A traditional Spanish tale of how the weathervane came to be, set in Mexico and told in Spanish on the left page of each spread, and English on the right. Half-Chicken, a hatchling with only one eye, one wing, and one leg, is treated as a marvel by everyone, and becomes so vain that he decides to go impress the viceroy in Mexico City with his uniqueness. Along the way he turns a few good deeds: He untangles the wind, fans a guttering flame, releases an impounded stream. At the viceroy's palace, Half-Chicken isn't received with the pomp he expected, and escapes the stew pot with the help of the elements; fire, water, and wind take him out of harm's way, up to a rooftop where he can be found to this day. Both texts have a good simple beat, with enough repetition to allow readers in one language to comfortably sample the other. Howard's stylized, two-dimensional pictures demand closer viewing than story-hour sharing will allow; recalling Mexican mural art, they have a weathered, antique texture, as if some of the chunky blocks of color have been rubbed with ash. The message is universal and bears repeating: Neighborliness is its own reward, but paybacks come in handy. (Picture book. 5-9)
Pub Date: Sept. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-385-32044-2
Page Count: 40
Publisher: Doubleday
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
A tenacious attempt to answer the question, “How do ordinary little human cogs make up a torture machine?”
Through the grim travails of one of Saddam Hussein’s top generals, journalist Steavenson (Stories I Stole, 2003) examines the dictator’s edifice of totalitarianism and moral corruption.
Taking her title from a verse of the Koran promising to mete out justice even to the “weight of a mustard seed,” the author weaves a fascinating account of how good men went terribly wrong. Steavenson worked as a journalist in Baghdad in 2003–04 and continued her interviews of exiled Iraqis in London and elsewhere, probing deeply into the stories of former Baath Party officials. Through a high-level Iraqi doctor who had served in the medical corps during the course of four Iraqi wars, the author was put in touch with the surviving family of Kamel Sachet, a commander of the special forces and general in charge of the army in Kuwait City during the Gulf War. The general was shot as a traitor by order of the Iraqi president in 1998. Born to an illiterate family in 1947, Sachet became a policeman and then joined the special forces, rising through the ranks to major. He distinguished himself during the Iran-Iraq war, gaining Hussein’s trust but also his occasional ire, which led to prison and torture. Sachet led the assault into Kuwait, but with the retreat and subsequent scourge by the United States, he became disillusioned with the violence and bloodshed and retired as a devout Muslim. Steavenson ably explores his and others’ obedience in fulfilling the dictator’s grisly demands, echoing works by Hannah Arendt, Primo Levi and Stanley Milgram.
A tenacious attempt to answer the question, “How do ordinary little human cogs make up a torture machine?”Pub Date: March 17, 2009
ISBN: 978-0-06-172178-6
Page Count: 304
Publisher: Collins
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Jan. 15, 2009
Alexander, a former UN deputy special representative in Afghanistan, offers his view of the pathway to a resolution in that nation.
The author proposes a regional solution to the ongoing conflict, one in which both Afghanistan and Pakistan both become “subject to international supervision” as part of a settlement—a “Central Asian version of the 1648 Treaty of Westphalia.” Alexander devotes significant attention to the source of the present conflict, Britain's 19th-century strategic “great game” against Russia, and Pakistan's adaption of the tradition to its own purposes through backing Afghanistan's Taliban and other surrogate terrorists. The components of a possible regional agreement are identified in Afghanistan's 2005-6 bilateral treaties with the U.S., UK, EU, China and Pakistan, and in the March 2009 opium interdiction program adopted by the Shanghai Cooperation Organization on the very same day Obama announced his strategic review of Afghanistan policy. Whether such an agreement can be achieved, by way of the destruction of what Alexander calls the “shadow government” of Afghanistan inside Pakistan border provinces, without resulting in the outbreak of another full-scale war in the area or further aggravating relations between Pakistan and India, is questionable. In the meantime, the author is an enthusiastic advocate of the adoption of long-term visions along with benchmarks for their achievement in such areas as the management of the Afghan government's finances and the development of food exports through private enterprise. He is also a supporter of World Bank counterinsurgency investment through the “National Solidarity Programme” estimated to produce 20 percent per annum returns. A controversial account that provides much historical background, along with special insight into current developments.
Pub Date: Nov. 8, 2011
ISBN: 978-0-06-202037-6
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Harper/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Sept. 17, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Oct. 1, 2011
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