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Donovan Webster has written a real page-turner. The Burma Road is as good as anything written by the late, great Stephen Ambrose. Webster tells the often-overlooked story of the China-Burma-India theater of World War II and the efforts of the Allies to keep the Burma Road open and to retake those areas captured by the Japanese. It sure helps that one of the main figures involved in the CBI was General Joseph "Vinegar Joe" Stilwell. Stilwell is a fascinating character and deserving of much more widespread recognition than he ever achieved, although it is likely he would have despised any media attention. Webster's research is impeccable and his prose is crisp and intelligent. This… Read more
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King Leopold's Ghost is an engrossing, riveting account of one of the saddest chapters in the sad history of colonial exploration and exploitation of the African continent.This book chronicles the lust of King Leopold of the tiny European country of Belgium for an African colony of his own, for no other reason than greed , personal ambition a fanatic and ill-conceived desire to compete with Britain and France, the "big boys" of African colonization. What the inept, greedy Leopold and his henchmen did to the Congo was truly unforgivable and is richly detailed in this superb book. The writing is vivid and truly gripping.There can be no better indictment of the colonial system than… Read more
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Don't Lets Go to the Dogs Tonight is Alexandra Fuller's witty and wistful account of growing up as the daughter of white immigrants in Africa in the 1970's. This book is a brutally honest look at Fuller's family and their adjustment to a society where they are in the distinct minority. Some members of Fuller's family (mostly her mother) don't come off looking too well and are quite obviously racist. Fuller, however, isn't and came to view Africa as her true "home", a place of magic and mystery, as well as of the mundane and ordinary. This is an enlightening glimpse into growing up in a vastly different culture than our own.Highly recommended.
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