Author: J. M. Coetzee File Type: epub Elizabeth Costello is an Australian writer of international renown. Famous principally for an early novel that established her reputation, she has reached the stage where her remaining function is to be venerated and applauded. Her life has become a series of engagements in sterile conference rooms throughout the world - a private consciousness obliged to reveal itself to a curious public the presentation of a major award at an American college where she is required to deliver a lecture a sojourn as the writer in residence on a cruise liner a visit to her sister, a missionary in Africa, who is receiving an honorary degree, an occasion which both recognise as the final opportunity for effecting some form of reconciliation and a disquieting appearance at a writers conference in Amsterdam where she finds the subject of her talk unexpectedly amongst the audience. She has made her lifes work the study of other people yet now it is she who is the object of scrutiny. But, for her, what matters is the continuing search for a means of articulating her vision and the verdict of future generations.--One of Coetzees best-simply burns with creative passion D. J. Taylor, Independent --An important book-Extraordinary Independent on Sunday--Probably the best book on the (Booker) longlist, the one that will last-Every word counts. Every sentence lives Evening Standard--A readable and engaging book-Demanding, playful, provocative-hugely enlightening and rewarding Sunday Times --Richly rewarding Daily Mail--Highly readable and bracing Scotsman--Deals bravely with problems that few other writers dare to think about Telegraph

Author: Kieran Mitton File Type: pdf The atrocities of civil wars present us with many difficult questions. How do seemingly ordinary individuals come to commit such extraordinary acts of cruelty, often against unarmed civilians? Can we ever truly understand such acts of evil? Based on a wealth of original interviews with perpetrators of violence in Sierra Leones civil war, this book provides a detailed response. Moving beyond the rigid bounds of political science, the author engages with sociology, psychology and social psychology, to provide a comprehensive picture of the complex individual motives behind seemingly senseless violence in Sierra Leones war. Highlighting the inadequacy of current explanations that centre on the anarchic nature of brutality, or conversely, its calculated rationality, this book sheds light on the critical but hitherto neglected role played by the emotions of shame and disgust. Drawing on first-hand accounts of strategies employed by Sierra Leones rebel commanders, it documents the manner in which rebel recruits were systematically brutalised and came to perform horrifying acts of cruelty as routine. In so doing, it offers fresh insight into the causes of extreme violence that holds relevance beyond Sierra Leone to the atrocities of contemporary civil wars. **Review Kieran Mitton goes beyond analysis of violence as breakdown or strategy to provide a compelling, fascinating and very insightful account of the psychological functions of violence in Sierra Leones vicious civil war. -- David Keen, Professor of Complex Emergencies, London School of Economics No author to date has been able to supply a convincing explanation of the reasons for the RUFs extraordinary brutality, but in this lucid, well organised and well expressed book Kieran Mitton does just that. A significant and original contribution. -- Stephen Ellis, Desmond Tutu Professor, Free University, Amsterdam and author of External Mission The ANC in Exile, 1960-1990 Kieran Mittons readable book seeks to explain atrocity in the Sierra Leone civil war, rather than the causal factors of the war which occupy much of the literature, and presents a new and very plausible thesis to comprehend the incomprehensible. Mitton challenges assumptions of rationality or irrationality within explanations of the worst sorts of violence and offers thought-provoking analysis of why people who are not inherently violent become brutalised and brutal. -- David Harris, Lecturer in African Studies, University of Bradford, author of Sierra Leone A Political History Rebels in a Rotten State is an important and interesting addition to the remarkably vast, and growing, literature on the war in Sierra Leone. It is distinguished by its careful and learned attention to the causes and nature of the atrocities of the war, rather than to the war itself. The author is consistently informative and fair -- even where he disagrees with the interpretation of others, including mine, he does so with reason, diffidence and charm -- Lansana Gberie, author of A Dirty War in West Africa The RUF and the Destruction of Sierra Leone This outstanding study, so impressively and carefully researched, makes important contributions in number of areas to our understanding of the war in Sierra Leone, to the political economy of civil wars more generally, to the challenges of reconciliation after horrendous periods of blood-letting and, above all, to the dynamic and complex sources of atrocious violence in conditions of civil war. What makes the book stand out is, not least, the even-handedness, respect and sophistication with which the author critically assesses the many attempts that have been made to explain what many find inexplicable. As such, it is also a deeply humane treatment of the human capacity for extreme violence and evil. -- Mats Berdal, Professor of Security and Development, Department of War Studies, Kings College London About the Author Kieran Mitton is a lecturer in International Relations in the Department of War Studies, Kings College London. He has conducted extensive fieldwork on civil war atrocities in Sierra Leone and has published various articles on the reintegration of ex-combatants and electoral violence.

Author: Paul U. Unschuld File Type: pdf This newly revised and updated edition of Paul U. Unschulds original 1986 groundbreaking translation reflects the latest philological, methodological, and sinological standards of the past thirty years. The Nan Jing was compiled in China during the first century C.E., marking both an apex and a conclusion to the initial development stages of Chinese medicine. Based on the doctrines of the Five Phases and yinyang, the Nan Jing covers all aspects of theoretical and practical health care in an unusually systematic fashion. Most important is its innovative discussion of pulse diagnosis and needle treatment. This new edition also includes selected commentaries by twenty Chinese and Japanese authors from the past seventeen centuries. The commentaries provide insights into the processes of reception and transmission of ancient Chinese concepts from the Han era to the present time. Together with the Huang Di Nei Jing Su Wen and the Huang Di Nei Jing Ling Shu, this new translation of the Nan Jing constitutes a trilogy of writings offering scholars and practitioners today unprecedented insights into the beginnings of a two-millennium tradition of what was a revolutionary understanding of human physiology and pathology. **About the Author Paul U. Unschuld is Professor and Director of the Horst-Goertz Endowment Institute for the Theory, History, and Ethics of Chinese Life Sciences at Charite-Medical University, Berlin. His previous books include Medicine in China A History of Ideas and What Is Medicine? Western and Eastern Approaches to Health Care.

Author: Catherine Pelonero File Type: epub Written in a flowing narrative style, Kitty Genovese A True Account of a Public Murder and Its Private Consequences presents the story of the horrific and infamous murder of Kitty Genovese, a young woman stalked and stabbed on the street where she lived in Queens, New York in 1964. The case sparked national outrage when the New York Times revealed that dozens of witnesses had seen or heard the attacks on Kitty Genovese and her struggle to reach safety but had failed to come to her aidor even call police until after the killer had fled. This book cuts through misinformation and conjecture to present a definitive portrait of the crime, the aftermath, and the people. Based on six years of research, Catherine Peloneros book presents the facts from the police reports, archival material, court documents, and first-hand interviews. Pelonero offers a personal look at Kitty Genovese, an ambitious young woman viciously struck down in the prime of her life Winston Moseley, the killer who led a double life as a responsible family man by day and a deadly predator by night the consequences for a community condemned and others touched by the tragedy. Beyond just a true crime story, the book embodies much larger themes the phenomenon of bystander inaction, the evolution of a serial killer, and the fears and injustices spawned by the stark prejudices of an era, many of which linger to this day.