An even-handed, realistic history that implicitly measures how far the UN has come in achieving the high hopes its founders held when it was created at the end of WW II. With the failure of the League of Nations constantly in mind, the UN sought, in the words of its charter, to save ``future generations from the scourge of war.'' Yet as shown by Meisler, who covers foreign affairs and the UN for the Los Angeles Times, the organization's dream of cooperation vanished almost immediately as it was overshadowed by the onset of the Cold War; indeed, the UN almost foundered before it began because of Western-Soviet deputes over voting procedures. Much of the history here covers the crises that were inevitably colored by the superpowers' confrontation: the creation of Israel, the Korean War, the Suez affair, the Congo, the Cuban missile crisis, the Israeli-Arab Six-Day War, and the Iranian hostage crisis. The organization's Third World members often engaged not in constructive peacekeeping or even the honeyed palaver often associated with diplomats but in hot rhetoric oddly irrelevant to the organization's mission (at the insistence of Arab members, a 1975 UN-sponsored Conference on Women passed a resolution calling for Zionism's elimination). Aside from Dag Hammarskjîld, praised by Meisler for his ``stubborn principle and exquisite tact,'' the superpowers often settled for secretaries- general who turned out to be clumsy (Trygve Lie), colorless (U Thant), or venal (Kurt Waldheim). Even after the Cold War's end raised hope that the organization might finally achieve its promise, it remained mired in ambiguity; successful peacekeeping missions in El Salvador, Haiti, and Cambodia contrasted with misconceived ventures in Somalia and Bosnia. This history could have used more of Meisler's own interviews for a fresh perspective on past events, and the optimistic conclusion is overdrawn. But generally, a clear-eyed view of an organization as victimized by naive hope as by corrosive cynicism. (photos, not seen)
Pub Date: Oct. 1, 1995
ISBN: 0-87113-616-3
Page Count: 288
Publisher: Atlantic Monthly
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: July 15, 1995
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis...
Privately published by Strunk of Cornell in 1918 and revised by his student E. B. White in 1959, that "little book" is back again with more White updatings.
Stricter than, say, Bergen Evans or W3 ("disinterested" means impartial — period), Strunk is in the last analysis (whoops — "A bankrupt expression") a unique guide (which means "without like or equal").Pub Date: May 15, 1972
ISBN: 0205632645
Page Count: 105
Publisher: Macmillan
Review Posted Online: Oct. 28, 2011
Kirkus Reviews Issue: May 1, 1972
This is not the Nutcracker sweet, as passed on by Tchaikovsky and Marius Petipa. No, this is the original Hoffmann tale of 1816, in which the froth of Christmas revelry occasionally parts to let the dark underside of childhood fantasies and fears peek through. The boundaries between dream and reality fade, just as Godfather Drosselmeier, the Nutcracker's creator, is seen as alternately sinister and jolly. And Italian artist Roberto Innocenti gives an errily realistic air to Marie's dreams, in richly detailed illustrations touched by a mysterious light. A beautiful version of this classic tale, which will captivate adults and children alike. (Nutcracker; $35.00; Oct. 28, 1996; 136 pp.; 0-15-100227-4)
Pub Date: Oct. 28, 1996
ISBN: 0-15-100227-4
Page Count: 136
Publisher: Harcourt
Review Posted Online: May 19, 2010
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Aug. 15, 1996
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
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