean refugees and US Soldiers. Calling in an air fighters to strife the refugees? Impossible, says Batemen: US soldiers FM radios could not talk to fighter AM radio sets. Even if an unintentional strafing occurred, says Bateman, casualties would be nowhere near the hundreds Koreans claimed. Nor could a bombing run have 'bent the railway like still chopsticks.' Aerial photographs after US forces left the area revealed it compeletely intact. And by the way, where are the bodies?

The rest of the book returns to the larger story behind this No Gun Ri incident. It is almost amusing to watch Bateman peel apart Daily's military record. Flint and Hesselman weren't present at No Gun Ri either, though their stories are less colorful. Bateman's chapters on the media, its evolving concept of 'free press' and relationships with the military are helpful in making clear to the reader just how a story like Hanley's can take on a life of its own. Bateman's liner notes state he 'expressly rejects the notion of media bias.' The reader might ask, why? Isn't it clear between the lines the glee Hanley felt in having 'nailed America' with committing an atrocity? Isn't it similarly clear that Haneley is steeped heavily in contemporary journalism's contempt for the west? How else do you explain reporters culling six witnesses from a pool of 130 simply because the former 'supported the thesis put forward' by the Korean claimants? Why didn't the Associated Press scour the same Service records Bateman used to reveal Daily was an imposter?

All of the material presented in Bateman's book is designed to do two thing First, explain why an event like No Gun Ri would be inevitable in the course of a war such as that fought in Korea. Second, explain why it was unlikely that such an event, if it occurred, would be an intentional act by US soldiers. Compare that with Hanley's forays into US foreign policy, US 'arrogance' and meddling in Korean 'internal' affairs, fond wishes by Korean farmers that the NKPA would arrive any second to liberate them from Rhee henchmen, ad nauseum. What has that got to do with the agony suffered in the vicinity of that trestle? In the books 'Afterward' the statistical and survey methods necessary to obtain unbiased reportage on an issue of this magnitude are made clear. The reader begins to see the sophistication and patience, the thoroughness and contemplation necessary to assemble an interpretation of 'facts' fifty years after an event occurs. Pay particular attention to Bateman's focus on the comments of Colonel Nist, and the dignified process by which he interviewed veterans of this War. The former shows how sharp he is as a detective; the latter shows how trained he is as a researcher. I think you will be tempted to reach the same conclusion Bateman and the US government did:

"neither documentary evidence nor US citizens statements reviewed by the US Review Team support a hypothesis of deliberate killing of Korean civilians."

Masterpiece.......2002-12-05

Truly fantastic! WHAT A PIECE OF work this book is. Mr. Bateman has written a superb book that chronicles what combat soldiers, like himself, have endured throughout the centuries. Not only must they dodge bullets on the battlefield, but they must also dodge critiques from those who have never been under fire as well. Mr. Bateman has taken a small step up a large hill to correct this injustice. What really impressed me about this book was his use of language. Mr. Bateman yields his words like a machete to cut down all those who have surrounded him in an attempt to take the moral high ground. The members of the 7th Calvary owe Mr. Bateman a debt of honor that I hope they will pay him in full. This book reminded me of James R. McDonough's book, "Platoon Leader". I still have a first edition copy of that masterpiece and I will place Mr. Bateman's book right beside it.

The Zen Monastic Experience: Buddhist Practice in Contemporary Korea

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Clear Picture
scholarly work
Great Book on Korean Zen
I escaped to temple life for a bit with this book.
Insightful

The Zen Monastic Experience: Buddhist Practice in Contemporary Korea
Robert E. Buswell
Manufacturer: Princeton Univ Pr
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0691074070

Book Description

Robert Buswell, a Buddhist scholar who spent five years as a Zen monk in Korea, draws on personal experience in this insightful account of day-to-day Zen monastic practice. In discussing the activities of the postulants, the meditation monks, the teachers and administrators, and the support monks of the monastery of Songgwang-sa, Buswell reveals a religious tradition that differs radically from the stereotype prevalent in the West. The author's treatment lucidly relates contemporary Zen practice to the historical development of the tradition and to Korean history more generally, and his portrayal of the life of modern Zen monks in Korea provides an innovative and provocative look at Zen from the inside. Robert Buswell, a Buddhist scholar who spent five years as a Zen monk in Korea, draws on personal experience in this insightful account of day-to-day Zen monastic practice. In discussing the activities of the postulants, the meditation monks, the teachers and administrators, and the support monks of the monastery of Songgwang-sa, Buswell reveals a religious tradition that differs radically from the stereotype prevalent in the West. The author's treatment lucidly relates contemporary Zen practice to the historical development of the tradition and to Korean history more generally, and his portrayal of the life of modern Zen monks in Korea provides an innovative and provocative look at Zen from the inside.

Customer Reviews:

Clear Picture .......2005-10-25

Below is an edited version of a critical book review for a class on Buddhism.

Professor Buswell's book is an engaging and fascinating portrait of Buddhist life in a Korean Seon temple long before it became common for us to see books and dharma talks by foreign Seon monks. His tale is as rollicking an adventure story as a tale of quiet mediation and disciplined scholarship could be. Reading his words we imagine the idealistic young man Buswell must have been, urgently holding his professor back in the halls after class to answer his eager questions, with firm purpose boarding a plane for Thailand where with a serious expression and a quick beating heart his head was shaved and he donned the robes of a monk. Then finding something missing setting out for a remote tete-a-tete, sharing his monk mentor with only one other as he diligently studied tracts on Buddhist philosophy written in Classical Chinese, then by chance and good fortune finding the spiritual home of his heart, Song'gwangsa, the `Sangha Jewel Temple'.

This book, in brief, is the story of Buswell's experience of Korean Buddhism, written in a style that manages to be both conversational and easily readable and yet academic and possessed of face and content validity at the same time. Buswell explains Seon Buddhism in Korea by explaining what he saw and experienced over five years at Song'gwangsa, including chapters on the temple itself, the daily work of monks and the different positions monks filled beyond working on meditation. This book serves as a more closely focused and Korean telling of the world that you can read about in Welch's "Practice of Chinese Buddhism". The sorts of tasks, the ways the monks meditate, even the ascetic practices that we heard about from Welch reappear here in a clearly told and highly reliable illustration of the mid to late 70s practices of Korean Seon monks.

It is very curious to think of the amazing success that Seon Buddhism has had with foreigners. Though Buswell was one of the early ones, or even the first, there are many monks who many years ago put on their robes, and unlike Buswell, have kept them on many more than five (or seven) years. It was Seung-san a famous Buddhist teacher who became the most active face of Seon to the outside world. Through temples and centers he established in America and Europe many non-Koreans got to experience Buddhism, Seon style, first hand. It's unsurprising to me but perhaps quite surprising to most Koreans that many of those interested in Seon went so far as to attend retreats in Korea, and some even ordained.

I am not convinced that becoming a monk is any more or less difficult for a foreigner than a Korean. However there is one thing I must admit, if a westerner is lazy and shiftless and unskilled and they want to find an easy life, they would never consider moving to Korea and putting on a cheongsam. Buswell in his evaluation of those who ordained for the wrong reasons states "...continued involvement in the monastic life may remold that motivation into an entirely exemplary one. Indeed, there is no way of predicting from a monk's background his ultimate success in the religious life." (pg 76). I hold to the idea, personally, that fate leads us where we are supposed to go. So, though it would not occur to a foreigner to use a temple as a back-up way of life, and it would occur to a Korean, it doesn't mean that any foreigner will be a better monk than his compatriots. If a (Korean) man becomes a monk, even though he thinks he's doing it to use the monastery as a safe escape from lay life, there is a reason, and he will fulfill some task or mission as a monk that he could not otherwise have carried out. Though Korean and foreign monks may ordain for different reasons, they are living the same life, can each find their own path to understanding and may help people in different, but equally legitimate, ways.

In fact, I have only two complaints about this book. The first complaint is that occasionally Buswell included Romanized Korean terms that were not special Buddhist vocabulary (using his spelling, for example kabang, and haroboji) but in the context of the book, where all other Romanized terms were specific to Buddhism, this could be confusing to a non-Korean speaker. I kept imagining someone saying to their friend "Those gray bags for monks are called `kabang'. I learned this from this book I just read!" The only other complaint is that the information in the book is in some respects dated. Though many things about life in temples has not changed, nor is it likely to change, there are constant trends and fads that effect the practice of the monks, and new issues that arise. When reading the book I felt regret that I couldn't go and talk about some aspects of the book with my monk friends because most of them hadn't even become novices yet when Buswell was a resident at Song'gwangsa.

Don't misunderstand me, though, I truly enjoyed this book. The best part about it for me actually (not withstanding kabang) was the fact that I learned useful new Korean terms, what I want to use as soon as I can is to ask my friends where they are in the Samigwa, Sajipgwa, Sagyogwa, and Daegyogwa system. I'm also happy to see terms like Dono Jeomsu and Dono Donsu written side by side, because this is not vocabulary I can find in my own dictionary, even though I am familiar with the terms in English, I've never been able to have a satisfying talk in Korean by trying to only explain what I meant without having confidence in the terminology I was using. I think that in terms of improving my own understanding of Korean Seon Buddhism it was this chapter (A Monk's Early Career) with the clear descriptions of the process that will provide the most benefit.

I would certainly refer this book to anyone interested in Korean Buddhism.

scholarly work.......2004-11-26

This book is not easy. You have to really want to know more about Korean Zen (Son) to get through this one. There is a lot of Korean words, and, as another reviewer aptly commented, 'no pop psychology' that seems so common in these types of books. However, the time you spend will be well repaid. The author writes well, and does not romanticize his topic. He speaks from experience- something that, in any field, let alone Asian Studies, seems quite rare.

Great Book on Korean Zen.......2004-03-01

This is a comprehensive and direct account of the structure of practice at a contemporary Korean Zen monastery. Robert Buswell is a Buddhist academic teaching at the University of California who also spent five years as a Zen monk in Korea. Here he ties into the book what daily life and religious ritualistic practice is truly like while staying in a Zen monastery. This book should absolutely be read by everyone. Buswell draws on personal experience in this intriguing account of day-to-day Zen monastic practice. His depiction of the life of contemporary Zen monks practicing in Korea gives an original and thought provoking look at Zen from an insiders perspective. He covers truly everything one needs to know about Zen practice in a matter of fact way which can help clear up a Westerners possible misconceptions.

If you like this work, you will also like "A Glimpse of Nothingness" by Janwillem van de Wettering; an account of experiences had in an American Zen community. Also I cannot recommend enough the teachings of Zen master Seung Sahn, ie. The Compass of Zen, Only Don't Know, and Dropping Ashes on the Buddha. This is a great accent to such works.

I escaped to temple life for a bit with this book........2003-12-18

Wow. Should have been a documentary as well. It took me into the existence of Korean Zen Monks. No pop psychology here. I was humbled at the notion of meditating for two weeks straight in one sitting and I respected more what it is to be a monk. It made me think of my childhood. When I was a little boy in Korea a renunciate came to my house to beg for rice to my mother's disdain. He wore a white tattered robe and I realize now what he was.

Living in this hectic modern world and having my illusions shattered over and over again made me realize how lucky I was to have seen a Buddha with my very eyes. I think I'll read this one again soon. Buddha Bless You. You know what I mean.

Insightful.......2001-01-01

This is quite a good overview of the stucture and workings of a large Korean Buddhist monastery and the culture of Buddhist monks in Korea. I don't think that anyone has written a more detailed description of the monk's culture or of the jobs in big monasteries. Parts of it are somewhat dated and there are differences between temples (and people) but for the most part it's pretty accurate. The author's stories about his experiences are also interesting. I didn't give it five stars because the book might seem a bit dry at times for some people.

Gold, Gals, Guns, Guts: A History of Deadwood, Lead, and Spearfish, 1874-1976

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Great History Lesson

Gold, Gals, Guns, Guts: A History of Deadwood, Lead, and Spearfish, 1874-1976

Manufacturer: South Dakota State Historical Society Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0971517185

Customer Reviews:

Great History Lesson.......2006-11-13

After watching the Deadwood Searies on HBO, I wanted some history on the Deadwood area and what it was really all about. This book gave me what I was looking for.

The Guns of Meeting Street: A Southern Tragedy

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Violence in the Old New South

The Guns of Meeting Street: A Southern Tragedy
T. Felder Dorn
Manufacturer: University of South Carolina Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 1570034257

Book Description

As compelling as fiction, The Guns of Meeting Street reconstructs a series of sensational murders in the early 1940s that rocked rural Edgefield County, South Carolina, and riveted the state's attention on the county's Meeting Street community. Featuring an unlikely cast of antagonists—among them a prominent store owner, a schoolteacher, and a law enforcement officer who hid in the getaway car while a hired gunman shot his enemy—the acts of revenge resulted in five murders. Another three people were put to death in the electric chair, including the first woman to be electrocuted in South Carolina.

With the assistance of descendants of the two families involved, T. Felder Dorn probes a longstanding feud between the Logues and the Timmermans to uncover a chilling story of misplaced revenge, social resentment, and violence. His careful research weaves together the oral history of family members affected by the shooting with court transcripts, affidavits, prisoner confessions, newspaper articles, and coroners' reports to produce a truly gripping account of the events.

While most of the deaths took place between 1940 and 1943, the story has roots that can be traced to killings that occurred in the Meeting Street community in the 1920s that involved Logue family members and their relatives. The story climaxes on January 15, 1943, with three executions and concludes with the 1960 parole and rehabilitation of the only one of Timmerman's killers to escape capital punishment.

Not for the faint of heart, The Guns of Meeting Street details the circumstances and motivations for the killings, the legal wranglings of complex court cases, and the involvement in the proceedings by such leading South Carolinians as governors Richard Manning Jefferies, Olin D. Johnston, and J. Strom Thurmond.

Customer Reviews:

Violence in the Old New South.......2001-11-30

This is the story of a family feud in Edgefield Co., SC in the early 40s. Dorn does an outstanding job recreating a time and place where roads were unpaved, electrification just arrived, and acts of vengeance still expected . You can almost see the country store and feel the heat and the dust. There are a series of shootings and a shoot-out with the sheriff. The only weak part is the section in which Dorn substitutes abridged trial transcripts for his own telling of the tale.This book merits attention and readers.

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Guns of Sacramento
Geoffrey Allen , and David Allen
Manufacturer: Garton and Co Print Dealers and Publishers
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Irian Jaya Under the Gun: Indonesian Economic Development Versus West Papuan Nationalism

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A Readable and Recent Treatment

Irian Jaya Under the Gun: Indonesian Economic Development Versus West Papuan Nationalism
Jim Elmslie
Manufacturer: University of Hawaii Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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Book Description

Jim Elmslie traces events in Irian Jaya/West Papua from the departure of the Dutch in 1963 to December 1999. The majority of the indigenous people of the area consider themselves West Papuans living in the land of West Papua, a country incorporated into the Indonesian state without their consent or approval. Made up of Melanesian peoples, the western part of New Guinea is one of the least developed places on earth with the largest expanses outside the Amazon of untouched and, in some cases, still unexplored rainforest and wilderness. It is a region ripe for economic exploitation.

The local people are being squeezed as outsiders flock to West Papua to take advantage of the vast natural resources the country possesses. The logging, mining, and fishing industries are booming, as are the cities, towns, and transmigration settlements. Irian Jaya under the Gun chronicles the rapid changes that are taking place under the guise of Indonesian economic development and its generally pro-crony, pro-military, pro-multinational corporation, and anti-Papuan thrust. It describes what can happen to an indigenous population when insensitive governments and avaricious multinationals are more concerned about profits than the environment or the people inhabiting the land.

Customer Reviews:

A Readable and Recent Treatment.......2004-01-16

This is one of the most recent books published about the history/fate of West Papua under Indonesia rule.
It covers events mostly from the Indonesian takeover till late 1999, with a short preface summarizing events and trends up to 2001. After a short overview of the history of Papua, particular attention is paid to the early history of the OPM guerilla movement, to the economic importance of the province to Indonesia (based on local government statistics), the Freeport mine, and events between 1995-1999.
While individual cases of human rights abuses are mentioned, the major focus of the book is the impact of Indonesian economic development and the accompanying demographic changes and environmental damage on the life and future of the Papuans.
Its conclusion, that independence is the only way the native Papuan people can survive, is hopefully incorrect as in view of recent political developments in Papua independence seems an even less likely outcome today than it did when much of this book was written.

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