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THE PALACE OF JUSTICE

Name: THE PALACE OF JUSTICE
Author: Ana Carrigan
ISBN: 0-941423-82-4

A COLOMBIAN TRAGEDY

by Ana Carrigan ‧ RELEASE DATE: Nov. 29, 1993

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An expatriate journalist's vivid, authoritative, and righteously indignant account of a defining moment in the troubled, turbulent history of Colombia. Drawing on hitherto unavailable sources, Carrigan (Salvador Witness, 1984) offers a tellingly detailed hour-by-hour record of a national catastrophe that captured the world's attention. On a November morning nearly eight years ago, 35 heavily armed M-19 guerrillas invaded Bogot†'s Palace of Justice, home to Colombia's Supreme Court and Council of State. President Belisario Betancur and his cabinet gave the country's military a free hand to oust the rebels (who had seized scores of hostages) by whatever means it deemed necessary. When the guns fell silent 27 hours later, over one hundred people lay dead and one of the capital city's great buildings had been reduced to rubble. The toll included 11 justices, virtually all the insurgents, one soldier, and eight policemen (most of whom fell to friendly fire). Once the murderous battle ended, Colombia's political elite and armed forces closed ranks to put an acceptably plausible spin on an apocalyptic event. In a violent land where dissidents of any stripe fear for their lives, it's not surprising that the establishment's cover-up version of truth prevailed. As Carrigan (who's Colombian on her mother's side) makes clear, however, Medell°n's druglords played no role in what was essentially an ill-advised and poorly planned assault by leftist revolutionaries. Nor was the government standing on principle in its refusal to negotiate. Indeed, Carrigan shows that the incumbent regime was intent on annihilating the rebels at any cost and hence was largely indifferent to the fate of the high officials and others they held captive. Moreover, that most civilian casualties were gunned down at point-blank range by trigger-happy troops speaks volumes, in Carrigan's view, about the desperate state of Colombia's democratic institutions. An unsparing and convincingly documented tract that could do for Colombia what Zola's J'accuse did for France.

Pub Date: Nov. 29, 1993

ISBN: 0-941423-82-4

Page Count: 304

Publisher: N/A

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 1, 1993

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

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NUTCRACKER

by E.T.A. Hoffmann ‧ RELEASE DATE: Oct. 28, 1996

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This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)

Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996

ISBN: 0-15-100227-4

Page Count: 136

Publisher: Harcourt

Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010

Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996

Categories:

GENERAL NONFICTION

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER AND THE MOUSE KING
by E.T.A. Hoffmann ; adapted by Natalie Andrewson ; illustrated by Natalie Andrewson

- BOOK REVIEW
THE NUTCRACKER
by E.T.A. Hoffmann & illustrated by Julie Paschkis

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TO THE ONE I LOVE THE BEST

EPISODES FROM THE LIFE OF LADY MENDL (ELSIE DE WOLFE)

by Ludwig Bemelmans ‧ RELEASE DATE: Feb. 23, 1955

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An extravaganza in Bemelmans' inimitable vein, but written almost dead pan, with sly, amusing, sometimes biting undertones, breaking through. For Bemelmans was "the man who came to cocktails". And his hostess was Lady Mendl (Elsie de Wolfe), arbiter of American decorating taste over a generation. Lady Mendl was an incredible person,- self-made in proper American tradition on the one hand, for she had been haunted by the poverty of her childhood, and the years of struggle up from its ugliness,- until she became synonymous with the exotic, exquisite, worshipper at beauty's whrine. Bemelmans draws a portrait in extremes, through apt descriptions, through hilarious anecdote, through surprisingly sympathetic and understanding bits of appreciation. The scene shifts from Hollywood to the home she loved the best in Versailles. One meets in passing a vast roster of famous figures of the international and artistic set. And always one feels Bemelmans, slightly offstage, observing, recording, commenting, illustrated.