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Books > History > Asian / Middle Eastern history
A masterpiece of war reportage, The Morning They Came for Us bears
witness to one of the most brutal internecine conflicts in recent
history. Drawing from years of experience covering Syria for Vanity
Fair, Newsweek, and the front page of the New York Times,
award-winning journalist Janine di Giovanni chronicles a nation on
the brink of disintegration, all written through the perspective of
ordinary people. With a new epilogue, what emerges is an
unflinching picture of the horrific consequences of armed conflict,
one that charts an apocalyptic but at times tender story of life in
a jihadist war zone. The result is an unforgettable testament to
resilience in the face of nihilistic human debasement.
A riveting, action-filled account that sheds light on the realities of working in a war-torn country, this is the first book on the war in Iraq by a South African.
Johan Raath and a security team were escorting American engineers to a power plant south of Baghdad when they were ambushed. He had first arrived in Iraq only two weeks before. This was a small taste of what was to come over the next 13 years while he worked there as a private military contractor (PMC).
His mission? Not to wage war but to protect lives. Raath acted as a bodyguard for VIPs and, more often, engineers who were involved in construction projects to rebuild the country after the 2003 war. His physical and mental endurance was tested to the limit in his efforts to safeguard construction sites that were regularly subjected to mortar and suicide attacks. Key to his survival was his training as a Special Forces operator, or Recce.
Working in places called the Triangle of Death and driving on the ‘Hell Run’, Raath had numerous hair-raising experiences. As a trained combat medic he also helped to save people’s lives after two suicide bomb attacks on sites he then worked at.
This book analyzes the cultural production (narratives) of
selected American, Chinese American, and "Americanized" Chinese
women who lived in Hong Kong and Macao during the nineteenth and
twentieth centuries. It focuses on the diverse ways women
envisioned and communicated their notions of national identity
depending on individual circumstance and historical era.
This much-needed study draws on fresh material and firsthand
observation to provide an understanding of North Korea as it exists
today. North Korea under Kim Chong-il: Power, Politics, and
Prospects for Change delves deeply into what we know-and what we
think we know-about the current North Korean system. This incisive
book probes the dynamics that inform the nation's domestic and
foreign policies, examining key leadership institutions and
personalities, as well as prospects for the next regime. In
outlining the major events behind Kim Chong-il's assumption of
power, Ken E. Gause illuminates the environment that shaped
Chong-il's worldview and his concept of the regime and his role in
it. The book focuses on regime politics since 1994. Among other
critical topics, the book examines the evolution of North Korean
decision-making with regard to its internal and external affairs
and how both are intermingled. The prospects for a third hereditary
succession and the prospective stability of the next regime are
also considered. Includes original interviews conducted in Asia by
the author Offers material drawn from a wide variety of sources,
including the rich literature and analysis by Korean, Japanese, and
Chinese scholars/analysts, much of which has not been translated
into English Provides insights into the tradecraft and best
practices of the Pyongyang watching community
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