In 1995, twenty-five-year-old Samantha Nutt, a recent medical-school graduate and a field volunteer for UNICEF, touched down in Baidoa, Somalia, the "City of Death." What she saw there would spur her on to a lifetime of passionate advocacy for children and families in war-torn areas around the world. Damned Nations is the brilliant distillation of Dr. Nutt's observations over the course of fifteen years providing hands-on care in some of the world's most violent flashpoints, all the while building the world class non-profit War Child North America. Combining original research with her personal story, it is a deeply thoughtful meditation on war as it is being waged around the world against millions of civilians -- primarily women and children. Nutt's boundless energy, dedication, and compassion shine through on every page as she lays out real, lasting solutions to these problems and shows how to move beyond outdated notions of charity towards a more progressive, inclusive, and respectful world view.
Damned Nations: Greed, Guns, Armies, and Aid
and over one million other books are available for Amazon Kindle. Learn more
| ||||||||||||||||||||
Book Description
Frequently Bought Together
Product Details
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
Product Description
Review
"Angry, impassioned essays are not the general currency of Canadian non-fiction, so it's refreshing that physician Samantha Nutt breaks the mould with her forthright attack on militarism and misguided aid efforts that exacerbate the poverty and conflict they are meant to solve. . . . Damned Nations is an important read." -- Quill and Quire
About the Author
SAMANTHA NUTT is a medical doctor and Founder/Executive Director of War Child North America. For fifteen years, Dr Nutt has been at the frontline of many of the world's major crises -- from Iraq to Afghanistan, Somalia to the Congo and Sierra Leone to Darfur. Dr. Nutt was recently named one of Canada's 25 Transformational Canadians by the Globe and Mail, and the World Economic Forum recognized her as one of 200 young global leaders. In 2010, Samantha was awarded the Order of Ontario. Dr. Nutt is a staff physician at Women's College Hospital in Toronto and an Assistant Professor of medicine at the University of Toronto.
Inside This Book
(Learn More)
What Other Items Do Customers Buy After Viewing This Item?
Customer Reviews
Most helpful customer reviews
9 of 10 people found the following review helpful
By Alyson
Format:Hardcover
Samantha Nutt's voice in Damned Nations rings heartfelt and true. Most important of all, it is anchored by the people our choices here at home' affect. From rape victims in Eastern Congo, oppressed women in Afghanistan, widowed young mothers in Darfur and fallen human rights heroes murdered for speaking out and following their hearts are the living definitions of injustice that define the gaps in the humanitarian movement.
It is not enough to support 'good' causes. We must adhere to good policy and refuse to exercise apathy. Sam eloquently forces us to reconsider the status quo. She compels us to question the truths that have anchored politics, the practices that characterize charitable giving, the principles on which foreign policy has been built and most important of all, Sam propels us to expect more. To ask more from ourselves, the charities we support, the companies we buy from, the banks with which we invest and the governments we elect.
To define this book as a memoir, or another humanitarian's account of the sector is inaccurate. Damned Nations is the book that all of us who shake our heads at the headlines and who wonder what can be done have been waiting for. It is a manifesto for the next generation of bleeding hearts with brains.
[..]
It is not enough to support 'good' causes. We must adhere to good policy and refuse to exercise apathy. Sam eloquently forces us to reconsider the status quo. She compels us to question the truths that have anchored politics, the practices that characterize charitable giving, the principles on which foreign policy has been built and most important of all, Sam propels us to expect more. To ask more from ourselves, the charities we support, the companies we buy from, the banks with which we invest and the governments we elect.
To define this book as a memoir, or another humanitarian's account of the sector is inaccurate. Damned Nations is the book that all of us who shake our heads at the headlines and who wonder what can be done have been waiting for. It is a manifesto for the next generation of bleeding hearts with brains.
[..]
Format:Paperback|Amazon Verified Purchase
Sam Nutt is a doctor and a humanitarian who has a mission - to help those who can't help themselves because they are stuck in horrible situations brought on by civil war. She is clearly very passionate about her work with child soldiers and the book really shows us what places like the Eastern Congo or Iraq feel/look like. Highly recommended for students, grad students and anybody else interested in international development/international affairs.
Most Helpful Customer Reviews on Amazon.com (beta)
Amazon.com:
5.0 out of 5 stars
6 reviews
8 of 8 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Great Book!
Nov 22 2011
By A. Franco
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
The author, Dr. Nutt, is an award-winning humanitarian with years of experience in the field having traveled and worked in places including Iraq, Afghanistan, The Democratic Republic of Congo, and Somalia. Her book is a great launching point for discussions about foreign aid, the use of armed combat in creating peace, and how our growing demand for electronics is correlated with instability in developing countries. This is a well-researched, thought-provoking book full of facts. However, that doesn't mean that it's boring - she includes a number of personal stories to help highlight the issues that she raises making her arguments have a strong impact. I plan on buying it for a number of my friends and family for the holidays and would recommend it to anyone.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Damned Nations
April 30 2012
By Chickpea
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Kindle Edition
For anyone who has ever sent money or supplies to war torn or needy countries, Samantha Nutt's book reveals the dark side of these well-intended charitable donations. Not a fun read, but a must read.
4 of 4 people found the following review helpful
5.0 out of 5 stars
Why the incidence of rape in the Congo should be listed daily side by side with the Dow-Jones Industrial Average
Jan 20 2012
By cvairag
- Published on Amazon.com
Format:Hardcover
The courageous and beautiful Samantha Nutt has worked on the ground, in the field,with various government (UNICEF) and non-government organizations in Africa for the greater part of the past 15 years. She now directs her own NGO, Warchild, dedicated to ameliorating the horrid conditions she personally experienced which are chronicled in this important book - namely the ongoing war against women and children, indirectly or directly, perpetrated as central to the international corporate powers' policy of resource extraction in the long term war zones of Africa. Dr. Nutt connects the dots between the causal motivations for the gendercide/genocide in the Congo where over five million have been slaughtered since the mid-1990's. What eerily emerges is a map which indicates that the highest incidence of rape (with often concurrent mutilation)is found in the areas where coltan (columbite-tantalite) - a resource essential to the construction of all instruments of telecommunications - all cellphones, the internet, etc. is found to the tune of 80% of the world's supply. Remember this startling statistic next time you text.
›
Go to Amazon.com to see all 6 reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Listmania!
|
|
Look for similar items by category
Feedback
Would you like to update product info or give feedback on images?
|
