Complete Guide To Foreign Adoption

Amazon.com

Thinking about foreign adoption? Know somebody who is? Warning: the journey is gratifying, but is also long and fraught with pitfalls. This comprehensive handbook has vital facts and in-depth coverage of every aspect of inter-country adoption: what to bring, how to make it through the red tape, and how to prepare for parenting a child who may have special needs. Focusing primarily on Romanian "orphans" but applicable to all overseas adoptions, Barbara Bascom and Carole McKelvey remain consistently positive while describing the very real challenges. It's obvious that these authors know their stuff. After reading this book, so will you.

Customer Reviews:

MUST READ FOR ADOPTIVE PARENTS!!.......2002-01-31

If you are considering adopting a child from Eastern Europe or China or are in the process of an adoption you should definitely read this book!

Excellent for those adopting from Eastern Europe.......2000-04-10

There are too few books on the market about adoption from Eastern Europe, and a glut of information about adoption from Asian countries. While I think adoption from *anywhere* is wonderful, I was searching for info on Romanian adoptions. Imagine my delight to read this book written by Dr. Bascom, who was in Romania after the "wall" fell, and the western world got it's first glimpse into Romanian orphanages. Granted, conditions now have improved, but we were very happy to have this source of information. The book was also a great gift for some of our family members, as they got to read about the adoption process, the children, special needs, and our adoption plan. It made the process, and our desire to adopt from Romania, come alive for them. Soooo, if you're adopting from Romania, this book might just be for you!

The Complete Guide to Foreign Adoption.......2000-03-08

The title and subtitle are misleading; this is not a guide to foreign adoption but rather a compendium of horror stories about the worst Romanian orphan case histories. The slant is negative, journalistically sensationalist, and repetitive. Although the subject is of interest, the book is not a guide to the process of adoption, and has very little helpful information to offer.

The focus is on the authors' good works in Romania with special needs toddlers and the book offers very little practical advice to those interested in adopting healthy infants or children internationally. Look elsewhere for guidance.

Ugh! All worst-case scenarios........1999-10-13

This book does a huge disservice to the majority of adopted children who do just fine in their adopted families, with no more difficulties than birth children. The authors seem to feel that they need to present all the worst-case scenarios, but the fact is that a lot seems to have gone wrong with those they present, not JUST the bad luck of the adoptive parents. A much better book is Myra Alperson's International Adoption Handbook and Robin O. Sweet's book. Knowledge is power and you owe it to yourself and your child to be as well-informed as possible, but this book is more likely to scare parents off international adoption. That aside, it's a bit dated. The adoption procedures in many countries are now running far more smoothly and professionally. It's probably worth looking at if you are adopting from eastern Europe, but please check out some more balanced sources as well.

Excellent resource if adopting from Eastern Europe.......1998-06-13

This book identifies critical information to help you understand international adoption in Eastern Europe. I thought the book was invaluable, it has lead me to do more research on subjects I never would have thought about. It has also reinforced my reasons for adopting internationally. If knowledge is power, this book is a must read.

Book Description

Our fascination with the drama of war at sea is as strong today as it was in the heyday of the sailing ship.This book, written by one of the world's foremost authors on naval warfare, describes the dramatic battles of an age when sail was supreme. Andrew Lambert's comprehensive history examines key naval conflicts from the highest strategic level right down to the experience of the ordinary sailor. Fully illustrated throughout, this book incorporates computer-generated cartography that brings the sea battles to life.

An in-depth look at ship design and the "floating culture" onboard
The Anglo-Dutch Wars of 1650-74, when English commanders challenged Dutch sea power with superior speed, close quarters fighting, and fireships
The rise and fall of the French Navy under the Sun King, Louis XIV
The Napoleonic Wars, the defeat of the French fleet, and the rise of British Royal Navy hero Admiral Lord Horatio Nelson

Customer Reviews:

Thinly disguised British naval triumphalism.......2006-12-08

Arguably the best feature of this volume are the illustrations which, as in the other volumes of this series, are outstanding. The text itself is overly narrowly focused on the Royal Navy and its operations in the Age of Sail, and moreover suffers from the author's apparent pining for the long lost glories of the Empire, not to mention a strong dose of Nelson hero worship.

A very well written overview.......2006-08-08

Mr. Lambert does a very fine job of outlining the history of maritime conflict between 1650 and 1850. Granted, given the size of the book (both dimensions and pages), Mr. Lambert only has time to provide quick overviews of each of the several eras he breaks his history into; he usually provides an introduction and then gives some specific examples to illustrate his point.

The book does mainly deal with the history of the Royal Navy but, for most of the period in question, the Royal Navy was the only navy of consequence. The French, Russian, Spanish and Dutch navies are also dealt with in the narrative.

The book is richly illustrated and the paper is of fine quality. It is a small book (5"x8") but the quality of illustrations and paper make up for the price. Mr. Lambert includes a very good section of further reading; it includes references to every one of the topics that he covers.

If you are looking for a short introduction of this subject for this time period, I don't think you can do any harm in buying and reading this book. It is well written, finely illustrated. Buy it!

A Misleading Title, But . . ........2006-02-18

This is still a very nice history of the British navy up to the age of steam. This is a fairly brief span of time since an actual navy, as opposed to an occasional ad hoc assembly of ships for a particular purpose, did not come into being until Cromwell's time. Of course this narrow scope leaves out the Iberians, hence the misleading title. Yet this book does some things admiralbly.

It explains the purpose of national naval ambitions and activities and does a fine job of showing us stategic objectives. My grasp of British history is embarassingly thin, and this book helped me to understand a bit about the British Civil War and how this led to conflicts with the Dutch. As a matter of fact it does a fine job of showing us why many of the conflicts the Brits were involved in came about.

It did not do such a good job of helping me understand tactical aspects of naval history. I'm not sure if this is because of the book's shortcomings or if I'm just a hopeless wooden headed lubber who needs to see a video or have someone take me on a boat and explain things to me. I fear tis the latter.

Good work.......2004-10-06

O.K., the author is British, he loves his country, and this is reflected in the text. I, too, felt the urge to sniff about this "England and St. George!" attitude.

Let's be honest, though, the Brits, after their rivalries with the Dutch had subsided, had the best navy in the world. The record clearly indicates that they were quite comfortable on a ship. No matter how much you want to 'balance' British dominance on the high seas with, say, the effectiveness of French privateering, or the U.S. victory on Lake Erie (a victory of which i am proud, since the lake is 25 miles away from my home), or the triumph of the U.S.S. Constitution over her British rival, the truth is that nobody could touch the British navy. So don't complain that the author merely recounts (with pride, and dare I say, glee) British triumphs while dismissing the successes of other navies because - let's be honest - from 1700-1900, there was the British Navy and then there was the rest of us ... and nobody could touch 'em.

Moral of the story:'Unbalanced' history is not necessarily incompatible with historical veracity.

A pedestrian read for a landlubber.......2001-10-01

This book starts off by defining the scope of the coverage and laying down the general tenets of sea warfare. It covers the period from the Anglo-Dutch Wars up to the emergence of the steamship era as this period involved rather large naval engagements. What is surprising is the lack of coverage on the Tudor and Elizabethan era (the Spanish armada and the numerous engagements between the Portuguese and the Dutch). Weren't the Portuguese the first preeminent seafaring nation in the age of sail?

Some engagments are presented but tactical details are lacking as this is a broad coverage. If so, why bother to explain basic ship handling in the introductory sections as these are tactical matters? In addition, the text seems to have been written in a hurry and some examples of naval engagements do not tie in with the accompanying maps.
This series of books is really quite appealing in general scope and presentation but the contents in each volume vary like crazy.

$Falcon\'s Revenge: A Nathan Beauchamp of the Royal Navy Novel$
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Falcon's review

Falcon\'s Revenge: A Nathan Beauchamp of the Royal Navy Novel
Joseph L. O\\\'Steen
Manufacturer: Trafford Publishing
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 1412005051
Release Date: 2006-07-06

Product Description

This six book series follows young Nathan Beauchamp\'s British Naval career during the Napoleonic Wars. Falcon\'s Revenge finds Nathan (Nate) making his way back to Portsmouth for reassignment to the rebuilding fleet. He battles pirates, privateers, nature, a sinking ship, and finds and loses romance.

Customer Reviews:

Falcon's review.......2003-09-28

I enjoy this book. It had a few twist and turns that kept me wanting to read more . I am not usually a sea person . But this book's charactors were interesting . You could see them as you read the book in your minds eye. I will read the other books when they come out to see how all my favorite charactors are doing ..

Average customer rating:

War at Sea in the Age of Sail 1650-1850
Andrew Lambert
Manufacturer: Cassell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OS2YDY

Captain Kilburnie: An Age-Of Sail Novel of Triumph over Adversity in Nelson's Navy

Average customer rating:

V ery good
Possibly the worst book I've ever read
Not on par with others in the genre.
Intriguingý a different format... enjoyable
Not in the same league as O'brien, Kent, Lambdin or Pope.

Captain Kilburnie: An Age-Of Sail Novel of Triumph over Adversity in Nelson's Navy
William P. MacK
Manufacturer: Amazon Remainders Account
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Sea Adventures | Genre Fiction | Literature & Fiction | Subjects | Books
ASIN: B000H2MNWY

Book Description

After publishing six successful novels about the surface engagements of World War II, including the now classic South to Java (coauthored with his son), William Mack turns his attention and considerable talent to the adventure and romance of the Age of Sail. This enchanting story charts the glorious rise through the ranks of Nelson's navy by Fergus Kilburnie, one of the first Scotsmen to serve as an officer. With the bold pluck of a natural-born leader, an innate affinity for the sea, and not a little help from friends in high places, the intrepid Kilburnie escapes one predicament after another to earn in just a few years a captain's stripes and the plum of the fleet, a three-masted frigate to fight France and Spain for command of the seas.

In addition to French and Spanish foes, Kilburnie battles dangerous and unpredictable seas, envious crewmen, jealous fellow officers, and his own powder-keg emotions. He rises time after time to meet his many challenges and find his way into the reader's soul. By dint of his dauntless heroism, matchless leadership, and struggles with moral courage, Kilburnie takes his place next to other unforgettable characters in the literature of the period.

Among the current spate of novels about the Nelsonian navy, Mack's stands out with a polished prose style, seasoned by the author's stellar naval career in which he rose to the rank of vice admiral in the U.S. Navy. He carries the reader on a page-turning trip through time, rich with spellbinding action, dramatic tension, a panorama of human emotions, and historical accuracy.

This exhilarating new novel is for those who relish the bark and smoke of blazing cannon, the swish and clang of gnashing cutlasses, the hiss and pop of sails winging a three-masted frigate into firing position, the back-stabbing intrigue of the British Admiralty, the bawdy life of seamen on liberty, the sweet passion of young love, and the restorative power of redemption. It establishes a fresh voice and an iconoclastic new character in an ever-popular genre that could use some new blood.

Customer Reviews:

V ery good.......2004-05-05

Discovered Mack's Captain Kilburnie after C.S. Forrester's Hornblower. A delight.

Possibly the worst book I've ever read.......2004-03-06

Need I say more? Not worth your money, and I wish I could get mine back. Doesn't even rate 1 star, but the system requires me to enter one.

Not on par with others in the genre........2004-01-26

The writing here might win first prize at a high school's annual creative writing contest, but it certainly does not merit serious publishing. The plot is sketchy. In some ways it is barely plausible. Some specific problems: The captain spends way too much time away from his ship. After his ship is sunk, he skips, la-dee-da up to his estate in Scotland, leaving his crew to God knows what end. One of the main characters tells her husband of an affair she has had, and the whole matter is settled, amicably, in the course of a two-minute conversation.

The dialogue is terrible. Everyone speaks the same proper English and the language is drab and stilted. There is no hint of idiom, folk sayings, or even much naval jargon.

The character's relationships with each other are unlikely. With few exceptions, everyone likes and gets along with each other. All of the tars are happy with their work. All of the officers are fair, honorable and intelligent. The captains and admirals are jovial mentors, quick to promote and give credit. There is one exception, but even this is not resolved and quickly forgotten.

I think the author, William Mack's, biggest problem is that he fell in love with his main character. Fergus Kilburnie must be the luckiest man alive. There are no cliff-hangers in this book, and very little conflict. When there is a problem, Kilburnie side-steps it or overcomes it as easily as crossing the street. Mack seems to loathe putting his character, his "child" if you will, into harm's way. As a consequence, by the end of the book, instead of sympathizing with the main character, I hated him. If Captain Kilburnie had been my commanding officer, I would have fragged him.

Intriguingý a different format... enjoyable.......2003-01-06

I enjoyed this novel even though the format is vastly different from O'Brian, Kent, Lambdin, Pope and the other major writers in this genre. Following the career of Fergus Kilburnie from lowly sailor to Post Captain in one book forces a faster pace and fewer details than is normally encountered. While I prefer the normal format of one ship, one major battle or event per book - which allows for better character development, this was a fun read. When I finished, I immediately ordered the sequel.

Not in the same league as O'brien, Kent, Lambdin or Pope........2002-08-21

A very thinly fleshed out novel, with a bare minimum of the details needed to make it a novel worth reading. Mack's attempt to cover a period of Kilburnie career from before the mast to Post Captain didn't allow room to develope the book properly, making the book read more as a synopsis or outline instead of a stand a lone novel. Mack needs to do much more research about the Royal Navy of that period. His ending was a prime example of the lack of a serious attempt to write a seafaring novel worthy of O'brien and his peers. Capt. Kilburnie has his command sunk and he merrily goes to Scotland with no effort to get to the Admiralty or stand trial for the lost of his ship, which was standing proceedure for the time if all the other top authors of the gernre are to be believed. I suggest that Adm. Mack stick to novels of the 20th century Navy, with which he is more aquainted, also a new publicist couldn't hurt.

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War at Sea in the Age of Sail 1650-1850
Andrew Lambert
Manufacturer: Cassell
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OSM5FG

Average customer rating:

Manages to make bad girls boring

Too Shallow

Kind of disappointed...

Unlike many books I've come across

Couldn't Put It Down

The Only Girl in the Car
Kathy Dobie
Manufacturer: Delta
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0385318839
Release Date: 2004-03-02

Book Description

The Only Girl in the Car

Bookworm and dreamer, Kathy was a young girl with a tender heart, an adventurer’s spirit, and a child’s terrible confusion about her proper place in the world. As the oldest daughter in a family of six children, she seemed trapped in her role as Big Sister and Mommy’s Helper. Then, one day, teetering on the brink of adolescence, hormones surging, she heard someone call her “cheesecake,” and suddenly saw her path.

“Cheesecake, jailbait, sex kitten”--the very words seemed to be “doors opening” to a splendid new self. But from the moment she decides to lose her virginity and reels in her prey, a “full-grown man,” fourteen-year-old Kathy is headed for trouble. One cold, raw March night some months later, parked in a car with four boys on the outskirts of her small suburban town, she finds it.

Though she could never have foreseen the outcome of that night, the “boys in the car could just as well have been Gypsies foretelling my future,” she writes. Girls who break the rules in small towns like the one she lived in are expected to pay a very high price for their transgressions--and she did.

And yet...this young girl, as scrappy a protagonist as any in our literature, manages to transform her fate. The story of how she came to be in that car, and how she stepped out of it forever altered, to be sure, yet not forever damaged, is the theme of this extraordinary coming-of-age tale.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Manages to make bad girls boring.......2007-09-03

I could not make it past page 50. The part I did read was Dobie telling childhood tales of neglect and being misunderstood, ostensibly to explain what happened later in her life. This should have been more exciting than it ended up being.

The main problem I had was that the narrative just wasn't compelling. At no point in this book did I care about what happened next. Perhaps Dobie was pulling her punches and keeping things clean for the youth. Young girls thinking of becoming the neighborhood bicycle could benefit from this memoir, but in my experience, those girls don't usually read.

So, the book is a waste on all fronts. Avoid this one.

Too Shallow.......2007-05-22

My daughter read this and found it wonderful, so I gave it a shot. It's a short book, one you can finish in 3-4 hours. That, I feel, represents part of the problem. This book lacks depth. The periods of her life are isolated from each other and she fails to make the connections between her family life, her wantoness, the group sex, and her afterlife.

I'm not sure Dobie understnad the impact of her choosing to engage in sex with those boys in the care had on her adult life. Instead, the ending leaves one with a voyeuristic hangover similiar to watching The Jerry Springer Show.

Kind of disappointed..........2007-04-13

First off, let me commend Kathy Dobie for such an honest, unflinching account of a girlhood gone sadly and strangely awry. Her story of being a 14 year old searching for maturity through inappropriate sexual encounters, culminating in reluctantly "agreeing" to a gang bang, is truly heartbreaking. Unfortunately though, the parts of the book that don't deal with her sexual misadventures and statutory rape(s) fall short of being interesting or particularly informative. And for that reason this memoir feels very disjointed.

With the exception of the tease at the beginning of the book, the first half of the book tediously deals with Kathy's rather ordinary and ununique upbringing in a Catholic household as one of six children. Aside from her deep and unfulfilled desire to be closer to her mother and the fact that she has an older brother who is troubled and prone to running away, there is nothing about her childhood that could prepare her or the reader for the way she so drastically veers off course. All she offers is that at fourteen she makes the decision to lose her virginity and then does so with basically the first man (yes, man) she meets. The only explanation she really offers for her sudden transformation into the town slut is that she really wanted everyone to know her name and for her reputation to precede her. And precede her, it did. It isn't until Kathy delves into her sex life at fourteen that she is at her best and able to really explore what happened and what she was feeling at the time. This gripping, thought-provoking section culminates in the gand bang. Then Kathy spends a good deal of time discussing the aftermath, which is mildly interesting but not very illuminating. She can't adequately explain her feelings about what happened and seems to be moving through the story and time in a daze, which may have been how it felt at the time to the author, but doesn't help the reader come to terms with how Kathy managed to move on from the tragedy that befell her. Then the narrative abruptly shifts to her life today, twenty years later, and we're supposed to believe she has moved past the assault; she's healed. Yet she acknowledges her inability to commit to a man; her need to always live with other people, almost like she hasn't moved on from adolescence. Ultimately, I was left feeling very sad for Kathy the 14 year old who was the victim of such a sad Greek tragedy of her own immature making, and sorrier for Kathy the 38 year old who still seems scarred by it.

I really wanted to like this book so much more; wanted Kathy to delve so much deeper; but ultimately, I felt let down by the lack of resolution as well as the hurried ending.

Unlike many books I've come across.......2007-03-26

I was very much impressed with this book. The first thing that struck me was the description of her early life and family. It depicts (beyond accurately) the smells, sounds, cameraderie, and love present in the house of a large family.

When she got into the meat of her story, I was astounded at how honest she was willing to be with the rest of the world. She offered no apology for how she acted, only an acknowledgement that she acted that way. She did not profess undying hatred for the boys who raped her, but a description of why she loved being around them and why she was so heartbroken afterward.

Somehow, Dobie managed to capture the world from the eyes of a 14/15 year old, but to tell her story through the woman who has come to terms with her past. Excellent, and highly recommended.

Couldn't Put It Down.......2006-12-30

I highly recommend this book. Not having found a really great read in a while, I was more than surprised to find one here in this simple, ordinary looking book. She writes so beautifully and honestly that you almost feel like you know her. All her emotions become your own. Even though I've never been through much of what she writes about in my own life, I felt a strange, strong connection to Dobie and her story of adolescence. I couldn't put this one down. Enjoy!

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The Only Girl in the Car

Manufacturer: The Dial Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: 0965703436

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ONLY GIRL IN THE CAR
K DOBIE
Manufacturer: Vintage
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000OH4DWU

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Only Girl in the Car a Memoir

Manufacturer: The Dial Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback
ASIN: B000HZH1LE

The Only Girl in the Car: Reading Group Guide

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The Only Girl in the Car: Reading Group Guide
Kathy Dobie
Manufacturer: Dial Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

General | Biographies & Memoirs | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0385331967

Book Description

This is a completely revised and updated edition of this authoritative and comprehensive guide to post-war general aviation manufacturers and their aircraft. Narrative details the company histories and models together with a chronological table of the dates and production. This new volume now includes East European manufacturers.

Customer Reviews:

Best of its kind that I have seen........1999-07-22

Great detail of well known and not so well known general aviation aircraft. A must for the pilot who is looking for an aircraft or for any general aviation library.

A book full of history.......1999-03-18

If you need to know in which years a certain light aircraft was built, or the differences between different models of aircraft then this book if for you. Its really aimed at the avaiation pilot, enthusiasts or aviation professional. A book full of information that must have taken years to compile. A valuable guide for me when I did my Cessna Skymaster site.

Book Description

The only contemporary history of Colombia and the drug war and "a vividly written and often mesmerizing first-hand account of the violence" --The Wall Street Journal

More Terrible Than Death is a gripping work that maps the dramatic new relationship between the United States and Colombia in human terms, using portraits of the Colombians and Americans involved, the author's experiences in Colombia as a writer and human rights investigator and an insider's analysis of the political realities that shape the expanding war on drugs and the growing U.S. military presence there. Looking at the war from the ground up, interviewing and profiling human rights activists, guerrillas, and paramilitaries to explain how it has changed their lives, Robin Kirk gives depth and meaning to the headlines that leave unexplained the intimate dimension of the U.S./Colombian relationship.

Customer Reviews:

Beautiful.......2006-04-24

The title and cover may fool potential readers into assuming Kirk's work to be just another account of vomitous atrocities and bloodshed committed by paramilitaries, while the Colombian military either colludes or does nothing. Diverging from the throng of reading material that has emerged over the past decade or so, on Colombia's conflict, the U.S.-funded "war on drugs" and "war on terrorism", Robin Kirk offers a fresh angle full of unexpected life with "More Terrible Than Death" (Public Affairs, 2003).

The beauty of this book lies in the hope it embodies. There are countless contradictions Kirk uses aiming to slap American consumers awake to see our role in this quagmire. Truths, such as: where there is demand, there will be supply (no matter what); where there is no hope, there will be despair, or, as Kirk's friend Josu? Giraldo said, losing the hope that Colombians believe a fair life is possible would be more terrible than death.

Exhuming inspiration from gruesomeness is something Kirk found in Colombians willing to cling to that hope. She is able do the same. Through myriad protagonists (some of whom should someday be canonized), extraordinary imagery, tireless interviewing and research Kirk surprisingly stands out as having successfully left the reader with a sense of a middle ground. Not taking sides is nearly impossible for any Colombian. The with-us-or-against-us mentality is omnipresent, not excluding the Nari?o House, where President Uribe resides. Kirk is successful in denouncing all those deserving, and expressing grave concern about the dire needs of those innocent who should be receiving protection.

Using chapter titles very creatively, Kirk draws readers in immersing us in each section, engaging and engrossing us with fascinating lesser-known details for those familiar with Colombia; Kirk holds on to any reader with her alluring tone, never dryly presenting acronym after acronym, massacre after massacre.

This is a book worth reading, as it is more than a fine intellectual and academic product; Kirk reaches into her being examining what she has observed, learned, and understood, sharing with readers not only another perspective different from that which Mario Murillo demonstrates dominates U.S. news sources, but she also offers a solid point of view worthy of an audience because of such a hard-to-attain neutrality.

Kirk tells us how she was able to leave behind conventional human rights arguments, and she presents a resource that shows in equality the ills of the actions and inactions of not only the Colombian government and paramilitaries, but also guerrillas, the U.S. government, and U.S. consumers.

While Kirk does not shy away from sharing her fair share of stories of atrocities, which abound in resources about Colombia, she gives readers more than how many were massacred, how and by whom; Kirk strives to find and communicate the meaning behind the "apparent" senselessness, contradictions, avarice.

Without adding an in-your-face "What YOU can do" piece, readers will finish "More Terrible Than Death" not only sensing hope from the such a dreary phrase, but perhaps readers will also feel empowered with Kirk's subtle, yet crisp call to action.

Without a doubt, after reading "More Terrible Than Death" Kirk's other works will make it onto readers' lists of books to read. They are on mine.

Narco Terrorism in the Republic of Columbia........2006-01-14

Even though the author is a liberal human rights activist, she makes plenty of strong points in this book. The civil war in Columbia in which the U.S. is supporting the Columbian Army in profoundly complicating the civil society in Columbia. The West's drug habits are also altering Columbian society. Both the right wing paramilitaries and the left wing guerrillas are perverting Columbia into a violent society. This society has more deaths per 1,000 than any inner city in America. This violent society also makes its way onto the news reports, where massacres and killings are reported as if it was the weather. Columbia is a violent society and America is not making it easier to calm this troubled state.

That said, there are few suggestions the author has for calming this troubled society, other than that human rights should be respected. Since neither side respects these human rights, violence increases every year. The rebels/Army/paramilitaries/narcs are all portrayed as bad guys in this book. Children become killers. Nonviolent people are disappeared. There are no good suggestions on how to end the violence. The guerrillas disperse gas cyclinder bombs onto civilian targets. The AUC uses chain saws to cut people up. Everybody profits by selling cocaine and heroin to the West. I don't know if there is any cure. I am not sure a FARC-UP win would change anything in this society.

This is a good book to read about Columbia. I visited the country once and thought the people were beautiful and charming. However the hotel personnel wore bullet proof vests, and garage attendants were scanning parked cars for bombs. Fortunaley I never left Sante Fe de Bogota, and so did not see the countryside. I think the author correctly portrays the country as a troubled society.

Death and destruction in Columbia........2006-01-14

A very good book about Columbia and the ongoing civil war in that country between the government, FARC-UP, and AUC. Kirk describes the history of violence in Columbia from the assassination of Gatain in 1948 until the present time. Not only do you have right wing paramilitaries (AUC) and left wing radicals (FARC) along with others, but you have a people that mostly just want to stay out of the way of either. They are prevented from doing this by the combatants who insist on getting all involved. They say "Either you are with us or against us". The poplulation pays the price. Throw in illegal drugs like cocaine and heroin, with lots of cash to purchase arms with and you have the making of a very violent society.

Kirk's focus is that the consumption habits of American society for drugs, and the U.S. government's commitment to prevent a FARC victory result in the Columbian people being subjected to these forces who are loaded with weapons. Death rates are worse than any inner city in America. All combatants, along with those involved in the Narco trade increase the violence in this society.

I would have loved to hear what Kirk wants the U.S. to do. Americans still consume illegal drugs and a FARC victory would not lead to a peaceful society. Even if the drugs were not present, this society has degenerated ever more so to violence.

Columbia is a beautiful country and Columbians are very engaging. When I was there, I saw more military and police than any country in Latin America. This book is a good read for those interested in this very interesting and troubled country.

Well recommended.......2006-01-07

Robin Kirk seems doubly gifted with the ability of a fine prose stylist and the courage of a fearless human-rights documenter. She handles the complexities of Colombia's postwar historical period admirably well. I wish there had been just a touch more of the suspense narrative, at which she is most adept. Given the succinct and artful chapter titles, I wonder whether she did battle with the publisher about the book title, which is somewhat overwrought.

A Great Learning Experience.......2005-10-03

I purchased the book to learn more about Colombia, and that I did. The author does a great job of providing a great historical account of life in Colombia throughout the turning points in its history. Although I was partially drawn to the book because of the drug connections, I learned that Colombia has a lot more internal strife and problems than just their well known drug problem. The author is a well connected human rights worker, and as a result, she gets face to face with some of the most powerful people in Colombia. She likes to put a lot of blame for Colombia's problem on the United States (it was difficult for me to get over at times). It was obvious from her great story telling that Colombia's problems/struggles are more complicated than solely the US's War on Drugs.
But -- the author's political views aside -- she does provide a great read. I don't read many books, and this one I finished from beginning to end.

Mas terrible que la muerte / More Terrible than Death: Masacres, drogas y la guerra de Estados Unidos en Colombia / Massacres, Drugs, and America's War ... Contemporanea / Paidos Contemporary History)

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Mas terrible que la muerte / More Terrible than Death: Masacres, drogas y la guerra de Estados Unidos en Colombia / Massacres, Drugs, and America's War ... Contemporanea / Paidos Contemporary History)
Robin Kirk
Manufacturer: Ediciones Paidos Iberica
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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Green Philosophy for Greenhorn Environmentalists.......2005-01-11

I've always considered myself an environmentalist and supporter of wilderness, based on my many wonderful personal experiences with wilderness and nature. Shamefully, however, I never did much reading on the topic of wilderness. Nor, for that matter, did I do much THINKING about the whole CONCEPT of wilderness. What do we mean when we talk about "wilderness"? Where, and with whom, did the whole idea of wilderness begin? Has the notion of wilderness changed with our changing attitudes towards the environment and our role in it?

Luckily, you don't have to read several dozen dense volumes to get some answers to these questions. Instead, you can pick up this marvelous collection of essays spanning nearly 250 years of thought on wilderness and the environment. "The Great Wilderness Debate" gave me a chance to simultaneously catch up on the "classic" wilderness texts AND many later influential essays, including plenty that I would otherwise never have read, and several unique to this collection.

The book is divided into four parts, each of which synopsizes a different strand of wilderness writing. The first section focuses on the origin and emergence of the wilderness ideal. It includes the "classic" stuff - selections from Emerson, Thoreau, John Muir, Aldo Leopold, and Sigurd Olson - as well as essays on early wilderness preservation in the United States. A definite must-read is the Wilderness Act of 1964, which not only provided a federal definition of "wilderness" but also established the Wilderness Areas that we have today. This section alone makes the purchase of the book worthwhile.

The second section is devoted to "Third and Fourth World Views of the Wilderness Idea." The essays in this section introduced me to the fact that "wilderness" is not some kind of universally-understood concept. Instead, the American/Western/First World concept of wilderness (i.e. as a place without humans) is being imposed on a global scale. The authors in this section take issue with the colonialism inherent in forcing "our" wilderness on others, and discuss the many problems of universalizing a concept of "wilderness."

I most enjoyed the third section, a sort of philosophical WWF match where various eminent environmental thinkers - including William Cronon, Holmes Rolson III, and Dave Foreman of EarthFirst! - go head-to-head over a (seemingly) simple question: Is the "Wilderness Idea" useful in today's world? Can "true" wilderness even exist anymore? Does a focus on "pristine" areas distract us from appreciating the nature in our own backyards? It's fun to watch a bunch of hotshot environmental philosophers tussle over definitions, but it's also unnerving to think that they might actually succeed in undermining one of the few pillars supporting "wild" areas in America (however you define "wild").

Which brings us to the fourth section, "Beyond the Wilderness Idea", which attempts to go beyond the sort of "sound and fury" debate of the third section and instead to actually USE wilderness philosophy to inform environmental policy. There's a lot of discussion here about what wilderness SHOULD be and CAN be and WOULD be if only someone would listen to the philosophers. Initially, however, I found this section to be a bit of a letdown. Several of the ideas discussed here - preserving big areas, promoting biosphere reserves - have already become accepted notions since "The Great Wilderness Debate" was published in 1998, so there's a good bit of "old news." More importantly, the policies expounded here are frequently WAY too idealistic to be practical - they're nice to think about, but not something you could take to your congressman.

But what I later realized is that fundamentally "The Great Wilderness Debate" is about the philosophy and ethics of wilderness, NOT the practical policy issues. Those who would create wilderness policy would certainly do well to read this book, as these essays provide a grounding in the basic beliefs and writings that have informed the concept of wilderness. I'm sure there are plenty of great essay collections on environmental policy, but this is not one of them and is not MEANT to be one of them.

If the environmentalist movement has taught me anything, it's to THINK before you ACT. There's no doubt that "The Great Wilderness Debate" really makes you THINK about a lot of the assumptions we make everyday, about what constitutes nature, what is wild, and what is worth preserving. Consequently, I encourage anyone with a strong interest in wilderness and the environment to read this book. It's a wonderful resource for philosophy, a powerful tool for policy, and a great read for any "greenie."

Wilderness is so important to living and being an American !.......2001-07-25

If you had to pick one volume to capture some of the greatest thinking on wilderness, this is probably your single best choice. Almost all of the key ideas and influential writers are included. In fact, for most readers, there is probably too much here ! Over 40 wonderful, dense, and thought-provoking articles from all eras of wilderness thought !! 7 of the contributions are new to this volume.

The title of the volume refers to the recent challenges to the idea of wilderness, and therefore the book starts with the received notion of wilderness. There are wonderful selections from well known U.S. wilderness writers as Ralph Waldo Emerson, Henry David Thoreau, John Muir, Bob Marshall, and Aldo Leopold. There are also important ideas from Jonathon Edwards, Teddy Roosevelt, and Sigurd Olsen -- each representing important components of the wilderness idea such as spiritualism, redemption, sacred american virtues of the frontier, etc.

Then J. Baird Callicott, William Cronon and an assortment of postmodern and postcolonial scholars take this 'romantic' notion of wilderness to task. The idea of wilderness is seen as dualistic, ethnocentric, racist, and an attempt to 'freeze frame' nature. Defenders of the wilderness idea then include Reed Noss, Dave Foreman, and others. To some this debate is now a little weary, but it was a high profile and contentious discussion that is still doing the rounds today.

There are also some hidden gems in this volume, and it is to those that I return most readily. Some examples are Fabienne Bayet's story from the Aboriginal communities of Australia, Jack Turner's call for the wild, Gary Snyder's more recent reflections on Turtle Island, and Tom Birch's piece on the incarceration of wilderness. These are cutting edge ideas that are taking many of today's wilderness thinkers beyond the postmodern debate into tackling questions of ecological restoration and the role of wilderness management.

In summary, a solid and thorough discussion of the idea of wilderness. For those of us living and working in the U.S., wilderness is a crucial part of what it means to be American - the ideas in this volume deserve a large readership. But, don't expect to read from cover to cover - this is a collection to which you will continue to return and find great insight and delight.

A Wilderness Philosophy Buffet.......2001-03-13

This is a useful sampler of wilderness philosophy. It's well balanced account of American debate of wilderness and what "wilderness" and "natural" really mean. It contains influential authors such as Aldo Leopold, William Cronon and John Muir. It also has some important reports relating to the history of wilderness management like the "Leopold Report". I've been using it as a starting point for research and it has been a good spring board for finding good authors and diversity of opinion.

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