- Paperback: 336 pages
- Publisher: Public Affairs (April 7 2004)
- Language: English
- ISBN-10: 1586482076
- ISBN-13: 978-1586482077
- Product Dimensions: 21.2 x 14.2 x 2.4 cm
- Shipping Weight: 408 g
- Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars See all reviews (9 customer reviews)
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Amazon Bestsellers Rank:
#386,479 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)
- #10 in Books > Nonfiction > Crime & Criminals > War on Drugs
- #30 in Books > History > Americas > South America > Colombia
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Product Details |
Product Description
From Publishers Weekly
Mapping the destructive effects of Colombia's drug war from the ground up, Human Rights Watch researcher Kirk (The Monkey's Paw: New Chronicles from Peru) personalizes the devastation created by the violence among the paramilitary, the guerillas and the drug cartels. The result is a very readable and heart-wrenching narrative blending interviews, personal experiences and observations about the violence that has defined and destroyed Colombia for decades. Unfortunately, the book's insider perspective is both its greatest asset and its greatest failing, as the account centers more on an individual American's experience than on America's war in Colombia. Although Kirk is adept at explaining complicated internal problems within Colombia and detailing the general misery and bloodshed there, her personal anecdotes and tenuously related observations do little to advance the book and too often get in the way of the powerful accounts she is trying to present. The key to the drug war-the connection between the United States and Colombia- gets less than its due, as the majority of the narrative details internal problems in Colombia having little to do with the U.S or, at times, with drugs. Given Kirk's experience in the region and obvious investigative talent, it is disappointing that she doesn't provide an in-depth analysis of the role the U.S. has played in the region, why Colombia's plight should matter to Americans, and prospects for the country in the future.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.
Review
"Kirk's book features dramatic, often funny, and sometimes terrifying tales of her travels as a human rights researcher in Colombia.. She does a remarkable job of synthesizing Colombian history for a U.S. audience... Well-written and wide-ranging, [MTTD] offer[s] something to novice readers and Latin American experts alike."
Inside This Book
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First Sentence
THERE IS A CURIOUS QUIET THAT TAKES HOLD COLOMBIAN TOWNS. Read the first page
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
THERE IS A CURIOUS QUIET THAT TAKES HOLD COLOMBIAN TOWNS. Read the first page
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Concordance
Browse Sample PagesConcordance
Front Cover | Copyright | Table of Contents | Excerpt | Index | Back Cover
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Most helpful customer reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
A masterpiece,
By
This review is from: More Terrible Than Death: Massacres, Drugs, and America's War in Columbia (Hardcover)
Anyone who is truly interested in understanding the dark complexities of the civil war in Colombia must read this book. To that end, "More terrible than death: Massacres, Drugs, and America's War in Colombia," is an absolute masterpiece. Author Robin Kirk is brutally honest and quite frankly...very lucky to be alive to tell this story. Upon completing this book the reader will conclude that Kirk is a sincere and thoughtful student of the human condition in Colombia. Kirk is also a front line witness of a secret and savage dirty war. To this end, she is able to draft a brilliant synopsis of the violent actors in Colombia. Kirk is special. She refuses to lose her cool despite being surrounded by death. Her polished prose calms. Kirk's words do not jump off the pages and shout at you...instead they cling to you and then sink to the bottom of your soul. The end result is a deep disgust of the Colombian government for not protecting defenseless civilians outside the big cities. Without a doubt, the leaders of Colombia...particularly in the military will consider this book a hard slap to the face. Kirk cleverly documents Colombia's long history of conducting a ruthless dirty war against the poor. The author uses a series of flashbacks and flashforwards to liven the pace of events. Moreover, Kirk displays an extraordinary talent for writing. The bottom line of this book is that the political leaders of Colombia must sanitize its armed forces of paramilitary death squads. Kirk is not a doomsday author. She does her homework and uses her intimate knowledge of life in Colombia to unfold a stirring narrative. This book is a surefire national bestseller that will redden the faces of Colombian leaders and boil the blood of American taxpayers. Because as Kirk brilliantly tells it...millions of dollars in American military aid...continues to flow to blatant human rights abusers in the Colombian armed forces.
5.0 out of 5 stars
Robin Kirk Knows Colombia,
By A Customer
This review is from: More Terrible Than Death: Drugs, Violence, and America's War in Colombia (Paperback)
What Robin Kirk learned in her twelve years of covering Colombia for HUMAN Rights Watch, is delivered to us here. She does not give us an easy solution to drug or military issues. She gives us her experiences onsite.
3.0 out of 5 stars
Good info but poor editing,
By A Customer
This review is from: More Terrible Than Death: Massacres, Drugs, and America's War in Columbia (Hardcover)
As already stated this book provides some good info on the people and actions that have troubled Colombia. Kirk prefaces her work by stating her biases and her position so when these biases show, especially with a slight lean towards the leftist cause (or more accurately seeming to oppose the right-wing paramilitaries moreso than the equally lost and violent leftists), the reader easily excuses this. I was more dismayed by the editing. Kirk frequently begins a story with a character that leads into another character without seeming to wrap up what she began to write about. I often felt a lost train of thought; either from the author or from my having to bounce from subject to subject. Additionally some of the writing was unclear. There were at least a few sentences that were grammatically incorrect, lacking clarity, or run-ons. I felt the material was very good but the delivery was average. There should have been better editing.
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