Books : Who Hates Whom: Well-Armed Fanatics, Intractable Conflicts, and Various Things Blowing Up A Woefully Incomplete Guide
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by: Bob Harris
List Price: $11.95Amazon.com's Price: $9.56 You Save: $2.39 (20%)Prices subject to change. Availability: Usually ships in 24 hours
Binding: Paperback
Dewey Decimal Number: 303.6
EAN: 9780307394361
ISBN: 0307394360
Label: Three Rivers Press
Manufacturer: Three Rivers Press
Number Of Items: 1
Number Of Pages: 224
Publication Date: September 25, 2007
Publisher: Three Rivers Press
Release Date: September 25, 2007
Sales Rank: 104079
Studio: Three Rivers Press
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Editorial Review:
Product Description:
The daily news gives you events but rarely context. So what do al-Qaeda, North Korea, and Iran really want? Which faction is which in Iraq and who’s arming whom? What’s the deal with Somalia, Darfur, and Kashmir? Fatah, Hamas, and Hezbollah?
Finally, here’s Who Hates Whom—a handy, often stunning guide to the world’s recent conflicts, from the large and important to the completely absurd.
• Which countries are fighting over an uninhabitable glacier with no real strategic value—at an annual cost of half a billion dollars?
• Which underreported war has been the deadliest since World War II—worse even than Vietnam—with a continuing aftermath worse than most current conflicts combined?
• Which royal family members were respected as gods—until the crown prince machine-gunned the king and queen?
• Which country’s high school students think the Nazis had a “good side”? Which nation’s readers recently put Mein Kampf on the bestseller list? And which other country watches itself with four million security cameras? (Hint: All three are U.S. allies.)
Detailed with more than fifty original maps, photographs, and illustrations, Who Hates Whom summarizes more than thirty global hotspots with concise essays, eye-catching diagrams, and (where possible) glimmers of kindness and hope.
In which bodies of water can you find most of the world’s active pirates? Which dictatorship is bulldozing its own villages? Where exactly are Waziristan, Bangsamoro, Kurdistan, Ituri, Baluchistan, and Jubaland—and how will they affect your life and security? Find out in Who Hates Whom, a seriously amusing look at global humanity—and the lack thereof.
Customer Reviews
Average Rating: 
Rating:  - Very, very well done
I'm not sure how to characterize this book, but I'll just go with: THIS FREAKING RULES. It provides the CONTEXT to world events, so you have a better idea of what's going on. I only bought it a few weeks ago, but I've read it cover to cover twice already. It does a great job of boiling down the major players and conflicts in each regional hot spot.
For example, I admit that I never really understood what was going in Africa. I knew vaguely that there were some bad rebels in Darfur, ... Read More
Rating: - Harris fills in the gaps. (and there were lots of gaps)
Think the mainstream media is going to keep you up to date on all this stuff? No. In fact, I sometimes wonder if they prefer to keep you in the dark. They certainly don't tell us much about some of these conflicts. I followed Bob Harris's blog when he traveled around the world researching this book. When I came across it recently, I bought it without hesitation, knowing that I was going to be reading the work of a guy who has a knack for trivia -- even important trivia that isn't trivial at all to the ... Read More
Rating:  - "No Expertise. Zero."
"I claim no expertise. Zero. My degree is in elecrical engineering...I've been a comic, TV writer...I'm lucky I'm allowed to drive." (page 3). "I know so incredibly little. Maybe I'd rather keep my mouth shut for a while" (page 6).
For the record, virtually no U.S. troops fought in the Congo, just some spec and cia advisors. The non-Congolese fighters were mainly mercenaries from white South Africa and Rhodesia. No mention of the mercs here. Their history has been luridly detailed ... Read More
Rating:  - Unbelievably readable.
I think it is something of a miracle that Mr. Harris made this book so accessible. I picked up this book because I enjoyed other material that Bob Harris produced, but I was a little wary about this book. After all, he's writing about many of the "b-side" wars in countries that don't make the 7 o'clock news. The sources of these conflicts range from leftover Cold War proxy wars to colonization to ancient struggles when men in bearskins beat each other with femurs. That is a lot of material to cover in ... Read More
Rating: - You Can't Tell the Players without a Scorecard!
Bob Harris manages to educate and entertain in this guide to the myriad of wars, conflicts, arguments, rivalries, and turf battles around the world. As advertised, he tells you who hates whom around the globe. We actually keep this book on the coffee table as a quick reference source for those times the news mentions an unfamiliar regional fracas or historical bone of contention in a far away land. The book does manage to educate the reader on history while providing some laugh out loud observations about ... Read More
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