White Nile, Black Blood: War, Leadership, and Ethnicity from Khartoum to Kampala [Paperback]

Jay Spaulding (Editor), Stephanie Beswick (Editor)

Editorial Reviews

From the Back Cover

This pioneering volume introduces and defines a new realm of scholarly investigation. Over the course of half-century of independence the former Anglo-Egyptian Sudan has been torn by extended periods of warfare, during which the Southern Sudan, roughly defined by the basin of the White Nile, has acquired an ever-greater sense of separate identity. During the same interval the Southern Sudan has been drawn increasingly into a web of diplomatic and geopolitical ties with neighboring lands, with regional powers such as Egypt, Israel and the oil states, and occasionally with major international powers and interests.

The stakes of the conflict in Southern Sudan rise with the passage of each decade. The present volume offers studies by leading African, European and American scholars of and engaged participants in the experience of Southern Sudan. The studies are grounded in an impressive array of disciplinary expertise including archaeology, anthropology, linguistics, history, political and military science, religion, cultural studies, journalism and development.

About the Author

Jay Spaulding teaches history at Kean University. He is the author of The Heroic Age in Sinnar and other studies in the history of northeastern Africa.

Stephanie Beswick was born and grew up in the Sudanese capital of Khartoum, and resided on the White Nile near Renk and Kosti as well as near Roseires on the Blue Nile. She has published a number of articles on the Southern Sudan.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 354 pages
• Publisher: Red Sea Press (October 1999)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 156902099X
• ISBN-13: 978-1569020999
• Product Dimensions: 8.8 x 5.9 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.3 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,669,665 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Jay Spaulding is a historian of Northeast Africa, with a special interest in the Sudan. A medievalist by background, he writes most frequently about the precolonial age. He teaches at Kean University in Union, New Jersey, USA, and has been a visiting scholar at the University of Bergen, Norway, the University of Khartoum, Sudan, and at Michigan State University and Columbia University in the United States. He lived in the Sudan for extended periods during the 1960s and 1970s. In addition to his writings about the Sudan, he has helped to compile textbooks used by the General Education program at Kean University, and by the Senior Seminar that serves as the capstone course for the History Department's undergraduate degree program.

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Most Helpful Customer Reviews

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Puts It All Together--Vastly Superior to State Department, December 1, 2001

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Robert D. Steele (Oakton, VA United States) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: White Nile, Black Blood: War, Leadership, and Ethnicity from Khartoum to Kampala (Hardcover)

I read this book at the same time that I read the quasi-official story on Sudan ("Inside Sudan: Political Islam, Conflict, and Catastrophe") and I have to say, not only is this collection of edited articles--and the editorial summary--quite pleasing in its professional grasp of history, its depth, its coverage of the core issues in a comprehensive and actionable way--but it also causes me extreme anguish when I compare it to what can only be described as a self-centered mediocre State Department memoire.

This is good solid stuff. It is especially helpful in setting aside the superficial views that ethnic conflict or European-drawn borders are the root of Sudan's internal conflict issues, and it cuts to chase: "it's about wealth, simpleton!".

The history of Sudan is well-drawn out, with the bottom line being that the southerners and their especially rich territory have been constantly besieged and ravished by the northern elite. The only time of peace in the 200 year war has been when the British imposed that peace, and there is a suggestive air about that finding.

The varied discussions of genocide and "cultural cleansing", including the forced rape of the women in the groups being eradicated, and the use of famine to kill two million, are dismaying in the extreme.

"Ecology and economics provide controlling metaphors." This is an excellent summary of the book.

Also helpful is the book's coverage of the relations between Egypt and Sudan (both historical and current), the explicit (northern) Sudanese sponsorship of terrorism and hosting of many Islamic and other terrorist groups within its territory, and the general references to the varying influences of the Turks, the British, and the missionaries.

This is a serious book, by serious people, and it does the Sudan issues full justice. One puts the book down feeling somewhat aghast at the ignorance of the U.S. government, the incapacity of the United Nations, and the blatant malevolence of the northern Sudanese predators. This book is strongly recommended for any person who wonders about their government's competence and compassion. Sudan is a cancer, not just within Africa, but within the larger world, and the continued acceptance of the genocide and slavery and related plagues that characterize this place call into question the legitimacy, the ethics, the accountabilty, of all Western governments.