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Summary: Emma's War: An Aid Worker, a Warlord, Radical Islam, and the
Review: I could not put this book down once I started it: even though I was in between exams. It's well written and an easy read. Although the book is centered on Emma, it also includes some very educative elements of Sudanse history and that of the Sudanese Civil war. The only parts I found disturbing is the typical generalizations that's often found in a lot of writings about Africa and the peculiarity of certain attitudes often presented as only African. For example: The author introduced the reader in the first pages to what she refers to the Politics of the belly as being what all African politics is about; she also interpretes popular proverbs as confirming her theory that all of African politics is centered on the belly. I think she misses the point that; whereever you have a situation in a community or a country for that matter where the playing field is terribly skewed or the political structure is clientelist, or a political/power structure where the Big Man dominates all works of life, the politics of the belly inevitably results. When you hear the expression " oh he eats from Mr.T" for example: this translates to meaning that he earns his exisistence from Mr.T who is connected enough (usually politically) to make these provisions available. It's not necessarily FOOD. It could be opportunities!! occassional gifts of money or expensive presents in return for loyalty for instance. The relationships can be clan based, nationalistic, friendships, common business interest. You find these relationships and politics of the belly all over the ex soviet states, from Armenia, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Bellarusia, Moldova.. it's rampant in these parts of the world not only Africa as seems to be suggested by the author. It's also not inherently African either. Take out the rule of law that levels the playing field in any community and you will immediately see the emergence of the Politics of The Belly!! It's nothing inherently African - it's Human!!! I just thought I clarify this point.
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Summary: Sudan - its tragedies and its young aid worker Emma
Review: I couldn't put this book down. Having previously read "Til the Sun Grows Cold: Searching for My Daughter, Emma" by her mother Maggie McCune, I was interested in reading more about Emma's life in the Sudan.The author cleverly interweaves the story of Emma, a young British aid worker who went out to the Sudan and subsequently fell in love with and married a Sudanese warlord, with the political situation there. It relates the horrors of famine, starvation, war, violence and terrible cruelty on the part of political leaders to their fellow countrymen. In the midst of this Emma wanted to make a difference. She did her best to try and help children and never minded being different herself and was loved and appreciated for it. However, being married to a warlord and becoming part of a very different culture in the end became the hugest of challenges though her loyalty to her husband appeared never to waver. So many efforts have been made at providing humanitarian aid for the Sudan - almost all thwarted by people who were out for their own ends. I was shocked and saddened to read of so much political intrigue, hatred and prejudice - and of the devastation of what must in reality be a very beautiful country. What was brought home harshly to me were the tragic accounts of boy soldiers captured at a very tender age to be enlisted in the military. Mostly they died of starvation. The book is well researched and written with feeling. I would recommend it to all who wish to know more about this particular country and its misfortunes and also about a very brave young woman, Emma McCune Machar, who tried so hard to play her part in providing humanitarian aid to the Sudan.
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Summary: Baaaaaaaaaah
Review: I did not like reading this book. First of all it's supposed to be about Emma, the book talks about war in Sudan and things that go waaaaay back like Gordon and anti-slavery, word to author: this isn't supposed to be a history book I'm assuming. I understand that "Emma's War" meant the war between Riek and Garang but it was supposed to be a biography of Emma, not of the history of Sudan or what some guy in the government had to say about this war. Second, she jumps back and forth from Emma to what's happening in Sudan to her own experiences, it's hard to understand when there are all these names that Emma is associated with, then add the people she met and people who are fighting in Sudan, those against it and you don't know who is who. Also I found that this booke xplained very little about the conflict in Sudan, I just got the gist of it that it's between north and south. That was it. I might as well mention this was required reading for school
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Summary: Extraordinary Tale
Review: I saw this book excerpted in Vogue and raced out to get it. It's an amazing tale of a woman who sets out to do good and gets corrupted along the way. The politics of poverty are woven seamlessly into the seductive tale of a British AID Worker named Emma. I could not put this book down.
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Summary: A romance amidst famine and frustration in the Sudan
Review: I used to believe that aid workers really helped people. I'm not so sure any more. I chose to read this fascinating book because I knew little, if anything, about the Sudan. I know a lot more now. And it's not very pleasant. The author, Deborah Scoggins certainly knows this. She's an American journalist who's won awards for her fine reporting. And she's experienced firsthand the famines and frustrated attempts by aid workers who are often pawns of Sudanese politics, exacerbating the endemic horrors of the ongoing civil war. Into this mix comes the true store of Emma McCune, a romantic British aid worker with a feisty personality and an attraction to African men. It's the early 1990's and the idealist Emma tries to set up schools for the children of the warring tribes. When she finds the young boys being kidnapped to fight in guerilla armies, she does what she can to bring attention to the problem which is just one of many that plague the country. Eventually, she meets Reik Machar, a British-educated African leader of his people. She marries him and gets swept up in the complicated intrigues and politics. As she changes, she becomes a pragmatic apologist for the murders and tortures that her husband orchestrates. Her tragic story is the center of the book. This was a wise choice of the author, who even includes photos of Emma and her husband as well as some horrific images of the famine around her. The book, however, is more than just Emma's story. Scrupulously researched, it is the story of Africa itself, and the Sudan in particular. There's the Islamic north with ties to Osama bin Laden. There's the Animist and Christian south where oil has been discovered. There are dozens of tribes with hatreds between them that go back for centuries. There are the inefficiencies of the aid workers who mean well but wind up playing into the hands of the warlords. There are the soldiers who steal the food meant for the famine victims. There are children sold into slavery. There are corpses lining the roads and being fed upon by vultures. It's all very awful and hard to read about. But then there is Emma's romance. It ties the story together and kept me reading. "Emma's War" is only 352 pages long. The writing is clear, the chapters short and so well structured and interspersed with factual information that the learning experience is seamless. There are maps and photographs as well as an additional 34 pages of footnotes. It certainly left me with a lot more knowledge and insight into African politics than I ever imagined. I enjoyed reading it immensely learned more than I thought I ever wanted to know. It's an experience I won't soon forget. Highly recommended.
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Summary: Alot of Questions
Review: I will not go into a description of this book as others have but it raised so many questions and piqued my curiosity about Sudan, aid workers, etc. I will say that the central story of Emma was left vaguely empty to me, I didn't understand why she loved Riek, why she went to the extreme that she did. The characters were so thinly portrayed. And her husband remained a mystery. I was left feeliing less sympathetic to her than expected.
The author was also interesting. I wanted to hear more about the Sudan, the inter tribe wars, the political aspects and the aid industry. It was as if there was a wonderful picture of the tip of an iceberg. So I suppose she did her job well in that my interest in this part of the world has increased greatly.
The criticism of America felt bogus to me. She was so very critical of our pulling out of Somalia as if our men being murdered by warlords should have been simply overlooked. She seems to gloss over the criticism of us whenever we do anything in that part of the world. She did illustrate quite well the limitations of the UN in dealing with complicated situations in countries like Sudan. But in all the Islamic governments came across as predatory, untrustworthy and did not get the same barbed criticism as the US. The bottom line seemed to be hopeless in Sudan, the leaders both of the government and of the tribes seem more interested in fighting over resources and power than serving their people and that cannot be laid at the feet of western policies.
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Summary: Glamour comes to wartime Sudan
Review: If a proposed movie of "Emma's War" starring Nicole Kidman is made, Emma McCune may well become the most famous aid worker of all time. That's a shame because, as this book makes clear, her accomplishments were modest. Emma had a flair for drama and publicity and a pair of long legs instead of a brain. One suspects that she would have tired of the hardships of life in the Sudanese bush and gone back to England to become a fashion designer or some such thing.
The humanitarian aid workers are the modern day missionaries of Western civilization. All in all, they do more good than harm, although Emma may be the exception. Deborah Scroggins has written an excellent book about the brutal two decade long civil war in Sudan and the foreign aid workers who keep the innocent victims of the war alive. The politics are here in easily digestible chunks and so is a mini-history of Sudan since the time of the Victorian hero "Chinese" Gordon. The author includes some of her own experiences of witnessing starvation in Sudan.
One insight of this book is that Western governments want not so much to do anything about African catastrophes as to be seen to do something. Their indifference to African suffering is more than matched by African leaders. Two million people are estimated to have died in the civil wars in Sudan during the last 20 years, the vast majority of them noncombatants. A soldier with a rifle seems the least likely person to die in African conflicts.
Smallchief
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Summary: A good read about the motivations of aid workers, but...
Review: Note to Western journalists: Please stop writing about yourselves and your hotels in Africa. Stick to your subject matter, which is a lot more interesting than you are. The parts of this book about the aid worker Emma and the Sudanese politics are excellent. But if I have to read another chapter describing an author's African hotel and their conversations with taxi drivers, I am going to scream.
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Summary: Very powerful, engrossing & stunning descriptions of Sudan
Review: Scroggins' story about Emma is a strange one, but the detailed descriptions of Scroggins' observations and experiences provide a stunning description of starvation, war, and disease in southern Sudan. Some parts of this book will stay with the reader for a very long time. The book is monumental and fulfills one's expectation of an epic story. I believe that the descriptions of the famine and its consequences must have been a painful story to tell, and we are indebted to Ms. Scroggins for her great effort.
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Summary: content decent but protagonist useless
Review: The content of this book is good. It does a good job delving into the viscousness of the Sudanese Civil war. A war in which a viscious Islamic north is suppressing and enslaving a peaceful christian south, where oil may be located. This is the story of Islam at the 'frontier' where holy warriors journey from across the middle east to push the bounds of Islam into new territory, creating chaos and svagery as it spreads. Unfortunatly the book revolvs around a naive western woman who neither understand or has the least bit of insight into the truths about the African continent. SHe has joined thousands upon thousands of foolish whites who have gone to Africa to 'feel the pain' of the indigenous people. Rather then 'feeling the pain' this women spent her time in Lascivious love with a barbarian. Naively building schools she just couldn't fathom 'why' the war was taking place. This book is a good lesson for all the foolish westerners who hope to colonize the third world with thier liberal politically correct idea that with love and understanding peace will come. Throw money at the third world and soon it will be peaceful and loving, these people like emma give no thought to the tradgedy they are actually actively participating in and have become unwitting allies of the butchers and slave traders.
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