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Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia Paperback – January 23, 2011

4.5 out of 5 stars 88

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Editorial Reviews

Review

"[A] meticulously researched, coldly furious book that details precisely how London and Washington colluded in a scheme of population removal more redolent of the eighteenth or nineteenth century than the closing decades of the twentieth. . . . [O]ne likes to think that if Barack Obama were somehow to stumble across a copy of David Vine's fine book, he would instantly realize that a great injustice has been done--one that could easily be put right."---Jonathan Freedland, New York Review of Books

"This angry and angering book is well researched, compelling, and valuable to understanding and emerging US 'empire.'" ―
Choice

"For Vine imperialism, military prerogative and racism have all combined to deny a people a home simply because they were in the way. His succinct style and controlled outrage make for a damning indictment."
---Phil Chamberlain, Tribune

"
Island of Shame is not just a gut-wrenching account of how a tropical paradise of powder-white beaches and palm fronds was turned into a massive launch pad for America's military expansionist programme. A large chunk of the book is devoted to how the Chagossians came to build their complex but happy society in the islands and the resulting tragedy of their displacement. Above all, Vine is a top flight researcher. . . . We owe Vine a great debt for shining his light on this island of horrors."---Latha Jishnu, Business Standard

"David Vine's story of the Chagossians is an exemplary piece of both socially embedded reportage and investigative journalism, despite a tendency to indulge in the self-conscious idiom of academic ethnography and reflexive criticism of US 'imperialism.' At heart, however, he speaks truth to power. Power, though, is not listening."
---Colin Murphy, Irish Times

"David Vine . . . has rendered high service by writing a thoroughly documented expose of the crime, which the world has ignored because one of its perpetrators is a superpower, the U.S., and its accomplice, the U.K."
---A. G. Noorani, Frontline

"Vine's important and timely book sheds welcome light on this dark chapter of U.S. military history, questioning the way our military operates and its impact on civilian populations."
---Katherine McCaffrey, American Anthropologist

Review

"Until I read this book, why had I heard almost nothing about the Chagossians? Their forced relocation from Diego Garcia is a disgraceful violation of human rights that should be far better known. I hope that David Vine's painstakingly researched account is widely read, and that it makes its readers furious."―Anne Fadiman, author of The Spirit Catches You and You Fall Down

"The sorry tale of Diego Garcia―a saga of duplicity and collusion involving countries and politicians who should have known better―is impeccably and thrillingly told by David Vine, in a book that should be required reading for defense and human-rights officials in the new American administration. Vine can be justly proud of his tireless efforts to bring justice to a forgotten corner of the tropical world."
―Simon Winchester, author of The Professor and the Madman

"
Island of Shame illuminates the interior workings of the American empire as it penetrated and shattered the lives of the people of the tiny island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. David Vine turns his anthropological lenses not only on the victims, the people who were expelled to make room for a military base, but on the perpetrators as well, the American officials who oversaw the tragedy."―Frances Fox Piven, author of Challenging Authority

"This is a very good, original book on an important and intellectually challenging subject―the ruthlessness and hypocrisy of the American government in its forced expulsion of an indigenous people in order to build the supersecret military base at Diego Garcia. Vine has done a brilliant job of reconstructing the history of Diego Garcia and America's interest in it."
―Chalmers Johnson, author of Nemesis: The Last Days of the American Republicv1 "The story of the U.S. base on Diego Garcia, and the cruel displacement of the island's people, has long been hidden from the American public. We owe a debt to David Vine for revealing it to the larger public."―Howard Zinn, author of A People's History of the United States

"Provocative. This book is the first significant look at how the Chagossians' fate has been tied to the needs of empire. Vine convincingly connects the U.S. military's relocation of the Chagossians with a larger historic program of military imperialism and prolonged efforts to establish strategic bases in key geographical locations around the globe. This is a story that will find a wide audience."
―David H. Price, author of Threatening Anthropology

Product details

  • Publisher ‏ : ‎ Princeton University Press; Revised edition (January 23, 2011)
  • Language ‏ : ‎ English
  • Paperback ‏ : ‎ 288 pages
  • ISBN-10 ‏ : ‎ 0691149836
  • ISBN-13 ‏ : ‎ 978-0691149837
  • Item Weight ‏ : ‎ 15.6 ounces
  • Dimensions ‏ : ‎ 6.25 x 1 x 9.5 inches
  • Customer Reviews:
    4.5 out of 5 stars 88

About the author

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David Vine
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David Vine is Professor of political anthropology at American University in Washington, DC. David’s newest book, "The United States of War: A Global History of America’s Endless Conflicts, from Columbus to the Islamic State," just launched with the University of California Press. "The United States of War" is the third in a trilogy of books about U.S. wars and struggles to make the United States and the world less violent and more peaceful. The other books in the trilogy are "Island of Shame: The Secret History of the U.S. Military Base on Diego Garcia" and "Base Nation: How U.S. Military Bases Abroad Harm America and the World."

David’s other writing has appeared in the New York Times, Washington Post, Guardian, Politico, Mother Jones, Boston Globe, and the Chronicle of Higher Education, among others. With the Network for Concerned Anthropologists, David has helped write and compile two books: "The Counter-Counterinsurgency Manual or, Notes on Demilitarizing American Society" and "Militarization: A Reader." David is honored to be a board member of the Costs of War Project and a co-founder of the Overseas Base Realignment and Closure Coalition (OBRACC). He is a contributor to TomDispatch.com and Foreign Policy in Focus.

As a believer in the importance of public education systems (apologies to American University), David is proud to have received his PhD and MA degrees from the City University of New York’s Graduate Center. There, David developed an approach to a holistic anthropology that attempts to combine the best of anthropology, history, political science, economics, sociology, and psychology.

All royalties from David’s books and all speaker honoraria are donated to the exiled Chagossian people and to non-profit organizations serving veterans and other victims of war. David feels at home in many places but has lived for much of his life in New York City, Oakland, and the Washington, DC area, where he was briefly a dancing waiter.

See davidvine.net and basenation.us for more information.

Customer reviews

4.5 out of 5 stars
4.5 out of 5
88 global ratings

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Top reviews from other countries

Michael
5.0 out of 5 stars Unbelievable
Reviewed in Germany on April 1, 2016
Mr. J. Rowbotham
5.0 out of 5 stars A very detailed and informative account of the Chagos Archipelago ...
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 28, 2015
One person found this helpful
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Amazon Customerdarren
5.0 out of 5 stars Five Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on June 8, 2016
Paul Morris
4.0 out of 5 stars Something to be ashamed about
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on January 3, 2012
6 people found this helpful
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Giorgio Tunis
3.0 out of 5 stars Three Stars
Reviewed in the United Kingdom on November 14, 2014