Rating: 
Summary: Never made it to Mogadishu but always wanted to go?
Review: This book is a gripping read--an alternately fun and horrifying, sexy and perverse look at what it means to be a UN Peacekeeper. If you're someone who is intrigued by war zones but self-protecting enough to keep yourself out of them, these three authors take you there. The story is one giant adventure, related with mirth, honesty, and a healthy dose of humility. I love the authors for not foisting a political agenda, for being honest about their missteps, their passions, and the persistent question of whether it's redemptive or even worthwhile to stick three fingers in the dyke of global poverty and oppression. I found it more illuminating--and far more engaging--than any policy-oriented or historical rendering of the conflicts in Cambodia, Haiti, Somalia and Bosnia.
Rating: 
Summary: Thought provoking but flawed look at development work
Review: This book is about two things: first, the exhiliration, futility and frustration of trying to save the world; second, the crazy freedom of the expat lifestyle. Both are good stories and well told, but they don't belong in the same book, and each theme suffers from being linked with the other. Ken and Andrew's journey from idealist do-gooders to disillusioned veterans with just enough hope left to justify one more mission - and the inevitable descent into hell - is heartbreaking. Heidi's story is less interesting. It's mostly just a outlandish series of sex and drug stories. I'm recommending to my friends - and believe me, everyone in the development community is buzzing about this book - that they read Andrew and Ken first, then read Heidi separately.
Rating:
Summary: Bad Title, Great expose'
Review: This book is slow to start and I thought it was going to be a relaxful read; boy, was I wrong. This book should be read by all who care about freedom in this world.
This book illustrates that even genocide can and IS swept under the carpet when it is politically expedient! Even the US Congress can "look the other way."
The United Nations is a impotent organization and should be done away with; at least, we of the US should stop our support, withdraw from the UN and ask this organization to leave US soil. Why? because the UN is impotent without the support, finacially and physically, of the United States.
The authors are right to question the turning away of attention from places like Somalia, Liberia, Kosovo, Bosnia, Rowanda by the US President, Congress and the UN itself. Millions of people where murdered and President Clinton, Congress and the UN turned their face away and pretended not to notice.
This book should be required reading by all who care about world peace, democracy, and freedom.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderfully accurate description of mission life
Review: This book very aptly expresses the mixed emotions of aid workers everywhere, and the gradual destruction of their idealism by the realisation that despite all the rhetoric, even genocide can be pushed aside with meaningless platitudes and resolutions, as in Rwanda and ex-Yugoslavia, and in present day Darfur, ignored in the interest of corporate profits. While struggling against bureaucratic inertia and downright dishonesty to contribute to the improvement of conditions for the most wretched of the world, they also struggle to find themselves. It is well written, entertaining, informative and sometimes very witty.
Rating:
Summary: Don't Miss the Point!
Review: This is an astonishingly honest description of what happens to people from a sheltered Western background who suddenly have to cope with some of the most horrifying aspects of the world we find ourselves in. As you read it, look at the situations they find themselves in, and try to imagine how you would respond. Of course you'd criticize (often justly) the chiefs above you, but that doesn't mean that you'd do a better job. Don't read it as a political diatribe but as individuals trying to protect themselves and still do something when nothing can be done. I've worked in these and similar situations for twenty years, and have known many people like these three. Often you won't like them, because of the psychological coping mechanisms they have and the personalities they have developed that helps them through the morass.
THe sexual elements that run through the story--particularly Heidi's narrative--are one way of responding to death: by engaging in one of the most life-affirming acts there is. I've known people who, in the face of death, suddenly need 'emergency' sex to prove they are alive. I'm glad Heidi had the honesty to tell this side of the story, regardless of the consequences. I can't criticize her because I know many people who have many relationships for far worse reasons!
This isn't a book that should be read for its political position, for the 'truth' about what 'really happened'. For example, I disagree strongly with Ken about whether the Rwandan Genocide could have been stopped--and I was next door in Burundi watching it happen. He doesn't mention that the French sent troops in to reinstall the Hutu government, that they found it an impossible situation, and withdrew to the quietest corner of the country. But these are quibbles, and reflect our differing perception of the situation. I'd bet he and I could come to a common ground in a few minutes in a bar over a beer.
But get back to the point. This isn't a political expose, it's a psychological one, and it is the best book I've read that grapples with this issue. I know. I've been there.
Rating:
Summary: Mind numbing and hilarious
Review: This is from the catagory, "Truth is stranger then fiction". Perhaps a modern day "Catch 22" coupled with darker humor, and grim tales of survival. These dedicated human beings willing and knowingly putting themselves in harms way dealing with the ugly issues that go unreported in the mainstream media. Perhaps it's because this account represents the ugly truths versus Hollywood's glitter, or it might because this is a sobering reality that the UN is more inept at their duties then previously knew. These memoirs should be read by anyone persuing a career with the UN or even the Peace Corp. Great Read!
Rating:
Summary: A really good read...
Review: Want a compelling narative? You will find it in this book! I thought it was very well written by all three authors and brilliantly editted as their memoirs are woven together beautifully (the voice changes every few pages, yet transitions well). The book is a compilation of thier personnal stories as U.N. workers assigned to some of the world's most dangerous places in recent history. Their accounts seemed thoughtful and very true to how they felt living through all they did. Their perception of things beyond what they experienced first hand may or may not be accurate (such as their take on the politics), but their perceptions of these things are well articulated and give context to how they experienced what they did on the gound. Their accounts are gripping, touching, disturbling, and even humorous at some points - creating a vivid picture for the reader of what it would have been like to have been with them. The book is a page turner and is hard to put down. It is little wonder that Miramax is the publisher since I think it could be turned into a great movie someday.
Rating:
Summary: Incredible, beautifully-written book
Review: What an amazing story. I've been recommending this book to everyone I know. It is beautifully-written and truly interesting from start to finish. Deals with some horrific subject matter in a manner that is real, raw, and fascinating.
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