Recommended Readings

Recommended Readings

There is a huge amount of very interesting material on all of the world regions we cover in the course, and I strongly encourage you to delve into it (for extra credit, if you wish.) Below is a small selection of some of the very good books that are relevant to this course. Most are popular books written for a general audience, and make both easy and fascinating reading. (This list was compiled in conjunction with Dr. Richard Russo of Frostburg State University.)

Globalization and World Affairs

Rickards, James. 2011. Currency Wars: The Making of the Next Global Crisis. Penguin (US).

Afghanistan

Chayes, S.  2006.  The Punishment of Virtue: Inside Afghanistan after the Taliban.

Africa (general)

Theroux, P.  2003.  Dark Star Safari: Overland from Cairo to Cape Town.

Burma

Larkin, E.  2010.  Everything is Broken: A Tale of Catastrophe in Burma.

Myint-U, Y.  2008.  The River of Lost Footsteps: A Personal History of Burma.

Cambodia

1. Ung, L.  2000.  First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers.
2. Him, Chanrithy. 2000. When Broken Glass Floats: Growing up under the Khmer Rouge.
3. Mam, Somaly. 2008.  The Road of Lost Innocence: The True Story of a Cambodia Heroine.

Canada

1. Grescoe, T.  2001.  Sacré Blues: An Unsentimental Journey through Québec.
2. Kostash, M.  2000.  The Next Canada: In Search of Our Future Nation.

1. Laxer, J.  2006.  The Acadians: In Search of a Homeland.
2. MacGregor, R.  2007.  Canadians: A Portrait of a Country and Its People.

China

1. Becker, J.  2000.  The Chinese
2. Gifford, R.  2007.  China Road: A Journey into the Future of a Rising Power.
3. Kynge, Jaymes. 2006. China Shakes the World: China’s Rise and Troubled Future – and the Challenge for America.
4. Hessler, Peter. 2006. Oracle Bones: A Journey Through Time in China
5. Naisbitt, John and Doris.  2010.  China’s Megatrends
6. Winchester, Simon. 2008. The Man Who Loved China: The Fantastic Story of the Eccentric Scientist Who Unlocked in Mysteries of the Middle Kingdom
7. Winchester, Simon. 1996. The River at the Center of the World: A Journey up the Yangtze, and Back in Chinese Time.

Central Asia

Tayler, J.  2009.  Murderers in Mausoleums: Riding the Back Roads of Empire Between Moscow and Beijing.

Weatherford, J.  2010.  The Secret History of the Mongol Queens: How the Daughters of Genghis Khan Rescued His Empire

Congo

Wrong, M.  2001.  In the Footsteps of Mr. Kurtz: Living on the Brink of Disaster in Mobutu’s Congo.

Germany

Meyer, M.  2009.  The Year That Changed the World: The Untold Story Behind the Fall of the Berlin Wall.

Iran

1. Jubber, N.  2010.  Drinking Arak Off an Ayatolah’s Beard: A Journey Through the Inside-Out Worlds of Iran and Afghanistan.
2. Majd, H.  2008.  The Ayatollah Begs to Differ: The Paradox of Modern Iran.

Iraq

Kennedy, H.  2005.  When Baghdad Ruled the Muslim World.

Israel/ Palestine

1. Backmann, R.  2010.  A Wall in Palestine.
2. Miller, A.D.  2008.  The Much Too Promised Land: America’s Elusive Search for Arab-Israeli Peace

Lebanon

Young, M.  2010.  The Ghosts of Martyrs Square: An Eyewitness Account of Lebanon’s Life Struggle.

Middle East (general)

Cohen, J.  2007.  Children of Jihad: A Young American’s Travel Among the Youth of the Middle East.

Peru

Muller, K.  2000.  Along the Inca Road: A Woman’s Journey into an Ancient Empire.

Rwanda

Dallaire, Romeo A. 2003. Shake Hands with the Devil: The Failure of Humanity in Rwanda. New York: Carrol and Graf Publishers.

Gourevitch, Philip. 1998. We wish to inform you that tomorrow we will be killed with our families: stories from Rwanda. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giraux.

Keane, Fergal. 1995. Season of Blood: A Rwandan Journey. New York: Viking Books.

Saudi Arabia

Bradley, J.R.  2005.  Saudi Arabia Exposed: Inside a Kingdom in Crisis.

Lacey, R.  2009.  Inside the Kingdom: Kings, Clerics, Modernists,Terrorists, and the Struggle for Saudi Arabia.

South Africa

Russell, A.  2009.  Bring Me My Machine Gun: The Battle for the Soul of South Africa from Mandela to Zuma.

Spain

1. Barlow, J.  2008.  Everything But the Squeal: Eating the Whole Hog in Northern Spain.
2. Menocal, M.R.  2002.  The Ornament of the World: How Muslims, Jews, and Christians Created a Culture of Tolerance in Medieval Spain.

Sri Lanka

Barker, A.  2010.  Not Quite Paradise: An American Sojourn in Sri Lanka.

Sudan/ Darfur

1. Hari, D.  2008.  The Translator: A Tribesman’s Memoir of Darfur.
2. Mamdani, M.  2009.  Saviors and Survivors: Darfur, Politics, and the War on Terror.
3. Steidle, B.  2007.  The Devil Came on Horseback: Bearing Witness to the Genocide in Darfur.

Turkey

1. Kinzer, S. 2001.  Crescent and Star: Turkey Between Two Worlds.
2. Morris, C. 2006.  The New Turkey: The Quiet Revolution on the Edge of Europe.

United Arab Emirates

Krane, J.  2009. City of Gold: Dubai and the Dream of Capitalism.

United Kingdom

Lyall, S.  2008.  The Anglo Files: A Field Guide to the British.

Yemen

Clark, V.  2010.  Yemen: Dancing on the Heads of Snakes.

Zimbabwe

Godwin, P.  2006.  When a Crocodile Eats The Sun.