History Behind the Headlines Vol. 1 : The Origins of Conflicts Worldwide

Todays newspapers are filled with reports of conflicts between nations. Some conflicts have recently erupted; many have been going on for years. But most of them have deep-rooted, historical causes that are not explained in the media. Thats what makes History Behind the Headlines big news for librarians, students, teachers and other researchers, who will consult it over and over again. For important background information on long-term ethnic, religious, political, territorial and economic conflicts between nations today, there isnt a more targeted ongoing print series.

Volume 5 of History Behind the Headlines is a special volume devoted entirely to topics of terrorism.

Each biannual volume includes approximately 30 entries arranged alphabetically by either the major country involved or the subject of the conflict. The entries are complete with overview essays, photographs, maps, charts, primary document excerpts, short biographies, current status and much more. These combined features offer a unique and in-depth analysis, tracing significant international conflicts back to their earliest stages.

Gr 9 Up-This first volume in a new series covers 30 current political, environmental, territorial, social, and economic struggles. Each alphabetically arranged, 7- to 18-page entry begins with a synopsis of the clash and a brief chronology. Each essay provides historical background and, in greater detail, an outline of the main aspects of each dispute. The possibility of a resolution is also discussed. Essays are supplemented with informative sidebars highlighting key players and important issues related to the particular "hot spot." The writing is succinct, accurate, and impartial. The border war between Eritrea and Ethiopia, the economic sanctions against Iraq, the deforestation of the Amazon, the disputed Gaza Strip and the West Bank, slavery and civil war in Sudan, and protests over the World Trade Organization are among the issues covered. Each entry concludes with a short bibliography. Black-and-white maps and photos are found throughout. This title will be useful for research into current events.

Jack Forman, Mesa College Library, San Diego

Copyright 2001 Cahners Business Information, Inc.

The purpose of the volume, the first in a new ongoing series, is to provide historical essays on topics that have made the headlines and may be discussed in current events classes. Selection of events was made by an advisory panel of academics, teachers, and librarians. Thirty conflicts are covered, arranged in alphabetical order from "The Afghan Taliban: Emerging Government or Civil Rights Tragedy?" to "The World Trade Organization: The Battle in Seattle." A curious omission is the conflict in Northern Ireland, which has not been out of the news in years.

Chapters average 10 pages in length, and each follows the same format: summary, historical background, and recent history and the future. Each essay has illustrations; sidebars that provide biographies, chronologies, and other supplemental material; and a bibliography. A list of contributors, a general bibliography, and an index round out the volume.

The book should be useful to those in current events classes but not as useful as it might have been. It could have used more proofreading. In the article on the Zapatista conflict in Chiapas, Mexico, there are typographical errors: principle and principal are interchanged. A sidebar in the chapter on the Democratic Republic of Congo says "The killings of Tutsi in Rwanda leads to more than one million refugees flooding into eastern Zaire."

Most articles have maps, although the one on Chiapas does not. Some, including the map of the Kurdish region and the map of Kazakhstan, will not photocopy well. The map in the article on the conflict over Kashmir shows India and Pakistan and surrounding countries, but does not show the Vale of Kashmir. The bibliographies are useful, but only for those students who have access to a large public library or to an academic library. Many of the works referred to may well be over the heads of most high-school students.

This is a good idea that needs to be made better with better proofreading and more thought given to the needs of the students in current events classes for which it was designed. RBB
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