World+Cultures+Books

Supplementary Readings for World Cultures **// Girl Soldier: A Story of Hope for Northern Uganda’s Children //** – Faith McDonnell – Recounts the experiences of Grace Akallo, who was forced to enter into the Lord's Resistance Army in northern Uganda when she was only fifteen year old and endured savagery, starvation, and abuse with only her faith to help her.
 * // Infidel //**** – ** Ayaan Hirsi Ali **–** Hirsi Ali recounts her life story, discussing her traditional Muslim childhood in Somalia, Saudi Arabia, and Kenya, her intellectual awakening and activism in the Netherlands, and her current life under armed guard in the West.
 * // Palestine: Peace Not Apartheid //**// – // Jimmy Carter – Former President Jimmy Carter shares his knowledge of Middle Eastern affairs and describes the steps that must be taken in order for both Jews and Palestinians to live peacefully in the region.
 * // From Beirut to Jerusalem //** – Thomas Friedman – Friedman, a three-time Pulitzer prize recipient and former New York Times Middle East correspondent, chronicles the Israeli-Arab conflicts with clarity and insight.
 * // The World Is Flat: A Brief History of the Twentieth-Century //** – Thomas Friedman – Friedman’s latest book presents his vision of globalization and how its leveling the economic playing field.
 * // King Leopold’s Ghost: A Story of Greed, Terror, and Heroism in Colonial Africa //**// – // Adam Hochschild – Chronicles the life of King Leopold II of Belgium and discusses how he plundered the Congo, how his people tried to overthrow him, and other related topics.
 * // All the Shah’s Men: An American Coup and the Roots of Middle East Terror – //** Stephen Kinzer – Provides a reconstruction of the events of August 1953 when the U.S. overthrew Iran's democratically elected prime minister Mohammad Mossadegh in what was called Operation Ajax, and discusses the lasting effects of the plot, linking it to the rise of Muslim fundamentalists and terrorism in the modern world.
 * // Kaffir Boy: An Autobiography – The True Story of a Black Youth’s Coming of Age in Apartheid South Africa //** – Mark Matthabane – The author recalls his personal experiences growing up under South African Apartheid during the 1970s, the poverty and oppression of living in the ghettos of Alexandra, and of those who helped him escape from it.
 * // Lost Years: Bush, Sharon and Failure in the Middle East //** – Mark Matthews – Describes the relationship between President George W. Bush and former Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon and how the two leaders worsened the Middle East situation by initiating wars that actually destabilized the region. Quoting extensively from politicians, military personnel and others in the U.S., Israel, the Palestinian territories and international organizations, Matthews offers a balanced, if opinionated, view of the conflict and of the major personalities that have shaped it.
 * // Three Cups of Tea: One Man’s Mission to Promote Peace . . . One School at a Time //** – Greg Mortenson – Greg Mortenson recounts the experiences he had while trying to help impoverished villages in Pakistan's Karakoram Himalaya build schools for their children.
 * // Once Upon a Country: A Palestinian Life //** – Sari Nusseibeh – Nusseibeh, a prominent Palestinian philosopher and university president, recounts the experiences he had growing up in post-1948 Palestine, describing how the political upheaval of the region influenced every aspect of his life and family.
 * // A Tale of Love and Darkness //** – Amos Oz – The author recalls his childhood in Jerusalem in the 1940s and 1950s, discussing his mother's suicide when he was twelve-years-old, and his falling out with his father and subsequent move to a kibbutz, and sharing stories from throughout the history of his family, as well as insights on the struggle to create a Jewish state.
 * // Cry, the Beloved Country //** – Alan Paton – Zulu pastor Stephen Kumalo travels to Johannesburg on an errand for a friend and to visit his son, Absalom, only to learn Absalom has been accused of murdering white city engineer and social activist Arthur Jarvis and stands very little chance of receiving mercy.
 * // Persepolis: The Story of a Childhood //** – Marjane Satrapi – Contains black-and-white comic strip images in which the author shares the story of her life in Tehran, Iran, where she lived from ages six to fourteen while the country came under control of the Islamic regime.
 * // Desert Queen: The Extraordinary Life of Gertrude Bell: Adventurer, Adviser to Kings, Ally of Lawrence of Arabia //** – Janet Wallach – Chronicles the life of Gertrude Bell, discussing her privileged childhood in the 1870s, schooling at Oxford, involvement in archaeology and linguistics, literary and artistic contributions, world travels, interactions with the Cairo intelligence office during World War I, and other related topics.