Direct, insightful, and frightening, this book will prepare readers to see through the misguided, simplistic solutions to...
A "mid-level player in some of the key events of the past decade" delivers a dispassionate, discouraging analysis of how the Western counterterrorism effort has gone so terribly wrong.
Kilcullen (Out of the Mountains: The Coming Age of the Urban Guerrilla, 2013, etc.) pulls no punches in describing the current security situation. "The hard truth is that the events of 2014-15…represent nothing less than the collapse of Western counterterrorism strategy as we've known it since 2001…we're worse off today than before 9/11, with a stronger, more motivated, more dangerous enemy than ever." Between George W. Bush's reckless administration and Barack Obama's feckless one, "nobody's in the clear: this is a bipartisan, multinational, equal-opportunity screw-up….” This brief work packs an analytical wallop. The author begins by showing how an initial strategy of "disaggregation"—emphasizing the use of local resources to disrupt terrorist groups that were often primarily driven by local concerns—failed due to inept execution and then was turned to the insurgents' advantage by the Islamic State group’s adoption of "leaderless resistance," an atomized network of lone wolves. Kilcullen explains how American neglect and the sectarian rule of the Iraqi Shia Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki encouraged the rise of the Islamic State group and the loss of Sunni territory so dearly won during the surge of 2007. Finally, the author masterfully ties together the disparate strands of the transformative developments of 2015, including the entry of Turkey and Russia into the Syrian civil war, the Iranian nuclear deal and the loss of territory in Iraq and Afghanistan, creating a comprehensive, holistic picture of accelerating disaster for Western interests. Kilcullen's personal familiarity with the territory and many major players adds elements of vivid color to the well-informed discussions of history and policy, and the narrative is refreshingly nonpartisan.
Direct, insightful, and frightening, this book will prepare readers to see through the misguided, simplistic solutions to the problems of Middle Eastern policy and Islamic terror so common in this election year.Pub Date: Feb. 29, 2016
ISBN: 978-0-19-060054-9
Page Count: 272
Publisher: Oxford Univ.
Review Posted Online: Jan. 4, 2016
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2016
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
The Lightmans have created a massive, illuminating alphabetical listing of 447 Greco-Roman women, who are each profiled in entries that range from a few lines to a few pages. The intriguing information is often presented in a lively manner, profiling women who influenced the times in which they lived. Through their lives, a picture of this particular era, from 6th-century b.c. to a.d. 476, emerges (with details often omitted from other history texts covering the same period) that powerfully evokes the past roles of women. Sources for the information are given following every entry. The format gives rise to one small problem, in that so many of those included have the same name. The book, by necessity, covers 15 Cleopatras; students seeking information on the one who got mixed up with Mark Antony will have to cover almost a dozen entries before locating her. The same is true for all the Agrippinas, Julias, Livias, etc. The glossary and bibliography will be useful to more scholarly readers; the hope is that less-practiced researchers won’t be frustrated by the stumbling blocks of the volume’s organization, and barred from its entertaining, solidly educational gems. (b&w illustrations, map, glossary, bibliography, index) (Nonfiction. 12-15)
Pub Date: Nov. 1, 1999
ISBN: 0-8160-3112-6
Page Count: 320
Publisher: Facts On File
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Nov. 15, 1999
This exciting collective biography features ten important women in the historic struggle to win freedom and civil rights. Pinkney (Duke Ellington: The Piano Prince and His Orchestra, 1998, etc.) tells the well-known stories of Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, and Rosa Parks. Other women such as Biddy Mason and Dorothy Irene Height are in the history books but are less familiar. They span the 18th and 19th centuries, from Sojourner Truth, born into slavery circa 1797, to Shirley Chisholm, born in 1924 and living today. Each story contains essential demographic and biographical information written in an accessible, informal style, which provides a vivid picture of the women’s lives, their personalities, backgrounds, and the actions that made them memorable. Many of the women also had to fight against prejudice toward women in addition to their causes. Some did not live to see the results of their struggle, but successful or not, all were courageous leaders who paved the way for a more democratic and inclusive America. The introduction gives the reader a glimpse into Pinkney’s own life and her rationale for the selection of biographies. A bibliography for further reading lists what are probably her research sources, but are not identified as such and quotations within the chapters are not footnoted in any way. Another quibble is a small mistake in the biography of Dorothy Irene Height as to the two degrees she received in four years. Both were in educational psychology, but Pinkney lists the bachelor’s as in social work. However, these flaws do not compromise the value of the book. Alcorn’s (Langston Hughes, not reviewed, etc.) paintings, oil on canvas, are as magnificent as his figures and add much to this handsome volume. Vibrant colors, rhythmic lines, and collage-like compositions are allegorical in design and convey the essence of each woman and her work. A truly inspiring collection for personal as well as institutional libraries. (Biography. 8-12)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 2000
ISBN: 0-15-201005-X
Page Count: 120
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 2000
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