Freedom Books

The format of this book is extremely easy to follow. The examples, descriptions, and remedies from Mr. Rahtz are excellent. I am not in law enforcement, nor do I have a degree in Administration of Justice, but what I can offer you, concerning this book, is this: this book gives the average citizen a good look into what community oriented policing is all about. Mr. Rahtz does mention that there are other definitions and other styles of community policing that are currently being practiced by other agencies. His book is one of many, but one that should be noticed. Mr. Rahtz introduces the reader to two approaches in policing: the old way of policing, and then there's the new approach - community oriented policing. The author advocates for the new way and makes his claim that the new is more productive and shows (with examples) that it actually works. Later in the book, he gives the supervisor tips on how to effectively apply community oriented policing in the leadership role. Many police officers may think that they have a good understanding of what community policing is, or that some may be resistant to the whole idea of community policing, but these concepts and ideas, encapsulated in this short read, is a good reminder to the veteran police officer and to the skeptics that learing, training, leadership and being connected to your community is a never ending process. If you're thinking about law enforcement as a new career, if you're currently in the academy, or if you're a veteran police officer, this book is worth the money and the time to read.

As a reader who is not a policeman, I enjoyed Lt. Rahtz's book from a police story perspective. The anecdotes of the force were entertaining as well as instructive. In my humble opinion, the description of the community oriented police work probably is what most recruits believe their job will be like. Every recruit enters the force with a great attitude - gung ho and wanting to make a difference. What happens next - chasing radio and 911 calls - wears down many cops until the reasons they joined the force are forgotten.

With the recent unrest in Cincinnati, maybe the city will listen to one of its own and expand community policing.

Howard Rahtz has made community policing accessible for the beat cop. His handbook cites real-world examples of how community policing works. He also cites research to back the examples, but he doesn't get bogged down in statistics or academics. This is a primer. Every new cop should read this in the police academy. Every veteran cop should too. And supervisors should refer to it regularly.
I've taught community policing classes for years. This handbook does in less than 150 pages what I've tried to get done in hours and hours of classes. This handbook explains in simple terms that community policing is a philosphy of action. It makes the SARA model of problem solving easy to understand. Howard Rahtz obviously knows his topic and he writes in easy to read, street cop language.
This book doesn't belong on the shelf. It should be on your desk, in your briefcase, or in your hands. And it should be read by every community leader, from the elected officials to those volunteers who are so vital to making community policing work.

This book was a direct hit in Germany that sold 100,000 copies. Here are translations of a couple customer reviews from Amazon.de

Another Pearl Harbor? (5 stars)
There are still too many loose ends around September 11th - even though the "case" is being handled by the world's largest police department: the FBI/CIA.
This book doesn't claim that there is a conspiracy behind the events of 9/11, it points out discrepancies and above all, it poses questions - that really ought to be (plausibly) answered by the US Gov't. But of course they have already found the guilty party they wanted and would rather bomb Iraq and kill innocent civilians. Why?

The most interesting and many-faceted book about 9/11 (5 Stars)
What really happened on 9/11? What answers have the mainstream media given us as hard evidence, other than the Bin Laden / Al Qaeda conspiracy theory? None. This glaring, perhaps even intentional neglect of the media has swept Mathias Bröckers under the carpet, along with his book which is really worth reading. He calls all the discrepancies and omissions by name. Yet he doesn't force the reader to any blind belief, instead he puts the information together and points to possible connections. He does not produce a new conspiracy theory, but remains critical and objective.
This bestseller comes in three parts. A fascinating introduction to the world of conspiracies and conspiracy theories, a "conspirological diary" on the events of 9/11, and a wrap-up of the events.
Once one gets used to the authors sophisticated writing style, the book is very pleasant reading. Plus it is not at all dry, but often has an ironical undertone.
The first part on historical conspiracies and theories is very informative. The second and by far the longest part is a collection of articles entitled The WTC Conspiracy, which appeared on the Internet from 9/13/01 to 3/22/02. The author has updated this diary with many notes in italics interspersed throughout the text. The last part and the appendices round out the work nicely.
A must for everyone who wants to be informed and be able to think freely, without being attacked as a fruitcake or as anti-American!

During the struggles of America's infancy it was Paul Revere who rode down the streets of Boston issuing a warning. Now German journalist Mathias Broeckers has issued a fateful warning that if America is to survive it better collectively awaken fast.

Mathias Broeckers has written a compelling work questioning the mainstream media account of 9/11 that has been trumpeted by the incumbent Republican Administration. It has risen to bestseller status in his native Germany.

"Conspiracies, Conspiracy Theories, and the Secrets of 9/11" provides the insights of a German observing what happened across the Atlantic that fateful day with an enhanced perspective.

This perspective gives Broeckers advantages in analyzing the events of that fateful day and the many ramifications resulting from them. His German roots provide an important perspective that he shares with his readers.

Broeckers relates that what initially triggered his interest and resulting skepticism was not any particular event. As in so many instances with keen observers, in Broeckers' case, from his perspective of a veteran journalist, rather than being moved by a particular event the catalyst leading to investigation and analysis stemmed from not feeling right.

As Edward G. Robinson, playing a shrewd insurance claims adjuster in a classic film directed by a famous German, Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity, stated, a "little man" was gnawing inside him, the feeling that surfaced when something was amiss.

Journalists possess the same instincts as claims adjusters and Broeckers writes early in the book about the visceral gnawing that disturbed him about the official account being disseminated through the mainstream media about 9/11.

What makes Broeckers' work so unique is that it is presented in diary form. He explains that his work initially appeared on the German website telepolis.

The reader therefore observes the author's mind at work at various stages of analysis, from his initial gnawing of intellectual discomfort to the conclusions he draws at the end of the work as he stresses the necessity for ongoing investigation of an ongoing tragedy begging for some kind of ultimate resolution.

As a German author with a keen historical background, when Broeckers concluded that the 9/11 account being articulated by George W. Bush and other leading Administration figures is the mother of all propaganda snow jobs, he compares what is happening gravely to the propaganda stream of the Joseph Goebbel network in thirties' Germany under Adolf Hitler.

Hermann Goring, one of the leading figures of the Third Reich, asserted that it was easy to instill war fervor in a nation. Initially the masses are warned about an implacable foe intent on destroying the homeland. Once the urgency is drummed home with incessant repetition dissent is denounced as unpatriotic and providing aid to the enemy.

Broeckers then propels forward to the present and the Bush government's campaign to rally America in the wake of the 9/11 tragedies. He focuses on Bush's statement, made under color of jest, in 2000 shortly before assuming power.

Bush commented then that it would be easier to govern in a dictatorship, "just as long as I'm the dictator." Broeckers sees a terrifying parallel between the Goebbels Third Reich network's incessant references to Germany as a great nation and how traitors within the nation's midst were seeking to bring it down internally.

Bush uses the same "giving aid and comfort to the enemy" argument when, in the wake of 9/11, he posed the argument that on the war on terror "you are either with us or against us." As in the case of Nazi Germany, an either-or dualism reigned.

In Bush America any opposition to curtailing freedom through the so-called Patriot Act or opposing an invasion of Iraq was denounced as unpatriotic and involved "giving aid and comfort to terrorists." The only legitimate and acceptable way to fight terrorism was to support the Bush Administration with its incessant peroration: "We are at war!"

Broeckers begins the book by challenging the roots of the Bush Administration's propaganda campaign of listening, following and asking no questions, all under the aegis of fighting the war on terror. He criticizes Bush propagandists for contending that to question the Administration's and mainstream media's account of 9/11 is to be part of a senseless and destructive "conspiracy theory."

The author astutely turns the argument around on Bush and fellow propagandists.

Broeckers alleges that to accept the instant analysis, instant proclamation of guilt against one well known terrorist, and a former CIA asset at that, Osama bin Laden, living in the Tora Bora cave complex along with a team of poorly skilled pilots and box cutter weapons wielders orchestrated the destruction of the World Trade Center embodies the most absurdist of unfounded conspiracy theories.

As a well-educated German with knowledge of history, Broeckers was painfully aware of the Hitler tactic of burning down the Reichstag and blaming it on Communist revolutionaries as a major strategy tactic in marshalling the German populace to rally behind the Third Reich as it sought "justice" for the Fatherland.

Broeckers parallels that tragic point in history to the rush to judgment in the wake of 9/11. He notes how quickly the alleged "perpetrators" were discovered and how repetitiously their names were repeated on television.

Broeckers sees a parallel between the response to 9/11 and instant establishing of guilt alongside the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, as networks reiterated that Lee Harvey Oswald was the guilty party and that he acted alone.

An interesting point Broeckers makes in his book concerns a Dan Rather CBS News interview with Tom Kenney of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in which the FEMA administrator made the odd remark, "We're currently one of the first teams that were deployed to support the city of New York for this disaster. We arrived on late Monday night (September 10), and went into action on Tuesday morning."

Another point of major interest made by Broeckers involves heavy military activity between September 1 and 10, just prior to the 9/11 tragedies. Broeckers writes:

"In an exercise dubbed Operation `Swift Sword' and planned for four years, 23,000 British troops are redeployed to Oman. At the same time, two U.S. carrier battle groups arrive off the coast of Pakistan, and another 17,000 US troops join the 23,000 NATO troops assembled in Egypt for Operation `Bright Star.' All of these forces are in place before the first plane hits the WTC towers."

Broeckers frequently makes an essential point concerning which Americans should pay heed. He notes that the Internet provides the opportunity for an informational convergence and a breakthrough from the stranglehold of the mighty corporate media influence.

He recommends a twofold strategy of 1) question and 2) engage in diligent research, putting into practice the rules he admirably followed in achieving such an astute and thought provoking work at a time when such investigation and analysis are so vitally needed.

During the struggles of America's infancy it was Paul Revere who rode down the streets of Boston issuing a warning. Now German journalist Mathias Broeckers has issued a fateful warning that if America is to survive it better collectively awaken fast.

Mathias Broeckers has written a compelling work questioning the mainstream media account of 9/11 that has been trumpeted by the incumbent Republican Administration. It has risen to bestseller status in his native Germany.

"Conspiracies, Conspiracy Theories, and the Secrets of 9/11" provides the insights of a German observing what happened across the Atlantic that fateful day with an enhanced perspective.

This perspective gives Broeckers advantages in analyzing the events of that fateful day and the many ramifications resulting from them. His German roots provide an important perspective that he shares with his readers.

Broeckers relates that what initially triggered his interest and resulting skepticism was not any particular event. As in so many instances with keen observers, in Broeckers' case, from his perspective of a veteran journalist, rather than being moved by a particular event the catalyst leading to investigation and analysis stemmed from not feeling right.

As Edward G. Robinson, playing a shrewd insurance claims adjuster in a classic film directed by a famous German, Billy Wilder's Double Indemnity, stated, a "little man" was gnawing inside him, the feeling that surfaced when something was amiss.

Journalists possess the same instincts as claims adjusters and Broeckers writes early in the book about the visceral gnawing that disturbed him about the official account being disseminated through the mainstream media about 9/11.

What makes Broeckers' work so unique is that it is presented in diary form. He explains that his work initially appeared on the German website telepolis.

The reader therefore observes the author's mind at work at various stages of analysis, from his initial gnawing of intellectual discomfort to the conclusions he draws at the end of the work as he stresses the necessity for ongoing investigation of an ongoing tragedy begging for some kind of ultimate resolution.

As a German author with a keen historical background, when Broeckers concluded that the 9/11 account being articulated by George W. Bush and other leading Administration figures is the mother of all propaganda snow jobs, he compares what is happening gravely to the propaganda stream of the Joseph Goebbel network in thirties' Germany under Adolf Hitler.

Hermann Goring, one of the leading figures of the Third Reich, asserted that it was easy to instill war fervor in a nation. Initially the masses are warned about an implacable foe intent on destroying the homeland. Once the urgency is drummed home with incessant repetition dissent is denounced as unpatriotic and providing aid to the enemy.

Broeckers then propels forward to the present and the Bush government's campaign to rally America in the wake of the 9/11 tragedies. He focuses on Bush's statement, made under color of jest, in 2000 shortly before assuming power.

Bush commented then that it would be easier to govern in a dictatorship, "just as long as I'm the dictator." Broeckers sees a terrifying parallel between the Goebbels Third Reich network's incessant references to Germany as a great nation and how traitors within the nation's midst were seeking to bring it down internally.

Bush uses the same "giving aid and comfort to the enemy" argument when, in the wake of 9/11, he posed the argument that on the war on terror "you are either with us or against us." As in the case of Nazi Germany, an either-or dualism reigned.

In Bush America any opposition to curtailing freedom through the so-called Patriot Act or opposing an invasion of Iraq was denounced as unpatriotic and involved "giving aid and comfort to terrorists." The only legitimate and acceptable way to fight terrorism was to support the Bush Administration with its incessant peroration: "We are at war!"

Broeckers begins the book by challenging the roots of the Bush Administration's propaganda campaign of listening, following and asking no questions, all under the aegis of fighting the war on terror. He criticizes Bush propagandists for contending that to question the Administration's and mainstream media's account of 9/11 is to be part of a senseless and destructive "conspiracy theory."

The author astutely turns the argument around on Bush and fellow propagandists.

Broeckers alleges that to accept the instant analysis, instant proclamation of guilt against one well known terrorist, and a former CIA asset at that, Osama bin Laden, living in the Tora Bora cave complex along with a team of poorly skilled pilots and box cutter weapons wielders orchestrated the destruction of the World Trade Center embodies the most absurdist of unfounded conspiracy theories.

As a well-educated German with knowledge of history, Broeckers was painfully aware of the Hitler tactic of burning down the Reichstag and blaming it on Communist revolutionaries as a major strategy tactic in marshalling the German populace to rally behind the Third Reich as it sought "justice" for the Fatherland.

Broeckers parallels that tragic point in history to the rush to judgment in the wake of 9/11. He notes how quickly the alleged "perpetrators" were discovered and how repetitiously their names were repeated on television.

Broeckers sees a parallel between the response to 9/11 and instant establishing of guilt alongside the assassination of President John F. Kennedy, as networks reiterated that Lee Harvey Oswald was the guilty party and that he acted alone.

An interesting point Broeckers makes in his book concerns a Dan Rather CBS News interview with Tom Kenney of the Federal Emergency Management Agency, in which the FEMA administrator made the odd remark, "We're currently one of the first teams that were deployed to support the city of New York for this disaster. We arrived on late Monday night (September 10), and went into action on Tuesday morning."

Another point of major interest made by Broeckers involves heavy military activity between September 1 and 10, just prior to the 9/11 tragedies. Broeckers writes:

"In an exercise dubbed Operation `Swift Sword' and planned for four years, 23,000 British troops are redeployed to Oman. At the same time, two U.S. carrier battle groups arrive off the coast of Pakistan, and another 17,000 US troops join the 23,000 NATO troops assembled in Egypt for Operation `Bright Star.' All of these forces are in place before the first plane hits the WTC towers."

Broeckers frequently makes an essential point concerning which Americans should pay heed. He notes that the Internet provides the opportunity for an informational convergence and a breakthrough from the stranglehold of the mighty corporate media influence.

He recommends a twofold strategy of 1) question and 2) engage in diligent research, putting into practice the rules he admirably followed in achieving such an astute and thought provoking work at a time when such investigation and analysis are so vitally needed.

I purchased this book, obviously, for a class,and I thought it was actually interesting. I had many texts that literally put me to sleep, but this one is different. It makes you think about the penal system in this country, and introduces issues to make you think about things other than locking up the bad guys and throwing away the key. My husband even wanted to read it when I finished my class!!! Recommend highly!!!!

Wow! What a great and interesting textbook. I think this is the first time I've actually been "current" in the reading required for a college course. I'd like to add that the study guide that you can purchase to accompany this textbook is excellent as well. I'd recommend a course that uses this book to anyone with an interest in criminal justice or corrections.

I am using this textbook in a class and it is a whopper. Wonderful pictures, easy to read, clear colors and understandable. I've been working in prisons for 5 years and this book makes a lot of sense. You ought to read their sections on women in prison and on probation. I loved the parts on geriatric prisoners (old cons) and the death penalty. And it is easy to read. More!

These guys obviously know what they're talking about. Some of the theory was a bit heavy but I liked the idea of their recommendations on how to coordinate counter-terrorism capabilities at political, strategic and tactical levels, because in practice the various agencies are not coordinated and disagree on how to do things at any level - let alone all three!

An impressive amount of things covered. They discuss definitions of terrorism as well as the different types. They also talk about what causes terrorism and people to become a terrorist. The bits on recruitment and how they finance themselves were not only interesting but alarming as it shows you how organised these groups are. Scary! I think the point they make is that terrorist groups are so organised so anyone working against them really needs to be very organised - A bit of a reality-check!

Most people only seem to think of Special Forces when discussing counter-terrorism and don't realise how much there is to it. This is one of the few books i've read that gives a comprehensive overview of counter-terrorism in all aspects, and i've advised on security issues for many years. It covers every angle of counter-terrorism and even goes into political ethics. There's something for everyone and is refreshing in the sense that it's not written in academic terms, but more for the layman and interested person. I think everyone can get something from this book whether they are policy-makers, academics, or even those working in counter-terrorism, and those just interested in something that is such a topical point in this day and age!

This important work is an unvarnished first-person account of one man's lifelong battle to secure rights for the mentally retarded citizens of Massachusetts. With no holds barred, Ricci chronicles the plight of the mentally retarded in Massachusetts during the second half of the twentieth century. In a style reflective of his unrelenting advocacy, Ricci recounts the painful decision he and his wife made to place their six-year-old son at Belchertown State School in the 1950s, the horrific medieval conditions he discovered and exposed in that institution, his founding of Advocacy Network, that organization's fight against uncaring state bureaucrats, and their hard-won, landmark federal court order to improve the lives of the mentally retarded. Crimes Against Humanity is a must-read for anyone with a social conscience.

This important work is an unvarnished first-person account of one man's lifelong battle to secure rights for the mentally retarded citizens of Massachusetts. With no holds barred, Ricci chronicles the plight of the mentally retarded in Massachusetts during the second half of the twentieth century. In a style reflective of his unrelenting advocacy, Ricci recounts the painful decision he and his wife made to place their six-year-old son at Belchertown State School in the 1950s, the horrific medieval conditions he discovered and exposed in that institution, his founding of Advocacy Network, that organization's fight against uncaring state bureaucrats, and their hard-won, landmark federal court order to improve the lives of the mentally retarded. Crimes Against Humanity is a must-read for anyone with a social conscience.

Ricci's CRIMES AGAINST HUMANITY is an essential read for anyone with a relative, friend, or client who suffers from mental retardation. Holding nothing back, Ricci recounts the horrendously inhumane conditions of Belchertown State School in Massachusetts during the 1950s and '60s, his formation of an advocacy group to support the retarded and their families, and a 20-year landmark federal court class-action suit to secure rights and protections for mentally retarded citizens. A work of courage, persistence, and faith.

I received the book in a timely manner and in excellent condition as a new book.

This is an excellent book and all ministers should read it and learn from it! We have problems in our communities. Here's some insight. We can not keep our head in the sand! We must restore our communities. It is up to us! The Church!

To sing the songs of Zion for Babylonian amusement was offensive to the Jews so they hung their harps and so they did not sing the songs of Zion and so they began to forget Jerusalment. The issue facing the Jews was how to resist assimilation, how to sing the songs of the Lord in a strange land. Dr. Franklin's book is a courageous statement for community renewal for the African American community that also finds itself living in a strange land, these United States. The task before Christians is the same as it was for Jewish who have for millenias faced open hostility of the world. African Americans have faced hostility ever since a slave ship named Jesus brought them to the New World. The task is how to sing the Lord's song in this New World without forgetting the rich heritage of biblical faith that invites young minds into the world of miracle, a world of hope of deliverance. Dr. Franklin's book is a fresh challenge for Christians to renew the covenant of community that
started at the foot of Sinai for a liberated people.

The result is a terrific and important book... It's important because it is history and the author was there on the front lines making this history with his people. I have read almost every book on the Chicano Movement, and this is the best ever written. Every middle school , high school, and university should have this book in their history department if one is to understand what the Chicano people had to endure

Like Rudolfo "Corky" Gonzalez himself, Ernesto B. Vigil takes his fight back to the street, and this time as historian and reveals the strengths and the criticisms, of the Chicano movement in 1960s Denver. Revealing the intolerance and the brutality for all to see this definitive period of Chicano history, its fascinating text like a hypertext to the streets of Denver, and the backrooms of the "Crusade for Justice" remained unknown to researchers partly because it had not been identified, but also because the interior covert nature of the urban Chicano organization made it almost impossible to enter from the outside. But Vigil's biography is as powerful as a right-cross to the glass-chin of America. Significant not simply for what the "Crusade" was but for what it has to say about the sucker punches thrown by the "Government's War on Dissent." With the sting of smelling salts, and the knowledge there is an opponent that needs to be identified, Vigil's lends clarity to a culture of competition. The cut man will be kept busy for many more rounds but there is no doubt that this is the definitive biography which historians and participants will turn to and that students will finally be able to resource for knowledge and understanding. For many years this hidden fragment of history lay buried now Ernesto Vigil's "The Crusade for Justice: Chicano Militancy and the Government's War on Dissent" allows the reader to cross to the other side of experience and examine the corners and cracks of America. A brilliant historian of two nations, Vigil's work opens a fresh chapter to a time period too long buried.- -Michael Evans-Smith

The result is a terrific and important book... It's important because it is history and the author was there on the front lines making this history with his people. I have read almost every book on the Chicano Movement, and this is the best ever written. Every middle school , high school, and university should have this book in their history department if one is to understand what the Chicano people had to endure

John Day has written a fine book on the imprecatory Psalms. He shows they are in keeping with God's standards of justice and with his own covenant promises to protect his people. By documenting that imprecations continue in the New Testament, he demonstrates they are relevant for the church to pray today.

He includes a large number of endnotes for those who want more technical detail. The book contains more references to Ancient Near Eastern texts than the average lay person would find relevant, but upholds the inspiration of scripture. For those who liked James Adams' "War Psalms of the Prince of Peace," this is a more thorough treatment.

In this book Dr. Day methodically examines the scriptural framework for proper Christian response to persecution of God's people that is unremitting and unrepentant. It is a must read for all Christians, as Christians are emerging as the primary target of the extremist cry of "kill the infidel." More than five centuries have passed since Christians in the West have personally had to face such an issue, and now is the time to become spiritually prepared. Don't miss this one. It is the definitive modern analysis of the subject.

This is the most careful, balanced, and biblical treatment of this subject available. Day addresses all the current views on imprecations, the objections lodged against them, and provides in-depth exegetical discussions of three representative imprecatory Psalms. It's a valuable and important work on an issue that confuses many Christians.

This book is a valuable asset to any library. The only problem I had with this book is trying to read Swahili. I took Introduction to Swahili 101 at Oklahoma City Junior College, but I guess that just was not good enough.

There are plenty of serious human rights abuses in Africa which Westerners, particularly American corporations and arms dealers have strong complicity in: the 4 million dead in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Ethiopia under Meles Zenawi, Equatorial Guinea under Teodor Obiang, Chad under Idriss Deby, Uganda under Museveni. One can also mention the horrors of the neoliberal economic model which African governments have followed so studiously. But Sudan and Zimbabwe seem to take up 90 percent of recent Western media reporting about abuses in the region. Both governments, vile as they certainly are, have struck independent courses via US power over the years and so are demonized in the US media. Former Senator John Danforth, US ambassador to the UN in 2004, stated on British tv in 2005 that the main reason the Bush administration made noises about Darfur in the election year of 04' was to please the voting block of fundamentalist Christians who have long believed the Sudanese regime to be satanic.

There is plenty of stuff in this book about the barbaric atrocities of the Sudanese government and the Janjiweed, the paramilitary force which acts as a proxy for the Sudanese military in Darfur.. In Darfur, the driving Arab supremacist ideology was rooted in the "Arab Gathering" group which emerged under the backing of Colonel Qadaffi of Libya in the 70's and 80's. Many in Sudan's government have been influenced by this ideology. The authors provide much quotation from these brethren who stress the need to make Darfur a purely Arab homeland and to cleanse it of non-Arab elements. Qadaffi funded the Sudanese Islamist/Arab nationalist groups Ansar and Muslim Brothers against his enemy, Sudan's then dictator Jafarr Nimieri in the 70's and early 80's. Many in these groups ended up in positions of power after the Islamist regime took power in June 1989. Qadaffi also funded Arab supremacists in Chad during the 80's, many of whom found refuge in Darfur and have since made not insignificant contributions to the violence there.

It also appears from the authors' discourse that the conflict is driven by the struggle for land and water in an area which has seen much drought, and a dwindling supply of water and arable land.....
The authors point out that Arabs of the Bagarra Rizeigat--to which the majority of Arabs in Darfur belong--have kept out of the conflict.... A not insignificant number of the janjiweed are violent criminals released from Sudan's prisons to serve in that body......

Bagarra Rizeigat have protected refugees from Janjiweed terror. The Bagarra Rizeigat chief, Saeed Madibu has resisted efforts by the Khartoum government to bribe him and terrorize him into submission. The authors seem to imply that most of the Arab tribal elites in Darfur would greatly prefer peaceful social, political and commercial interaction between Arabs and African tribes instead of the apopaclyptic ideology of a Darfur cleansed of all black people that Janjiweed leaders profess. Saeed Madibu, in a contumacious act to the Khartoum government, has resurrected meetings of Darfurian tribal elders to negotiate in an equitable fashion, land and resource issues.

One of the two Darfurian opposition groups, the Sudan Liberation Army (SLA) is divided between two tribal based factions, the Fur, led by Abdel Wahid and the Zaghawa, led by Minnie Minawi. These two groups spend alot of time making war upon each other, rather than upon the Sudanese army and Janjaweed. They mention that the SLA, perhaps a joint action of the two factions, attacked Bagarra Rizeigat territory in the Summer of 2004 and burned villages, stole livestock and engaged in other such activities at which the Janjiweed are such experts but Said Madibu's forces drove them out of their land.

The JEM is much more sophisticated. Islamists disillusioned with the extreme corruption and violence of the Khartoum regime seem to make up a significant part of the JEM's leadership. In interviews with one or another of the authors, the JEM leaders disavow any association with Hassan Al-Turabi, the Islamist scholar who was Sudan's de facto ruler throughout the 90's until he lost a power struggle with the country's president General Omar Hassan Al-Bashir in 2000 and was thrown into prison. Turabi had attracted many to his cause in the 70's and 80's because he spoke of a brotherhood of Muslims regardless of race and spoke out against the extreme corruption and inequality in Sudan's society. JEM leaders, according to the authors' interview of them, think that Turabi is a disgusting fraud and don't want anything to do with him. However many of them are specifically committed to setting up an Islamic state in the Sudan, which they say will grant freedom of worship to other faiths and will fullfill the ideals of honesty and equality in government that Turabi's variety of Islamists promised back in the 80's but have made such a mockery of in practice. The leaders of the JEM are often former national and regional officials under the current regime and provide the authors with stories probably containing at least some truth, illustrating their own virtue when they were in the service of the current regime, in the midst of grotesque brutality and corruption.

The authors mention the US and UK backed Naivasha accords that ended the civil war in Southern Sudan in 2005. In that accord the oil revenues are to be evenly divided between North and South, the SPLA has become the autonomous ruler of the South and army units in the capital are divided 50/50 in membership between the SPLA and the Sudanese army. SPLA leader John Garang was made first vice president of Sudan but he died in a mysterious plane crash shortly after the Naivasha accords. However the war criminals in both the Sudan government and the SPLA were granted amnesty from prosecution.....The authors note the desire for stability in south Sudan with its strategically important oil wealth by the US and UK, the Naivasha accord backers. Darfur in contrast has no important resources.

People professionally concerned with genocide prevention and Darfur recommended this short but outstanding book (there are quite a few others on the crisis) when I needed to supplement my knowledge quickly. Its 134 pages of condensed information are based on prolonged and detailed work in the region and with people who know it well. The complexity of Darfur and its crisis as well as its relationship to other regions of Sudan emerge with balance, but with a clear picture of the horrors being committed. It enlarged my knowledge greatly beyond what I had gleaned from the media and a few days spent with some refugees from Darfur. It discusses events up to early 2005, its publication year, so is not quite up to date. The experts recommended it despite pointing this out, and I'm glad they did.

This book is for anyone immersed in the human condition, waging a war internally and silently stuggling externally. Galeano's collection of thoughts and essays and stories stirs the emotions of the reader and forces them to consider the entirety of the Latin American canon of literature as a formidable one. It encompasses genres such as autobiography, biography, testimony, prose, and short story. This is poetry of the soul for the soul, and shouldn't be limited to those obscure literature classes dealing with oppression

is as Galeano define "Days and Nights of Love and War". The author open the memory box and let escape the pain and the love, the sadness and the joy. That is not only his box, it's my box too, all latinoamericans' box. So, when we open it we live.

The personal testimony of one of Latin America's foremost contemporary political writers, Eduardo Galeano's Days And Nights Of Love And War blends memoir journaling with an eloquent history to record the lives and struggles of the Latin American people under two decades of unimaginable violence and extreme repression. Galeano combines straight-forward reportage with personal vignettes, interviews, travelogues, and folklore with an impressive and engaging emotional enrichment that includes anger, irony, sadness, and humor. Days And Nights Of Love And War is very highly recommended for students of late 20th century Latin American political history and culture.