Me Against My Brother: At War in Somalia, Sudan and Rwanda (Paperback)

by Scott Peterson (Author) "The morning turned hot, but kept still; too early for anyone's bile to rise, too early to show anger..." (more)
Key Phrases: relief food, feeding center, battle wagons, Security Council, Delta Force, Habr Gedir (more...)

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly
Peterson files this report from the front lines of three of Africa's most virulent wars of the 1990s. It has the immediacy and vividness of eyewitness testimony, because Peterson, who was reporting from Africa for London's Daily Telegraph, was present at the scenes of battle, recording his impressions as the carnage went forward. His reporting is visceral and close to the ground: "in the dust and the sweat, and the laughter mixed with misery that permeates the flavor of war in Africa." In Somalia, he observed how clan hatreds, combined with grossly excessive arms shipments from the developed nations, resulted in an explosion of anarchy and violence. The U.S. comes in for a substantial share of blame for its ill-considered, violent and ultimately disastrous intervention. In the Sudan, Peterson witnessed what he calls an apocalyptic civil war in which neither side was strong enough to win or weak enough to lose. Rwanda was even worse; at the height of the Hutu war of extermination against the Tutsis, one murder took place about every two seconds for an entire month. In his firsthand account of these genocidal conflicts, Peterson neither flinches from the appalling bloodshed nor closes his mind to the many scenes of generosity and honorable conduct he also witnessed. The author's purpose is made clear in the book's introduction: the catastrophic wars of Africa, "largely unrecorded, ...require exploring for what they tell us about the human capacity to conduct evil, and also to survive it." With tribal, ethnic and religious conflicts now so pervasive, the lessons Peterson communicates about Africa should claim the attention of everyone trying to make sense of today's world. 16 pages of color photos not seen by PW.
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

From Library Journal
Most journalists will witness perhaps one major crisis and report it in detail. Peterson, currently Middle East correspondent for the Christian Science Monitor, experienced three major catastrophes in as many countries between 1992 and 1994. This affecting book provides an inside look at the crises in Somalia, Sudan, and Rwanda. Peterson spends half of the book detailing the failed mission in famine-stricken Somalia, where the U.S. military failed to unarm the warlords, favoring instead a "plucking the bird" strategyDthat is, taking one feather at a time until the unsuspecting bird finds that it can't fly. Unfortunately, this strategy drew the U.S. military into a battle it could not win. Peterson covered the battles and nearly got killed by a mob that wanted revenge on an American. In the Sudan, he had the rare privilege of visiting both sides of the religious holy war to see how the people lived and how the fighters are recruited. And he also reported the genocide that occurred in Rwanda; he not only describes the tragedy that led to the mass killings but provides some thoughtful analysis. For African history or journalism collections.DMichael Sawyer, Northwestern Regional Lib., Elkin, NC
Copyright 2000 Reed Business Information, Inc. --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.

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Product Details

• Paperback: 400 pages
• Publisher: Routledge; 1 edition (September 1, 2001)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0415930634
• ISBN-13: 978-0415930635
• Product Dimensions: 8.9 x 6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.2 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.1 out of 5 stars See all reviews (27 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #653,329 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

30 of 31 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Don't miss it, August 25, 2000

By	hugh riminton (Sydney) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Me Against My Brother : At War in Somalia, Sudan and Rwanda (Hardcover)

A previous Amazon reviewer described this book as "dispassionate." Must have been reading a different book to the one I bought.

As a former foreign correspondent (for Australian television)I also spent time in Somalia, Rwanda and Sudan. I picked up this book out of curiosity but without much in the way of expectations.

Having read it, I am stunned and in awe.

There are many more famous and exalted names in foreign journalism than Scott Peterson's - at least until now. The sheer passion of his reporting, the level of his commitment, his fearlessness both when faced by African violence and the equally grotesque rationalisations of those who clumsily intervene (and those who fail to intervene)deserve him a place in the highest rankings.

He stuck with Somalia when most of the rest of the world lost interest (I plead guilty). He took trouble to understand the Somali perspective when most others saw it as an American story. He writes illuminatingly about Sudan - perhaps the world's most overlooked war zone, rich in terrible, hopeless, wasteful loss. His writings on Rwanda add renewed freshness to the gut-churning horrors of the genocide - after Gourevitch's "We Wish To Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed With Our Families" apparently left little more to be said.

Peterson returns the degraded craft of journalism to its purest form: he "bears witness." He risks his life to do so. He loses friends. He confesses his fear. He disdains received wisdom. He redeems the lazy journalism of the pampered hacks with one eye on the room service menu and the other on how well their "heroism" will play back home.

Anyone with an interest in Africa, reporting, the nature of the human condition, the politics of humanitarian intervention, or just a damn good, disturbing read about the ways of the world would do well to read this book.

22 of 24 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An appaling account of modern genocide, May 9, 2000

By	Brian D. Rubendall (Oakton, VA) - See all my reviews (TOP 100 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Me Against My Brother : At War in Somalia, Sudan and Rwanda (Hardcover)

Peterson does a great job of documenting the trajedies of Africa that simply doesn't seem to interest most Americans. With Sierra Leonne in the news recently, this book takes on even more urgency. Peterson deserves credit for sticking it out in the destitute war zones, even after nearly losing his life in Somalia (and seeing close friends butchered by the mobs) He is (justifiably) highly critical of the U.S. and UN efforts there, but he also assigns the blame for the famine where it belongs, with the warlords. This is an excellent and informative book that will unfortunately never find as big an audience as it deserves.

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Well worth reading irrespective of policy beliefs, June 23, 2000

By	Oliver Chubb "olivercc" (San Francisco, CA United States) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

This review is from: Me Against My Brother : At War in Somalia, Sudan and Rwanda (Hardcover)

Mr Peterson does an amazing job of bringing the reader to an understandng of the tragedy that occurred in the three countries that he focuses upon Somalia, Rwanada and Sudan)but he does so without pushing the reader over the edge into compassion fatigue. His book is also extremely useful for understanding some of what actually happened at the time; for the first time I actually have an understanding of the dynamic that existed between the Tutsi and Hutus. His inclusion of Sudan is remarkable and notable given that it is one of the most overlooked conflicts in American eyes, yet well worth understanding. Mr Peterson also makes clear the paradox that relief agencies face in alleviating suffering when their efforts can actually prolong conflict.

The excellent writing was the only thing that kept me going through the more emotionally disturbing sections. Finally,the photo insert, while unsettling, was an extremely important addition to the whole experience of reading the book.