Crisis in Central Africa; The Berlin Wall

These hardback, compact, robust and visually attractive books are from a series of eight titles describing some of the greatest crises and atrocities of the twentieth century. The subject matter is inevitably grim but the tone of the books is carefully non sensational. Bias, is however inevitable. Freeman's account of the massacres in Rwanda is a measured and highly informative account of an unthinkable catastrophe, but resorts to explanations based largely on tribalism and overpopulation; he does acknowledge that falling prices of Central African produce played a part, but does not implicate the agents who control these prices. The IMF and WB for example, are credited with having 'increasingly insisted that aid will be given only to governments that put their house in order and rule democratically' which is a very forgiving summary of the work of two bodies whose ruthless ideological devotion to the free market has provided the breeding ground for the kind of disruption and division which facilitate social breakdown.

Grant's account of the Iron Curtain years from the point of view of the inhabitants of Berlin begins with the no nonsense assertion that 'West Berlin was an island of democracy lapped around by a sea of communism' but he does go on to mention how the wall served western as well as eastern interests, and to describe the bitter disappointment with capitalism felt by many east Europeans today.

Both of the books are very well illustrated with contemporary photographs and maps; the authors' clear writing is supplemented with commentary and eye-witness accounts.