An insurgency in Nigeria by the Islamist extremist group Boko Haram has left thousands dead; shaken Africa’s biggest nation and worried the world. Yet they remain a mysterious-almost unknowable-organization. Through extensive on-the-ground reporting; Smith takes readers inside the violence and provides the first in-depth account of the conflict. He traces Boko Haram from its beginnings in Nigeria’s remote northeast to its transformation into a hydra-headed monster; deploying suicide bombers and abducting schoolgirls. Much of the book is told from the perspective of Nigerians who have found themselves caught between the violence of insurgents; brutal security forces and an inept government. It includes the stories of a police officer left paralyzed; women whose husbands have been murdered and a sword-wielding vigilante using charms to fend off insurgent bullets. Smith questions whether there can be any end to the violence and the ways in which this might be achieved. Interspersed with Nigerian history; this book delves into the roots of the unholy war being waged against the backdrop of an evolving extremist threat worldwide.
#2250182 in Books 2015-02-19 2015-03-05Original language:English 9.69 x .0 x 7.44l; .90 #File Name: 1781593884160 pages
Review
0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. Informative but chaoticBy ColdmacThe book is informative; but especially in the pictures it jumps to much between subjects. I use it as a reference for doublechecking research0 of 0 people found the following review helpful. It's OK..By Parkaman MagazineThis book accurately reflects it’s title. Short on words and filled with pictures it shows the SS Commandants and; sometimes; men who manned the concentration camps from 1933-Â1945. It gives a brief overview of the development of the GERMAN concentration camp system and how it evolved from a single prison for dissidents and political enemies of the Third Reich to a wide spread system of death and labour camps throughout Nazi occupied Europe.Great emphasis; in the few written words in this book; is placed on the selection and retention of the guards and their enforcement of the “rules†of the camps and the fact that they were propagandized and; for lack of a better word; “brainwashed†into hating the inmates of the camp. If you did not fit or behave according to the mold you didn’t last as a guard or Commandant in the camp and it was off to the Eastern Front. The mold was fashioned by Theodore Eicke who Himmler got released from a mental institution to become Commandant at Dachau. He set down rigid rules for both guards and prisoners and came up with the well know slogan “Arbeit Macht Frei†meaning you will find spiritual freedom in work not that you would work towards your freedom from the camp.Nazi Concentration Camp CommandantsEmphasis is also placed on the fact that the camp Commandants had their only little fiefdoms and that both they and their subordinates enjoyed a life of safety away from any fighting and received extra rations; free housing and other “perksâ€. It is no wonder that the German Wehrmacht and even the Waffen-SS viewed the concentration camp guards with contempt.Mostly the book is comprised of black and white photographs of various concentration camp commandants some posed some candid and some of parts of the camp themselves. If you are interested in such photography you might consider purchasing this book.On the downside; Appendix 1 lists the Concentration Camp Commandants in alphabetical order giving their names; date of birth; date of death and a brief synopsis of where they commanded. It does not tell you if they were captured; tried and/or executed. You can kind of piece that together by looking at their dates of death (the closer to 8 May 1945) the more likely they were executed but you shouldn’t have to play that game. Unfortunately even that list starting with Max Pauly and ending with Egon Zill omits the dates of birth and death.Finally; and this is of some note; the pictures of the commandants and guards show men in uniform that look perfectly normal and if one had to pick them out of a photo array to identify the concentration camp commandants one would be hard pressed to do it. This; however; is a book consisting mainly of photographs and not a how could they do it narrative.1 of 1 people found the following review helpful. A straightforward and smooth readBy SkittlerThis books offers a brief overview and provides historical imagery of some of the Nazi extermination camps; labour camps; and offers a look into the minds of various camp commanders and Death-Head Units. I was able finish it within a nights sitting. The images are of good quality and footnotes are provided with each photograph. Some camps touched upon are Dachau (first Nazi camp erected in Germany); Auschwitz-Birkenau and Gross-Rosen. Jewish Women; children; elderly; or anyone unfit to work were either shot or gassed by hydrogen cyanide and carbon monoxide. Before crematoriums were built inside the camps; thousand of bodies were often buried in a pit or stacked inside any available space. It was cruel and no respectable way to suffer and die.The book is fairly short but a great rundown of camp life and the physiological makeup of the SS. Always nice to have more historical evidence to the genocide caused by Hitler.
