Calcutta is notorious for its pavement dwellers, street children, and scavengers that have become a portrait of the worst sort of human degradation. In this illuminating critique, Thomas investigates the standard solutions - improved housing, increased job creation, and intervention of social services agencies - only to come to the conclusion that such initiatives have little effect on the inherent nature of the problem of poverty. Based on historical and anthropological findings, and the author's visits to the slums of Calcutta, what becomes clear is that even in the midst of great poverty, there is a nobility of character, a vitality of ethnic and cultural ties, and an energy that bring out inventiveness and ingenuity in the lives of the poor. If Calcutta's poverty is not to be an intractable problem, these internal forces must be awakened to generate solutions. Illustrated with stunning photographs, Thomas's reflections provide new insight into an age-old problem.

Slavery and Jihad in the Sudan is not only a riveting narrative about the struggle against the slave trade and martyrdom of Charles Gordon at the hands of the Mahdi, but also an account of conditions during a period of great trauma.

Fred Thomas holds a PhD in social anthropology and has studied and worked in Sudan. He relies on his vast knowledge and personal experience to bring attention to a place and time in a unique part of the world where grass roots conditions in a tribal society have changed little over time, particularly in the vast expanses of rural Sudan. Thomas highlights the extraordinary personalities of the time by sharing anecdotes from explorers, Muslim holy men, Christian missionaries, foreign mercenaries, and slave traders. As Thomas recounts the legacy of Mahdism, he also includes haunting vestiges of earlier times within the atrocities currently occurring in Darfur, as well as an interesting correlation between ancient tribal and religious differences to their practical relevance in today's world.

Compiled with fragments of conversations, captivating descriptions, and personal stories, Slavery and Jihad in the Sudan allows a glimpse into a fascinating period.