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11 January , 2016

Village Diary Of A Heretic Banker
Book Review By Dr S N Rao

Village Diary of a Heretic Banker is an excellent piece of work about Banker’s view of Village and Rural Development. It is an eulogy of banker’s perspective of financial empowerment of rural women and poor for poverty reduction in rural India. The book is a product of ‘three’ decades of his career as a rural banker which describes the financial situation in the village

07 January , 2016

Being A Christian In Sri Lanka – Historical, Political, Social, And
Religious Considerations - By Leonard Pinto

Book Review By Basil Fernando

Being a Christian in Sri Lanka is a book with a striking cover, showing the view from theSigiriya Rock Fortress (built 477 - 495 AD, a UNESCO World Heritage Site). Leonard Pinto, an ecologist and an author of works on ethics and social justice, has taught and researched at universities and industry in Australia, the Philippines and Sri Lanka. In this enjoyable book, he has put together a vast amount of information on historical, political, social and religious matters with lucid analysis and sober reflections

25 October , 2015

Consuming Our World
By Romi Mahajan

In “ECOSOCIALISM,” Michael Lowy has written an important book that serves as, as the subtitle suggests, “a radical alternative to capitalist catastrophe.” A brief but powerful work, ECOSOCIALISM takes the reader through the literature on the connectedness between ecology and environmental stewardship and justice and forms of economic organization, of which socialism emerges as the most sensible, humane, and ecologically sustainable and ethical. In fact, Lowy’s argues that Socialism of a real sort presupposes deep ecology and that the latter is only possible under enlightened socialism

10 October , 2015

A Teacher Challenges The Gates Foundation"
By Raghav Kaushik

The book notes that the Gates Foundation is careful to distance itself from crude applications of its principles. For example, it recommends using value-added models as only one of multiple measures of effective teaching. However, such a defense is facile. As noted earlier, much of the funding in the “school reform” movement is by the Gates Foundation itself, making it hard to excuse the gap between principle and practice. Even setting aside the funding aspect, a set of principles can only be judged by how it is actually put into practice, not by some putative non-existent ideal implementation

14 September, 2015

Book Review of “Green Economics” by Robin Hahnel
By Raghav Kaushik

“Green Economics” is a book by an avowed market abolitionist that unabashedly proposes an approach to addressing climate change within the market framework. To be sure, being a market abolitionist, Hahnel holds back no punches in recognizing the well-known problem with free markets

19 August , 2015

Review Of The Novel “Butterfly Prison” By Tamara Pearsen
By Andre Vltchek

Now a Latin American writer, or more precisely “an internationalist” writer, a socialist realist, a revolutionary, Tamara Pearsen, returned home, on the wings of imagination, through her powerful novel “Butterfly Prison”, uniting several realities into one. She demands change and she does it determinedly but affectionately. And the result is stunning

05 August , 2015

Gaza: Our Child’s Shattered Face In The Mirror
Book Review By Gary Corseri

The book tells a story that is almost impossible to tell: the victims’ view of the 51-day, 2014 War on Gaza, euphemistically called, “Operation Protective Edge” by Israel

Introducing Three Seminal Books In Mappila History
By Countercurrents.org

We are introducing three seminal titles in Mappila history that Other Books, Calicut published at two different points of time

26 March , 2015

A Guide To Understanding Our Times - Review of
Recollection of Things Learned
By Gaither Stewart 

By William T. Hathaway

Gaither Stewart is a man of passions. In The Europe Trilogy he shared with us his passion for international espionage and intrigue. In Voices from Pisalocca he shared his passion for village life in his adoptive country, Italy. In The Fifth Sun he shared his passion for Native-American mythology. Now in Recollection of Things Learned he shares his passion for socialism, both the complexity of its theory and the clash of its praxis. 

12 March , 2015

Understanding Women’s Labour
Book Review By Suparna Banerjee

This book is an analysis of the dialectic of women’s labour and the processes of capital accumulation in Asian economies — an analysis that blends empirical research with theoretical reflections. Indeed, one of the book’s stated aims is to examine the relationship between Marxist political and economic theories with feminism, and the author offers theoretical corrections — based on empirical data — to Marx’s and Proudhon’s theories on women’s labour and on women’s roles in society

04 March , 2015

Review: “Tears In Paradise. Suffering and Struggle Of Indians In Fiji 1879-2004”
by Rajendra Prasad – Britain's Indentured Indian “5 Year Slaves”

By Dr Gideon Polya

“Tears in Paradise. Suffering and struggle of Indians in Fiji 1879-2004” by Rajendra Prasad tells the story of Indian indentured labour (“5 year slaves”) taken to Fiji from British-occupied India in the period 1879-1916 and brutally exploited on British- and Australian-run sugar cane plantations. The last “5 year slaves” were finally released from bondage in 1920, 87 years after slavery was supposedly banned in the British Empire. Today effective Third World slavery is rampant through globalization

17 February , 2015

Review: The Book of Gold Leaves Is A ‘Melancholy’ Story
By Kashoo Tawseef

It’s about art, it’s about love, it’s about culture, it’s about nostalgia and it’s about Kashmir. The Book of Gold Leaves is the second book by the author after The Collaborator. At the very outset, it takes you to Kashmir with Papier Maché art as its cover page. The book is set in early 90’s of Kashmir; the book revolves around a heartbreaking love story between Roohi, a young Sunni woman, and Faiz a Shia Papier Maché artist, set in the heart of the downtown, Srinagar

09 February , 2015

The Rise Of The Islamic State - ISIS And The New Sunni Revolution
Book Review By Jim Miles

In clear concise language and format, Patrick Cockburn presents a more realistic story of the rise of ISIS in his latest work, The Rise of the Islamic State. Rather than being a sudden event, it is seen to be a logical progression of events backgrounded by the U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Pakistan

13 December , 2014

The wildlife photographer who is a part of the forests and Nature
By Sukumaran C. V

N. A. Naseer is a wildlife photographer par excellence. What makes his photographs different from the usual wildlife photography is that he does not visit the forest only for photographing the wildlife. He himself is a part of the forests. His photographs show the serene bond between him and the animals. He has wandered through the forests for years together without camera in hand and has become a part of the forest as the animals, birds, reptiles, butterflies and insects are. Only after being a part of it, he started to photograph the forest and its children. Now he has published a wonderful book in Malayalam titled Kaadine Chennu Thodumbole (When we Touch the Forest)

08 September , 2013

Unravelling The Jesus Of History
By Countercurrents.org

Reza Aslan's "Zealot: The Life and Times of Jesus of Nazareth" is a biography of Jesus of Nazareth, an effort to unravel the Jesus of history. The picture that emerges is both fascinating and may be a little unsettling for the 'true' faithful Christians

17 August , 2013

Hijacking America's Mind On 9/11
By Dr. Ludwig Watzal

The author provides persuasive evidence that the official narrative is riddled with contradictions, anomalies, puzzling coincidences, lies, forged and planted evidence; that witnesses were intimidated; and that news were fabricated. A substantial chunk of his book is devoted to an analysis of the telephone calls made between passengers and crew-members with their colleagues or loved-ones on the ground. It is actually the most comprehensive and thorough analysis of these phone calls undertaken to this date

07 March, 2013

NO – Echoes Koodankulam
Book Review By Veena M.

The book ‘No echoes Koodankulam’ by Anitha S brings out the concept of life and living from the side of women who nurture children and from the children themselves who are the future’s hope. The full book which has 125 pages, is brought out with direct and indirect interviews done by Anitha, over the last two years 2011-12, and during her visits to Koodankulam, to stay with the women to share comfort and solidarity

25 February , 2013

Still Counting The Dead: Survivors Of Sri Lanka’s Hidden War
Book Review By Sathish Kumar Thiyagarajan

I was so disgusted. The whole system failed. It wasn’t only the UN, but the whole international community. Tens of thousands of civilians were slaughtered by the Sri Lankan government and the world just moved on. The brutal carnage just passed us by

21 February , 2013

Can 1.7 Billion Dollars Imagine Wrong?
By Justin Podur

A review of Nandan Nilekani's Imagining India: Ideas for the New Century

Diabolic Designs And Demonic Actions
Book Review By Anand Teltumbde

Subhash Gatade's new books uncover realities of caste and communalism that India would rather ignore

10 February , 2013

William Blum’s Cri de Coeur
Reviewed By Gary Corseri

A review of “America’s Deadliest Export: Democracy” by William Blum

03 February , 2013

Does Preaching Apocalypse Work?
By Javier Sethness

In an era of hegemonic cynicism and resignation (important countercurrents like Occupy notwithstanding), activists' use of catastrophic rhetoric apparently does not by itself activate mass-revolutionary movements to counter the forces responsible for eco-destruction. What will?

21 January , 2013

Destroying Libya And World Order
By Countercurrents.org

Book Review: Destroying Libya and World Order: The Three-Decade U.S. Campaign to Reverse the Qaddafi Revolution By Francis A. Boyle

14 January , 2013

The Sikh Separatist Insurgency in India –
Political Leadership And Ethnonationalist Movements

Book Review By Parwaz Sra

This book is a useful resource for referencing the chronology of political developments in Punjab during the mentioned years. It does not, however, measure up to its attempt to explain the dynamics of the Khalistan separatist movement

16 December , 2012

Ecological Intelligence—The Coming Age of Radical Transparency
Book Review By Yoginder Sikand

The ecological crisis that contemporary humanity collectively faces is truly of frightening proportions, as study after study testifies. Yet, it has not really sent the alarm bells ringing. With the exception perhaps of a relatively small circle of environmentally-conscious people, most of us still turn a deaf ear to warning signs of looming ecological disaster

The Curious Case of Binayak Sen
Book Review By Mahtab Alam

The book is an important addition in the available literature on Binayak Sen case, the issues of public health and state of democracy in India and its institutions. However, one strongly feels that the language and presentation could have been much simpler than one adopted in this book. Nevertheless, it deserves to be widely read

29 November , 2012

Arguing History, Deciphering Untouchability
Book Review Dr.Narendra K. Arya

Review of Ramnarayan S. Rawa's book "Reconsidering Untouchability: Chamars and Dalit History in North India"

26 October , 2012

Lethal Hypocrisies—of Haunting Lily Pads
Book Review by Branford Perry

Review of "Lily Pad Roll: Journey to the Outposts of the Empire" the new novel by Gaither Stewart

25 October , 2012

Demystifying Medicine
By Satya Sivaraman

Book Review: The Art and Science of Healing Since Antiquity. By Daya Ram Varma

20 October , 2012

“Portrait” That Failed!
By Anil Pundlik Gokhale

Review and Critique of “The Indians: Portrait of A People” by Dr. Sudhir &Katharina Kakkar

05 October , 2012

Sustainable Retreat : A Guided Shift Into Green Gestalten
Review by David Sparenberg

This slim book of twenty-eight short essays (or perhaps shared meditations) is yet another sounding of the alarm bell that tolls for each and all, and calls out for awakening and movement in unison; for a coming together, to face reality and to face one another physically as well as spiritually, creatively, imaginatively, maturely, responsibly, as and throughout a network of response

26 September , 2012

Target Iran: Drawing Red Lines In The Sand, A Review
By Charles Foerster

On September 11th, William J. Cox, historian, journalist and author, released his e-book, "Target Iran: Drawing Red Lines in the Sand". Not being a for-profit endeavor, it is available online and can be downloaded for free. Don't let the cost frighten you away, the message is penetrating and invaluable, if only our congress would listen. They should, for it is about three of their favorite subjects; death, debt and destruction

The Way To The Meadow: A Review
By Dr. M Ashraf Bhat

Judging from the two dozen odd reviews that it has garnered so far, The Meadow by the British journalists, Adrian Levy & Cathy Scott-Clark, is quite contentious despite impressive evidence of the very thorough research which has gone into its making. My review, however, is different from other such assessments in one significant way: the events narrated in the book simply happened around me

18 August , 2012

Book Review: “Social Humanism. A New Metaphysics”
By Brian Ellis - Last Chance To Save Planet?

By Dr Gideon Polya

”Social Humanism. A New Metaphysics” by Melbourne philosopher Professor Brian Ellis is an important new book for a World that is rapidly running out of time

07 August , 2012

Beyond The Two-State Solution
By David Swanson

A review of Yehouda Shenhav's new book, "Beyond the Two State Solution: A Jewish Political Essay"

Thomas Berry Dreamer Of The Earth
By David Sparenberg

Book Review: Thomas Berry Dreamer Of The Earth : The Spiritual Ecology of the Father of Environmentalism, edited by Ervin Laszlo and Alan Combs

28 July, 2012

Book Review: “The Memory of Love” – War Atrocities, Trauma And The Silent Lie
By Dr Gideon Polya

“The Memory of Love” by Aminatta Forna (Bloomsbury, London , 2010) is a superb novel about love, betrayal and deep trauma from war. The novel has important messages about how people are traumatized into silence by life-threatening atrocities and the “silent lie” that re-writes personal and national history. The novel is set in impoverished Sierra Leone today but is informed by awful civil war events over the last 3 decades

12 June , 2012

Israel Upside Down
By David Swanson

Miko Peled has written a perfect book for people, including Israelis, who have always heard that the Israeli government can do no wrong

Subversive Thrills
By William T. Hathaway & Paul Carline

A Review of Gaither Stewart's new novel, The Trojan Spy

12 May , 2012

Book Review: “The Street Sweeper” By Elliot Perlman Raises Issue Of Faction Versus Fiction
By Dr Gideon Polya

“The Street Sweeper “ by Elliot Perlman is an enjoyable middle-brow novel with a coincidence-riddled and predictable plot redolent of TV crime dramas. However this politically partisan novel raises the issue of the legitimacy of fiction versus faction (historical fact-based fiction). “The Street Sweeper” fails because in its historical sweep of 80 years to the present it has an unacceptable Zionist bias and ignores relevant Elephant in the Room realities

23 February, 2012

The Unmaking Of Israel
By Jim Miles

Many recent works are reflecting an internal crisis within Israel, part of which is the increased power of the ultra-Orthodox Jews within the educational, military, and political systems of Israel. Gershom Gorenberg’s “The Unmaking of Israel” presents clear and well argued points concerning this aspect of current Israeli life and politics

30 December, 2011

"Muslim Societies: Rise And Fall"
Book Review By Saiyid Hamid

In a little over 200 pages, the author has condensed the highlights of Islam ever since its beginnings. One can imagine admiringly the vast canvas that has been covered and the exacting selection to which the copious material has been subjected. What impresses the reader even more, although very expectedly, is the scrupulously scientific approach

22 December, 2011

Thomas Friedman- The Imperial Messenger
By Jim Miles

Book Review- Imperial Messenger - Thomas Friedman at Work. Belen Fernandez

30 October, 2011

Unravelling The Truth
By Ram Puniyani

Book Review- Godse’s Children- Hindutva Terror in India by Subhash Gatade

23 June, 2011

Mumbai: Political Economy Of Crime And Space
Book Review By Anil Pundlik Gokhale

A review of "Mumbai: Political Economy Of Crime And Space" by Abdul Shaban

16 May, 2011

Stay Human
By Ellen Cantarow

A review of Vittorio Arrigoni’s "Gaza: Stay Human"

16 December, 2010

“All That We Share” Isn't Enough
By Robert Jensen

A review of " All That We Share: A Field Guide to the Commons/How to Save the Economy, the Environment, the Internet, Democracy, Our Communities, and Everything Else That Belongs to All of Us" by Jay Walljasper and On the Commons

07 December, 2010

The Plight Of The Palestinians
Book Review by Edward Jayne

In his collection of thirty-two articles by almost as many authors, The Plight of the Palestinians: A Long History of Destruction, William Cook provides a devastating assessment of Zionist violence against Palestinians. Relentlessly told are one atrocity after another, one act of deception after another, one broken treaty after another, one surprise attack after another, one policy reversal after another--all of which are described with both effective immediacy and an adequate sense of historic context

26 October, 2010

Our Holocaustic Global Empire:
Wars, Famines, Slavery

By Gary Steven Corseri

A review of THE GLOBAL ECONOMIC CRISIS: The Great Depression of the XXI Century By Michel Chossudovsky and Andrew Gavin Marshall

09 August, 2010

A Call For A Democratic Economy
By Zach Carter

Raj Patel offers a stunning defense of democracy and a how-to guide for social justice activists of the next century

08 August, 2010

The Truth About Me—A Hijra Life Story
Book Review By Yoginder Sikand

This boo is provocative and gripping, and, at the same time, awe-inspiring

24 July, 2010

Velvet Jihad—Muslim Women’s Quiet Resistance
To Islamic Fundamentalism

By Yoginder Sikand

This fascinating book provides a general picture of the status and conditions of women in Muslim communities around the world faced with the challenge of Islamic scripturalist assertion

22 July, 2010

Stuart Littlewood Reviews ‘This Time We Went
Too Far’ By Norman Finkelstein

By Stuart Littlewood

Quite simply, this is a cracker of a book and very timely. In explaining how Israel’s war on Gaza in 2008/9 was not the defensive action it is always painted, Norman Finkelstein recalls the 1947 UN partition of historic Palestine and remembers how, in 1957, US President Eisenhower forced Israel to withdraw from Gaza by threatening sanctions and in the 1967 war Israel re-occupied it. The book then takes us through the warm-up for the 2008/9 war and the subsequent whitewash

21 July, 2010

Howard Zinn's The Bomb
By David Swanson

The late Howard Zinn's new book "The Bomb" is a brilliant little dissection of some of the central myths of our militarized society

08 July, 2010

Jimmy Carter’s Book On Palestine
By Dr. Habib Siddiqui

Book Review: Palestine Peace Not Apartheid by Jimmy Carter

07 July, 2010

Book Review: The Politics of Genocide
By Cyril Mychalejko

The Obama administration's predisposition toward humanitarian intervention, and the popularity the concept has taken in liberal circles, makes Edward S. Herman and David Peterson's new book The Politics of Genocide (published by Monthly Review Press) a timely and indispensable read

Book review: Sleight Of Hand On The World Stage
By Levon Chorbajian

Levon Chorbajian reviews The Invention of History: Azerbaijan, Armenia, and the Showcasing of Imagination

17 June, 2010

Grow Up or Die, But How?
By Carolyn Baker

A commentary on Clinton Callhan's Directing The Power of Conscious Feelings

11 May, 2010

Manufacturing ‘Terrorist’:
(T) errors of ‘War on Terror’

By Mahtab Alam

Book Review of "Evidence Of Suspicion: A Writer's Report On The War On Terror" By Amitava Kumar and "Rounded Up: Artificial Terrorists and Muslims Entrapment After 9/11" By Shamshad Ahmad

06 May, 2010

The End Of The Long Summer
By Sherry Boschert

It’s time for each of us to have a talk with our inner economist. If humanity is to survive the hardships that lie ahead due to climate change, we’ve got to abandon the now universal, but originally Western, ethos of economic growth. If we don’t abandon those notions and change the way our societies operate, we may face utter collapse. So argues veteran environmental journalist Dianne Dumanoski in The End of the Long Summer: Why We Must Remake Our Civilization to Survive on a Volatile Earth

20 April, 2010

My Father Was A Freedom Fighter: Review
By Jim Miles

Ramzy Baroud has written what should become an icon of historical-cultural writing for the people of Palestine. My Father Was a Freedom Fighter is an amazingly powerful and wonderfully well written tapestry of the modern history of Palestine, combining a family history focussed on the individual of Ramzy’s father Mohammed with the overall history of the Jewish-Zionist/Palestinian-Arabic conflict in the area

12 April, 2010

Mainstreaming The Margin
By Shivani Chaudhry

Amit Sengupta's book Colour of Gratitude is Green presents a vivid, fascinating, multi-hued trajectory of the history, politics, and contradictory reality of the Indian subcontinent and beyond

03 April, 2010

Lines Of Occupation: The Post-Zionist
Poetics Of Yitzhak Laor

By Joshua Cohen

Book Reiview of The Myths of Liberal Zionism by Yitzchak Laor

03 March, 2010

Entering The Scary "Lacuna" Of American Politics
By Bernard Weiner

I finally finished reading Barbara Kingsolver's latest brilliant novel, "The Lacuna," and it's the kind of book that engenders discussion on a wide variety of important topics

19 February, 2010

"Mass Casualties": The Dark Underbelly Of
Occupation, An Army Medic's Account

By Dahr Jamail

"Mass Casualties: A Young Medic's True Story of Death, Deception and Dishonor in Iraq." is more than a simple memoir about a difficult experience. It is an insider's scathing testimony of an ongoing illegal and unethical military action in a distant, once-sovereign state, by the US. Perhaps, this fresh account will raise some outcry over an issue that has all but dropped out of the American public's radar

28 January, 2010

Genocide Book Review: “Denial. History Betrayed”
by Tony Taylor

By Dr Gideon Polya

“Denial. History betrayed” by Tony Taylor (Melbourne University Press, Melbourne, 2008) is a very well written, well annotated and well referenced book that deals with the phenomenon of “holocaust denial” and, in general, the denial of horrendous abuses of humanity. This is an important book that should certainly be read by everyone and should be in every library

23 January, 2010

Frescoed Words
By Prabhat Sharan

Review of Amit Sengupta's book Colour of Gratitude - A compilation of selected writings

29 December, 2009

The Environmental Costs Of The Military
Book Review By Kim Scipes

Book Review: The Green Zone: The Environmental Costs of the Military By Barry Sanders—Reviewed by Kim Scipes

28 December, 2009

Gaza's Untold Story
By Mamoon Alabbasi

Review of Ramzy Baroud's book "'My Father Was a Freedom Fighter: Gaza's Untold Story"

15 December, 2009

Angst And Hope Amidst The Prospect Of
Climate Catastrophe

By Javier Sethness

A Review of James Hansen’s Storms of My Grandchildren

11 December, 2009

The Voice Of The Earth
Book Rreview By David Sparenberg

Theodore Roszak’s THE VOICE OF THE EARTH is a big book. Big not only in actual volume, chapter to chapter, page by page, but big in scope and containing a largess, as in abundant wealth; for THE VOICE is rich in perspective and reflective depth

05 December, 2009

Arundhati Roy Disturbs Democratic Daydreaming
By Trond Øverland

A radical analysis of democracy runs through the book’s fiery chapters, like a river running from its mountainous source towards the ocean. Roy’s conclusion is disquieting: she is forced by the rationale of her facts and arguments to approve of violence as a means of people’s resistance to injustice. She observes with understanding that many of the poor are “crossing over … to another side; the side of armed struggle.”

28 October, 2009

It's Too Late Baby, Time's Up
By Carolyn Baker

The real crux of Time’s Up is the challenge of how to keep the human race from continuing to commit suicide

26 October, 2009

The Living Universe
By Carolyn Baker

Carolyn Baker reviews Duane Elgin's "The Living Universe"

Who Killed Karkare? The Real Face Of
Terrorism In India

By M Zeyaul Haque

A new book curiously titled Who Killed Karkare? says a nationwide network of Hindutva terror that has its tentacles spread up to Nepal and Israel is out to destroy the India most Indians have known for ages and to remould it into some kind of Afghanistan under the Taliban

14 October, 2009

Reviewing Danny Schechter's
The Crime Of Our Time

By Stephen Lendman

The Crime of Our Time is Danny Schechter's latest attempt to explain "the financial collapse as a crime story (and) the high status white-collar crooks" who wreak havoc on "the lives of hundreds of millions worldwide."

09 October, 2009

ACORN: Flesh-Eating Machine
Or Left–Wing Conspiracy?

By Billy Wharton

Book Review: The People Shall Rule: ACORN, Community Organizing, and the Struggle for Economic Justice by Robert Fisher

10 September, 2009

Reviewing David Swanson's "Daybreak"
By Stephen Lendman

Subtitled "Undoing the Imperial Presidency and Forming A More Perfect Union, Daybreak" is Swanson's first book, a timely and impressive account of presidential extremism, congressional complicity, the urgency for progressive change, and how to do it

19 August, 2009

Global Depression And Regional Wars -
Reviewing James Petras' New Book: Part I

By Stephen Lendman

The world depression: a class analysis

Global Depression And Regional Wars -
Reviewing James Petras' New Book: Part II

By Stephen Lendman

Part II continues Petras' analysis of the global depression, regional wars, and the decline of America's empire

30 July, 2009

Obama's Inheritance
By Jim Miles

Book Review: "The Inheritance – The World Obama Confronts and the Challenges to American Power" by David E. Sanger

20 July, 2009

Fanatic Dalits, Empowered Dalits?
Not So Fascinating World Of
Dalit-Hindutva Engagement

By Subhash Gatade

The book under discussion by Mr Badri Narayan titled 'Fascinating Hindutva : Saffron Politics and Dalit Mobilisation' ( Sage, 2009) tries to unravel this dynamics of dalit identity to 'deconstruct the tactics used by the Hindutva forces to politically mobilise Dalits' to its side

15 July, 2009

After America – Narratives For
The Next Global Age

By Jim Miles

Book Review: After America – Narratives For The Next Global Age By Paul Starobin

01 July, 2009

Michael Hudson's "Super Imperialism:
The Economic Strategy Of Imperial America"

By Stephen Lendman

First written in 1972, it was updated in a 2003 edition that's every bit as relevant now - thus this review focusing on Hudson's new preface, introduction, and detailed account of the book's theme

24 June, 2009

Sacred Kerala—A Spiritual Journey
By Yoginder Sikand

Review of the book by Dominique-Sila Khan "Sacred Kerala—A Spiritual Journey"

26 May, 2009

Chalmers Johnson On The Cost Of Empire
By Chalmers Johnson

Review of “The Bases of Empire: The Global Struggle Against U.S. Military Posts” an important collection of articles on United States militarism and imperialism, edited by Catherine Lutz

11 May, 2009

Reviewing Ellen Brown's "Web of Debt:" Part II
By Stephen Lendman

This is the second of several articles on Ellen Brown's remarkable book titled "Web of Debt....the shocking truth about our money system, (how it) trapped us in debt, and how we can break free." It's a multi-part snapshot. Reading the entire book is strongly recommended

26 March, 2009

Book Review: Islamisation of
Pakistani Social Studies Textbooks

By Yoginder Sikand

The current turbulent political scenario in Pakistan, in particular the rise of radical Islamist forces in the country, cannot be seen as inseparable from the narrow political agenda that the Pakistani state, ever since its formation, has consistently sought to pursue as is reflected in the social science textbooks that it has commissioned, and through which it has sought to impose its own ideology on its people

21 March, 2009

Torture Team
By Jim Miles

Book Review: Torture Team – Deception, Cruelty and the Compromise of Law. Philippe Sands & Allen Lane

20 February, 2009

A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation
By Eileen Fleming

A Review of A Palestinian Christian Cry for Reconciliation by Rev. Naim Ateek

14 February, 2009

Israel’s Occupation
By Jim Miles

Israel’s Occupation, is a book that is so well written and presented that it provides a captivating and amazingly powerful read. It is one that I would describe as a ‘must read’ for anyone – from those already knowledgeable about the situation, to those who are relative newcomers. Neve Gordon’s description, analysis, and examples are clear, concise, and authoritative (most from Israeli sources). His arguments and perspectives are fully supported and well sequenced. While I hesitate to describe any purely academic work as captivating, this work fits

The Bell Tolls
By Eileen Fleming

A Review of We can have Peace in the Holy Land, by Jimmy Carter

11 February, 2009

When Technology Fails
By Carolyn Baker

I cannot recommend highly enough When Technology Fails for everyone who takes the "long emergency" even a little bit seriously

27 January, 2009

The Uncultured Wars – Arabs, Muslims,
And The Poverty Of Liberal Thought

By Jim Miles

Book Review: The Uncultured Wars – Arabs, Muslims, and the Poverty of Liberal Thought By Steven Salaita

19 November, 2008

The Tiger Roars At White Indians
By Jasbeer Musthafa M

A quarter century after Salman Rushdie drew the world's attention to the story of the midnight children, and 11 years after Arundhati Roy's God of Small Things spurred interest in Indian writing in English, both in this country and elsewhere, Adiga's tale of the son of a rickshaw-puller who dreams of escaping poverty and goes to seek his fortune in the big cities draws the world's attention to a very different side of India

11 November, 2008

The End of American Exceptionalism
By Jim Miles

Book Review: The Limits of Power – The End of American Exceptionalism. By Andrew J. Bacevich. Metropolitan Books, Henry Holt & Company, New York, 2008

04 November, 2008

How Israel Helps Eavesdrop On US Citizens
By Ali Abunimah

In his new book, The Shadow Factory: The Ultra-Secret NSA from 9/11 to the Eavesdropping on America author James Bamford casts light on this effort, including a detailed account of how spying on American citizens has been outsourced to several companies closely linked to Israel's intelligence services

03 November, 2008

Ayyankali: Legacy Of Organic Protest
By Muhammed Nafih

Book review- Ayyankali:A Dalit Leader of Organic Protest by Nisar.M.and Meena Kandasamy

23 October, 2008

Heartland Of Darkness
By Adam Engel

A Review Of Jeffrey St. Clair's "Born Under A Bad Sky"

14 October, 2008

The Age Of Turbulence "Introduction"
By Thomas Riggins

The melt down of the world financial system is a good back drop for these reflections on the introduction to Alan Greenspan's 2007 memoir. His book THE AGE OF TURBULENCE is subtitled, “Adventures In A New World.” The “New World” that Greenspan now finds himself in is, however, not the world of his dreams but the old world found in the pages of DAS KAPITAL

10 October, 2008

Do You Need Something To Read ?
By Adam Engel

A review of Mickey Z.'s "CPR FOR DUMMIES" and an interview with the Author

30 September, 2008

If We Will Only Listen
By Mike Palecek

Review of "No Innocent Bystanders," by Mickey Z

27 September, 2008

Calming The Fearful Mind
By David Swanson

Thich Nhat Hanh, a Vietnamese Buddhist monk who in 1964 was nominated for the Nobel Peace Prize by Martin Luther King, Jr., has published a new book of advice to Americans and to U.S. Congress members called "Calming the Fearful Mind: A Zen Response to Terrorism."

08 September, 2008

Nature Of Threat To Indian Democracy
By Ram Puniyani

Book review: Fascism and Communalism: Considerations By Sandeep Pendse

06 September, 2008

Wilfred Sellars And Marxism
By Thomas Riggins

Remarks on Tim Crane's "Fraught with Ought"

02 September, 2008

'Development As A Tool Of International
Institutions For Marginalisation'

By Vasudha Dhingra

Book review: Global Institutions, Marginalisation and Development By Craig Murphy

31 August, 2008

Racing The Enemy
By Jim Miles

Book Review: Racing the Enemy – Stalin, Truman, and the Surrender of Japan By Tsuyoshi Hasegawa

31 July, 2008

Francis Boyle's "Palestine
Palestinians And International Law"

By Stephen Lendman

Francis Boyle is a distinguished University of Illinois law professor, activist, and internationally recognized expert on international law and human rights. He also lectures widely, writes extensively, and authored many books, including the subject of this review: "Palestine Palestinians and International Law."

28 July, 2008

Of Patriots And Pawns: Carolyn Baker Reviews
Mary Tillman's "Boots On The Ground By Dusk"

By Carolyn Baker

True to the mother's loyalty that exudes from every paragraph of her book, Mary Tillman does not want the focus to be on her. She's tired of being in the media limelight and simply wants the world to know Pat's story-who he was and how he and his family were betrayed. So after completing Mary's book, I was drawn to focus on her process of discovering the truth about Pat's death and the meaning of her discovery for all of us

10 July, 2008

Futile Brutality
By Dan Glazebrook

“The World According toTomdispatch”. Edited by Tom Engelhardt Reviewed by Dan Glazebrook

Patriot Follows The Money
And Exposes Foreign Agents

By Eileen Fleming

Patriot and author, Grant F. Smith, Director for the Institute of Research Middle East Policy publication, Foreign Agents: The American Israel Public Affairs Committee from the 1963 Fulbright Hearings to the 2005 Espionage Scandal, exposes how US Middle East policy has been formulated and thrives due to the dearth of relevant reporting on AIPAC's activities. This book should be read by every American tax payer, Congress and foreign policy maker

03 July, 2008

Arundhati Roy- Our world Laid Bare
By Priscilla Jebaraj

Arundhati Roy’s latest book The Shape of the Beast is an exercise in connecting the many dots that she first started plotting over a decade ago in The God of Small Things

27 June, 2008

Robert McChesney's The Political
Economy Of Media (Part II)

By Stephen Lendman

McChesney's book is a compilation of his best political economy of media work in the past two decades. It contains 23 separate offerings under three topic headings. In them he covers "enduring issues" and "emerging dilemmas." Part I of this review discussed some of them. More follow below. The entire book is must reading and contains new material never before published

25 June, 2008

Robert McChesney's The Political Economy
Of Media (Part I)

By Stephen Lendman

McChesney is today's most notable media scholar and critic. Whatever he writes merits reading. This book is a compilation of his best political economy of media work in the past two decades. It contains 23 separate offerings under three topic headings - Journalism, Critical Studies, and Politics and Media Reform

18 June, 2008

Doug Dowd's "At the Cliff's Edge" (Part II)
By Stephen Lendman

Dowd's book is an essential text for students and adults. It's a critical review of 500 years of history that brought us to today's unprecendented dangers. Part I covered four and one-half centuries through WW II. Part II continues the story to the present

12 June, 2008

Doug Dowd's "At The Cliff's Edge" (Part I)
By Stephen Lendman

At age 89, Doug Dowd is a wonder. He's still active, vibrant and thankfully so. His latest book is "At the Cliff's Edge: World Problems and US Power".The book is panoramic in scope. It's long and detailed, and this review covers its highlights in hopes readers will get the volume for it all. Plus the character of the man who wrote it and now working on a new so far unfinished book with likely more offerings ahead. Approaching age 90, Dowd is resilient, dedicated and continues to write and teach. We're all the better off for it. Read on

11 June, 2008

Palestine Inside Out: An Everyday Occupation
By Jim Miles

This has been one of the most difficult books that I have ever read. It removed me from my academic detachment with which I read the majority of books and took me into emotions ranging from frustration, sadness, melancholy through to anger and belligerence. A compelling read, yet at the same time I had to put it down every so many pages in order to contemplate, digest, or simply escape what in sum could be called the constant inhuman brutality of one human against another

06 June, 2008

Marauding Mourners
By Amrit Dhatt

Twenty-four years after the massacre of innocent Sikhs in Delhi following the killing of Indira Gandhi, a lawyer and a journalist get together to write a hitherto hidden account of the 1984 catastrophe called anti-Sikh riots. A review by Amrit Dhatt

22 May, 2008

Review Of `We Want Freedom:
A Life In The Black Panther Party'
By Mumia Abu-Jamal

By Sukant Chandan

Having read many if not most of the books that have come out by or about former members of the Black Panther Party for Self-Defence, We Want Freedom is one of the best. This review cannot cover the many angles from which Mumia approaches his experience in, the ideology, practice and legacy of the Panthers. There are a few things that stand out are worth highlighting in this book, more so than perhaps other books on the same subject

09 May, 2008

Muqtada
By Jim Miles

Book Review: Muqtada – Muqtada al-Sadr, The Shia Revival, And The Struggle For Iraq By Patrick Cockburn

Read It And Riot
By Linnea Due

I've heard Derrick Jensen called a gadfly or a thorn in the heel of the establishment. A Horsefly and a nail are more apt. Author of Endgame, A Language Older Than Words, and other well-loved philosophies of courage and spirit, Jensen turns his talents to dialogue in this new graphic book, As the World Burns: 50 Simple Things You Can Do to Stay in Denial, coauthored with Minimum Security's Stephanie McMillan

Ramzy Baroud's "The Second Palestinian Intifada"
By Stephen Lendman

Ramzy Baroud's "The Second Palestinian Intifada" is poignant and masterful. It blends his personal experience with a gripping narrative of his peoples' struggle for justice

15 April, 2008

Peter Hallward's "Damming The Flood" (Part I)
By Stephen Lendman

Peter Hallward's newest book, "Damming the Flood: Haiti, Aristide, and the Politics of Containment," is the subject of this review, and here's what critics are saying. Physician and Haiti expert Paul Farmer calls it "the best study of its kind (offering) the first accurate analysis of recent Haitian history." Noam Chomsky says it's a "riveting and deeply-informed account (of) Haiti's tragic history." Others have also praised Hallward's book as well-sourced, thorough, accurate and invaluable. This reviewer agrees and covers this superb book in-depth

The Three Trillion Dollar War
By Jim Miles

Book Review: The Three Trillion Dollar War – The True Costs of the Iraq Conflict By Joseph Stiglitz and Linda Bilmes

07 April, 2008

The Zoo On The Road To Nablus
By Jim Miles

Book Review: The Zoo on the Road to Nablus – A Story of Survival from the West Bank By Amelia Thomas

Women Behind The Bylines
By A Shaheen

Book Review: Taking an introspective look at a profession that has a significant presence of women today (in terms of numbers though), Ammu Joseph's Making News: Women in Journalism chronicles the experiences of more than 200 women journalists, reflecting upon gender and gender-related issues

04 April, 2008

Bad Samaritans
By Jim Miles

Book Review: Bad Samaritans – The Myth of Free Trade and the Secret History of Capitalism. Ha-Joon Chang. Bloomsbury Press, New York, 2008

27 March, 2008

Jonathan Cook's "Blood And Religion"
By Stephen Lendman

Cook's earlier book was published in 2006. It's titled "Blood and Religion: The Unmasking of the Jewish and Democratic State" and is the subject of this review. It's the rarely told story of the plight of Israel's 1.4 million Arab citizens, the discrimination against them, the reasons why, and the likely future consequences from it. Israel's "demographic problem" is the issue Cook addresses. It's the time when a faster-growing Palestinian population (excluding the diaspora) becomes a majority, and the very character of a "Jewish State" is threatened. Israel's response - state-sponsored repression and violent ethnic cleansing, in the Territories and inside Israel

18 March, 2008

Book Review: The Politics Of Apocalypse-
The History And Influence Of Christian Zionism

By Yoginder Sikand

The author clearly indicates that Christian Zionism, based on a virulently anti-Islamic agenda, is a major hurdle to peace not just in West Asia but globally, too. Indeed, some Christian Zionists even ardently wish (and work for) a final global war, in the belief that this would accelerate their hoped-for wafting up to heaven and the subsequent arrival of Jesus

26 February, 2008

John Bolton: Boisterous Bully Of Bloviation
By Thomas Riggins

There is an excellent review of John Bolton's new book, "Surrender is Not an Option: Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad" by Brian Urquhart (a former UN under-secretary general) in the March 6, 2008 issue of The New York Review of Books ("One Angry Man")

12 February, 2008

F. William Engdahl's "A Century of War" - Part I
By Stephen Lendman

The book is a sequel to Engdahl's first one and subject of this review - "A Century of War: Anglo-American Oil Politics and the New World Order." It's breathtaking in scope and content, and a shocking and essential history of geopolitics and strategic importance of oil. The book is reviewed in-depth so readers will know the type future Henry Kissinger had in mind in 1970 when he said: "Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control people." Engdahl recounts the story in his two masterful books, both critically essential reading

08 February, 2008

Jonathan Cook's "Israel And The Clash Of Civilisations"
By Stephen Lendman

Jonathan Cook's newest book, just published, is called "Israel and the Clash of Civilisations: Iraq, Iran and the Plan to Remake the Middle East." It's the subject of this review in the wake of advance praise. Noted author John Pilger calls it "One of the most cogent understandings of the modern Middle East I have read. It is superb, because the author himself is a unique witness" to events and powerfully documents them. This review covers them in-depth along with some of this writer's reflections on the region from America

28 January, 2008

Reviewing Jennifer Van Bergen's
"The Twilight Of Democracy"

By Stephen Lendman

"The Twilight of Democracy: The Bush Plan for America" written in 2005 is a clear and powerfully relevant analysis of the threat to freedom, democracy and justice in America today under the Bush regime. As the author puts it: "(We live in a time when) civil liberties have been broadly violated to an unprecedented degree....My goal (in the book) is to lay bare what the government does and is doing, and why it is so profoundly anti-democractic" and a danger to everyone

21 January, 2008

Book Review: Robert McChesney's
"Communication Revolution"

By Stephen Lendman

Robert McChesney's newest book and subject of this review is titled Communication Revolution - Critical Junctures and the Future of Media. He believes it may be his best one, and Annenberg School of Communication Dean, Machael Delli Carpini, says it is "part media critique, part intellectual history, part personal memoir, and part manifesto."

18 January, 2008

Book Review: The Scar Of David
By William James Martin

The Scar of David, by Susan Abulhawa, is about a scar and a man named David who bears the scar, and another scar -- the scar worn by Amal, the protagonist of the story, whom we follow from childhood and who also incurred a scar on her lower abdomen as the result of the exit wound of a rifle bullet from an Israeli soldier who shot her in the back as she walked to her home in the Jenin refugee camp.Of course, it is also about other scars – the scar of the land

09 January, 2008

Reviewing David Edwards
And David Cromwell's "Guardians Of Power"

By Stephen Lendman

Book Review: "Guardians of Power: The Myth of the Liberal Media". It's a work distinguished author John Pilger calls "required reading" and "the most important book about journalism (he) can remember" since Noam Chomsky and Edward Herman's classic - "Manufacturing Dissent." Cromwell and Edwards "have done the job of true journalists: they have set the record straight" in contrast to the mainstream that distorts and corrupts it for the powerful. Their book is must reading and will be reviewed in-depth, chapter by chapter, to show why. It's also why no major broadsheet ever mentions it or its important content. This review covers lots of it

03 January, 2008

Reviewing F. William Engdahl's
Seeds Of Destruction - Part II

By Stephen Lendman

William Engdahl's book is a diabolical account of how four Anglo-American agribusiness giants plan world domination by patenting life forms to gain worldwide control of our food supply and our lives. This review is in three in-depth parts

02 January, 2008

Reviewing F. William Engdahl's
"Seeds of Destruction"

By Stephen Lendman

Engdahl's newest book is just out from the Centre for Research on Globalization. It's a sequel to his first one called "Seeds of Destruction: The Hidden Agenda of Genetic Manipulation" and subject of this review. It's the diabolical story of how Washington and four Anglo-American agribusiness giants plan world domination by patenting life forms to gain worldwide control of our food supply and why that prospect is chilling. The book's compelling contents are reviewed below in-depth so readers will know the type future Henry Kissinger had in mind in 1970 when he said: "Control oil and you control nations; control food and you control the people."

31 December, 2007

The Face Of Fascism In A Global System
Heading For Collapse

By Juan Santos

A Review of The Shock Doctrine By Naomi Klein

Surrender Is Not An Option
By Jim Miles

Book Review: Surrender is Not an Option – Defending America at the United Nations and Abroad By John Bolton

18 December, 2007

How Hyperpowers Rise To Global Dominance
And Why They Fall

By Jim Miles

Book Review: Day of Empire – How Hyperpowers Rise to Global Dominance – and Why They Fall. By Amy Chua

05 December, 2007

Enough Heroes To Fill A Book
By David Swanson

More than a few serve the state and resist its abuses, at significant risk to themselves. But very few of us know all of their stories. Resisters of the occupation of Iraq in the U.S., British, and Australian governments and militaries are plentiful enough to fill a book, and they've filled a good one."Dissent: Voices of Conscience: Government Insiders Speak Out Against the War in Iraq" is the forthcoming work of U.S. Army Colonel (Ret.) Ann Wright and Susan Dixon forthcoming after a long delay imposed by the State Department

04 December, 2007

“In Search Of A Future:The Story Of Kashmir”
By Mohamad Junaid

Book review: “In Search of a Future: The Story of Kashmir” By David Devadas

28 November, 2007

Reviewing "Multinationals On Trial"
By Stephen Lendman

Reviewing James Petras and Henry Veltmeyer's "Multinationals on Trial"

27 November, 2007

Europe At War 1939-1945:Norman Davies'
Falsification Of History

By Thomas Riggins

These comments are based on Adam Tooze's review of the Davies book [Europe at War] in the TLS of 11-16-2007. Tooze has a low opinion of both the book and of Davies' scholarship. This is why

19 November, 2007

Treacherous Alliance
By Jim MIles

Book Review: Treacherous Alliance – the secret dealings of Israel, Iran and the United States By Trita Parsi

01 November, 2007

Why We Torture: Martha Nussbaum On
Zimbardo's "The Lucifer Effect"

By Thomas Riggins

Philip Zimbardo is the psychologist who carried out the Stanford Prison Experiment [SPE] in 1971. He has published a book about the lessons to be learned from that experiment and others. The book is “The Lucifer Effect: How Good People Turn Evil”. This article is a review of the American philosopher Martha Nussbaum’s discussion of the book in the October 19, 2007 issue of the TLS

24 October, 2007

The Israel/Palestine Question
By Jim Miles

Ilan Pappe’s highly revised second edition of The Israel/Palestine Question offers the reader a very instructive read on changing historical perspectives about Israel/Palestine within one over-riding theme – land tenure and population control

19 October, 2007

Review: “My Brother’s Keeper.
Documentary Photographers And Human Rights”

By Dr Gideon Polya

“My Brother’s Keeper” is a powerful and moving book that deserves a place in everybody’s personal library as a continual reminder of Man’s continuing active and passive inhumanity to Man and that we cannot walk by on the other side

 

 




 

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