Save Darfur! Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror

From the author of the highly praised Good Muslim, Bad Muslim, here is the first analysis of the crisis in Darfur that considers the events of the last few years within the broad context of the history of Sudan, as well as examines the efficacy of the world’s response to the crisis. Incisive and authoritative, Saviors and Survivors will radically alter our understanding of the crisis in Darfur.

“An incisive and challenging analysis. Framing both Darfur’s war and the ‘Save Darfur’ movement within the paradigm of the West’s historic colonial encounter with Africa, Mahmood Mamdani challenges the reader to reconsider whether Darfur’s crisis is ‘genocide’ warranting foreign military intervention.”—Alex de Waal, Fellow at Harvard University’s Kennedy School of Government and author of War in Darfur

“Mamdani traces the path to the Darfur tragedy through its historical and colonial roots to the current situation, where drought and desertification have led to conflict over land among local tribes, rebellion, and finally to the brutal involvement of the forces of the state and to the efforts of the United Nations and others to help the victims and stop the violence. His radical reevaluation of the Darfur problem is a major contribution to understanding and, it is to be hoped, to ending a shocking human disaster.” —Sir Brian Urquhart, former Under-Secretary-General of the United Nations

Indiana University’s Political Science Department has assigned the book for an African Politics course this fall 2010.

To read a book excerpt, click here.

To order an examination copy, click here.

University of Michigan Selects The Cleanest Race: How North Koreans See Themselves and Why it Matters for World Politics Course

For years, North Korea watchers who speak no Korean have been confidently telling the world what motivates Kim Jong-Il. But in The Cleanest Race, B.R. Myers, a North Korea analyst and contributing editor of the Atlantic Monthly, presents the first full-length study of the North Korean worldview. In a lavishly illustrated work that draws on extensive research into the regime’s domestic propaganda, including films, romance novels and other artifacts of the personality cult, Myers analyzes each of the country’s official myths in turn—from the notion of Koreans’ unique moral purity, to the myth of an America quaking in terror of “the Iron General.” And in a groundbreaking historical section, Myers also traces the origins of this official culture back to the Japanese fascist thought in which North Korea’s first ideologues were schooled. 

University of Michigan has adopted the book for its Introduction to World Politics course this fall. 

“Electrifying… finely argued and brilliantly written… The illustrations in this book are an education in themselves.”—Christopher Hitchens

“Provocative… A fascinating analysis.”—Dwight Garner, The New York Times

 B.R. Myers Discusses North Korea On National Public Radio:

On Point: “Bill Clinton’s North Korea Mission”

—August 5, 2009 Click here for interview.

On Point: “North Korea: Behind the Curtain”

—June 8, 2009 Click here for interview

Morning Edition: “North Korean Launch Grabs World’s Attention”

—April 6, 2009 Click here for interview

To order an examination copy, click here.

Free Copy Offer to Educators: Be the First to Adopt The Enough Moment: Fighting to End Africa’s Worst Human Rights Crimes by John Prendergast with Don Cheadle

In their New York Times bestseller, Not On Our Watch, human rights activist John Prendergast and Oscar-nominated actor Don Cheadle focused the world’s attention on genocide in Sudan by offering readers strategies on how to take action to end the tragedies. Here now is their continued call to action: The Enough Moment : Fighting to End Africa’s Worst Human Rights Crimes (Three Rivers Press; September 2010), an empowering look at how people’s movements and inspired policies can stop genocide, child soldier recruitment, and rape as a war weapon in Africa. 

In The Enough Moment , Prendergast and Cheadle explain how hope, anger, citizen activism, social networking, compassion, celebrities, faith in action, and globalization are all coming together to produce the beginnings of a mass movement against human rights crimes.  

As Prendergast and Cheadle describe, an “Enough Moment” is defined as that time when outrage triggers action and bystanders become “Upstanders,” or people who take action on behalf of others. But can ordinary citizens turn their Enough Moments into instruments of meaningful change? Prendergast and Cheadle say “yes,” illustrating with such examples:

 • A high school student in Chicago started Youth United for Darfur to raise awareness of genocide.

• An eleven-year-old former child soldier in Uganda formed a group of others like him to aid in reconciliation.

• A seventy-eight-year-old retired educator in Seattle founded a coalition of churches and organizations to raise awareness and funds for humanitarian relief.

• A young Darfurian woman founded an association of women journalists that uses radios and phones to warn towns of militia groups in their area.

 In addition to providing action steps, Prendergast and Cheadle also connect with well-known and influential people to discuss how they have been moved to action by their Enough Moments. Interviews in The Enough Moment include:  Madeleine Albright, Dave Eggers, Mia Farrow, and a number of members of Congress.

For readers who hear their Enough Moment calling, and for those who are already involved in the people’s movement, The Enough Moment offers fourteen action steps for change, including contacting Congress, alerting the media, and using social media to organize, to help us become part of the solution. 

 Visit the website: http://www.enoughproject.org/

Educators: To request a FREE examination copy, click here and mention our blog.  Copies are limited.

Students at Boston College and Western Oregon University are Reading The Translator by Zaghawa tribesman, Daoud Hari

In 2003, Daoud Hari, a Zaghawa tribesman in northern Darfur, fled his village, which was under attack by Sudanese militiamen. Here is Daoud’s harrowing and life-changing, eyewitness account of the brutal genocide in the Sudan.

Western Oregon University’s Anthropology Dept. will be using the book this summer as well as Boston College’s Sociology Dept which has adopted The Translator: A Memoir for its course named “African World Perspective” this Fall. Zine Magubane, Associate Professor of Sociology, says “I chose this book because The Translator offers American students a superb opportunity to hear about the realities of the Darfur situation through the voice of an African person. The book is both an excellent primer on the political situation in Darfur and a deeply moving personal story that gives students a sophisticated, yet accessible, view into the Darfur conflict.”

We are pleased to say The Translator is also a common reads book selection at Colorado Mountain College and Mars Hill College.

Official Website: www.SaveDarfur.org

For more information on the book and the author, click here.

To read a book excerpt, click here.

To order an examination copy, click here.

James Madison University Adopts Historiography Book Dangerous Games: The Uses and Abuses of History by Margaret MacMillan

In Dangerous Games: The Uses and Abuses of History, the acclaimed author of Paris 1919 and Nixon and Mao reveals lessons and insights from a lifetime of writing and teaching history, about how we live our lives as individuals and nations.

Dangerous Games has been selected at James Madison University for course Twentieth Century World History.

“Reminds readers that history matters…. This is a must-read for anyone who wants to understand the importance of correctly understanding the past.” —Publishers Weekly, starred review

“MacMillan deftly maneuvers through time [in this] wide-ranging and provocative testament to transparency as the best historical education.”—Kirkus Reviews (starred review)

For more information on the book or author, click here.

To read an excerpt, click here.

To order an examination copy, click here.

Vanderbilt University’s Political Science Department Takes Up The Strongest Tribe

From a universally respected combat journalist, The Strongest Tribe: War, Politics, and the Endgame in Iraq is a gripping history based on five years of front-line reporting about how the war was turned around–and the choice now facing America.

The Strongest Tribe by Bing West will be the book taught by Vanderbilt University’s Political Science Department for their course: War in Iraq.

“A brilliant exposition. Based on extensive experience in the war zone, Bing West recounts how Soldiers and Marines showed the President and the Pentagon the way to solve the Iraq insurgency problem. Echoing the admonition that “all politics are local”, The Strongest Tribe  convincingly argues that it was a grass roots strategy developed by on-scene officers who forged ties at the tribal level that brought stability to Iraq’s turbulent Anbar Province and provided hope for all Iraq.”
– Lt. Gen. Bernard E. Trainor USMC (Ret.) Co-author of The Generals’ War
and COBRA II: The Inside Story of the Invation and Occupation of Iraq

For more information on the book and the author, click here.

To read an excerpt, click here.

To view related video, click here.

Order an examination copy here.

United States Air Force Academy Picks Joker One by Donovan Campbell

Joker One by Donovan Campbell is being used in English 111 course at the United States Air Force Academy for the Fall 09 semester.

Order an exam copy here.