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Independent Bangladesh is the outcome of the war of liberation in 1971, even though the seed of war started much earlier. ... Read more

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This is an illustrated recent survey on Pakistan and Bangladesh which is part of a series on countries around the world. The books in the series provide essential background information about the countries, their location, geography and climate, the history of the people, their customs, traditions and religions. However, the emphasis is on the countries as they are today - the agriculture, trade and industry and their influence and relations with other countries - including travel and communication, and the various lifestyles of the people who live there. The books are designed in double page spreads for easy reading and reference. ... Read more

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Narrates the author's reactions to communal riots, coup rumours, calumnies in the press, the cyclone of 1991, and the neglect of Bangladesh's Hindu and Buddhist pre Islamic history. ... Read more

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This book weaves together a tale of grass root soldiering through the eyes of an experienced subaltern with his men, painting a unique picture of the history of Bangladesh, for probably the first time in this history. ... Read more

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The Association for Social Advancement (ASA) of Bangladesh recently topped Forbes magazine's first-ever list of the world's best microfinance banks. This is an extraordinary achievement for an organization that started life as a revolutionary movement aiming to bring a peasant-led government to the newly created and desperately poor South Asian nation of Bangladesh. This book tells the story of how ASA's determined but practical-minded founder and leader, Shafiqual Haque Choudhury, steered his organization through the maze of competing ideas about how best to develop poor countries. The book sets Choudhury's accomplishments in the context of Bangladesh's chaotic but inspiring postcolonial history and is rich in its understanding and descriptions of how ordinary village and slum dwellers deal with the complicated web of politics, international donations, and development expertise. The author's long and intimate knowledge of ASA and of Bangladeshi microfinance makes this one of the best case studies of a development organization available to the general public. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Well written and highly informative
In "The Pledge", Rutherford lays out the development of one of the largest and most efficient Bangladesh microfinance institutions (MFIs) to date: ASA. Although not as well known outside the development community as the Grameen Bank, ASA has nonetheless risen to considerable prominence in the microfinance industry, driven by a strong pursuit of efficiency and culture of cost-recovery. The organization topped the Forbes list in 2007 as the #1 ranked MFI in the world.

As a student of microfinance I was familiar with ASA, but only in general terms. To deepen my understanding of the Bangladesh microfinance field, I acquired a copy of "The Pledge", which is actually an updated version of an earlier account of ASA by Rutherford, titled "ASA: The Biography of an NGO". I was familiar with Rutherford's writing in this and some of his earlier works ("The Poor and Their Money) and was impressed with the clarity and concision of the information he conveyed there. As such, I had similar hopes for "The Pledge".

In all regards, Rutherford did not disappoint: "The Pledge" is extremely detailed, yet very accessible for readers who are not microfinance or development specialists. The author weaves a vivid tale of Bangladesh's history, traditions of peasant activism, war of independence, and microcredit culture with rich personal accounts and experiences of key ASA founders, staff members, and clients. The result is an in-depth journey from ASA's humble beginnings as a "conscious-raising organization" to its current form as practically a modern bank, with millions of dollars in assets and operations in over a dozen countries.

The defining attributes of this book are the level of detail and the human face Rutherford gives to ASA's history. The author is very well informed about many of the minute aspects of Bangladesh and ASA's development, much of which could only have come from his years of involvement in the sector. But this book is much more than just a collection of facts - interspersed throughout are stories of individual borrowers and ASA workers, which really help the material come alive and create a connection with the reader. Combined, this approach creates a highly readable book that is both interesting and informative.

I would not hesitate to recommend this for anyone who wishes to know more about ASA, or microfinance and Bangladesh's development history in general. It is very well written and conveys the subject matter with ease and skill. ... Read more

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Baxter traces the development of national identity in Bangladesh, first as part of Indian and then of Pakistan, and its slow evolution toward statehood. ... Read more

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Very insightful in learning the history of Banglasdesh.
Very insightful to the history of Bangladesh.At times it seems to be a little judgmental and may not give an accurate representation of how people actually felt at the time.Also, readers may get confused with all thenames, dates, and events that take place, but this is part of Bangladeshihistory.Overall, the book was very good and helped me make more sense ofthe confusing history of Bangladesh. ... Read more

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In 1921 a traveling religious man appeared in eastern British Bengal. Soon residents began to identify this half-naked and ash-smeared sannyasi as none other than the Second Kumar of Bhawal--a man believed to have died twelve years earlier, at the age of twenty-six. So began one of the most extraordinary legal cases in Indian history. The case would rivet popular attention for several decades as it unwound in courts from Dhaka and Calcutta to London.

This narrative history tells an incredible story replete with courtroom drama, sexual debauchery, family intrigue, and squandered wealth. With a novelist's eye for interesting detail, Partha Chatterjee sifts through evidence found in official archives, popular songs, and backstreet Bangladeshi bookshops. He evaluates the case of the man claiming, with the support of legions of tenants and relatives, to be the long-lost Kumar. And he considers the position of the sannyasi's detractors, including the colonial government and the Kumar's young widow, who resolutely refused to meet the man she denounced as an impostor.

Along the way, Chatterjee introduces us to a fascinating range of human character, gleans insights into the nature of human identity, and examines the relation between scientific evidence, legal truth, and cultural practice. The story he tells unfolds alongside decades of Indian history. Its plot is shaped by changing gender and class relations and punctuated by critical historical events, including the onset of World War II, the Bengal famine of 1943, and the Great Calcutta Killings. And by identifying the earliest erosion of colonialism and the growth of nationalist thinking within the organs of colonial power, Chatterjee also gives us a secret history of Indian nationalism. ... Read more

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A decade after the 1971 wars in South Asia, the principal decisionmakers were still uncertain why wars so clearly unwanted had occurred. The authors reconstruct the complex decisionmaking process attending the break-up of Pakistan and the subsequent war between India and Pakistan. Much of their data derive from interviews conducted with principal players in each of the countries immediately involved-Pakistan, India, and Bangladesh-including Indira Gandhi and leaders of the Awami League in Bangladesh. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (5)

A case study in academic sterileness
This "unbiased," thoroughly researched account, as other reviewers have accurately stated, is a little TOO unbiased, giving this book the feel of hermetically-sealed academia. While reading "War and Secession" I kept trying to account for the authors' strangely sterile analysis of one of the most outrageous and shameful unravelling of the democratic processes in recent history. I can only assume that neither of the authors spent much time in Pakistan or Bangladesh previous to their research trips for interview purposes. Their sometimes painfully detailed account is limited to the bureaucratic and military chambers of power and is curiously drained of the flesh and blood of the real historic situation. Academic "objectivity" actually becomes less objective by not adequately indicating the real consequences of the dry political struggles. This becomes especially evident halfway through the book when, astoundingly, after spending a long chapter detailing final negotiations, the skip ENTIRELY any details of what the infamous military crackdown of March 25, 1971 actually entailed, in terms of the brutal extermination of tens of thousands of Bengali civilians.

This book is definitely NOT for the general reader, as the authors not only write in a dry, typically old-fashioned academic style, but seem to assume readers' familiarity with the situation. For example, they switch from referring to the capital of Pakistan as "Rawalpindi" to "Islamabad" without explanation, and similarly offer the first use of the term "Bangladesh" without quotes or context.

There are also a few minor factual errors that don't change the book's value for its detailed account or the overall import of the history it describes, but do make me wonder why they didn't use a fact-checker (standard procedure, I thought, for a major scholarly work). For example, they describe the "major" cyclone of "October" 1970, which in fact took place on November 12-13; and then procede to give no indication of the singular, historic nature of this cyclone, which killed at least 250,000 people in the Ganges Delta OVERNIGHT.

Overall, this book provides some valuable "primary source" information for specialists, with insights into why the war happened, but little acknowledgement of its probable inevitability, given the arbitrary divisions of post-British Partition. Regarding the Pakistan Army, Shuja Nawaz's Crossed Swords: Pakistan, Its Army, and the Wars Within (Oxford Pakistan Paperbacks) (2008) is a far better resource. Alas, the definitive book about the 1971 Bangladesh war of independence has yet to be written.

View of political leaders
Sisson and Rose present a thorough analysis of the policy decisions of the involved governments that led to the creation of Bangladesh as an independent country.The authors describe the issues and events that faced the leaders of the respective governments and their actions.Of note, the book does not describe the events that occurred to the people of Bangaldesh during the war.

Thorough Account of All Sides
Richard Sisson and Leo E. Rose put all of their many interviews to good use in War and Secession (Pakistan, India, and the Creation of Bangladesh).They present all sides of the various complex relationships of this region, as well as presenting the fascinating international views of the situation, predominantly China, USSR, and the US.They are careful to remain unbiased (perhaps sometimes a little too unbiased in the case of Bhutto, in my opinion) and present the misperceptions that all sides were using to base their decisions upon.This book will also be a joy for the general reader as they make all the issues understandable and unravel all the tangles between the various personalities.The authors provide a defintive account of the creation of Bangladesh that will both entertain and inform.

An unbiased, well-researched accurate account
The authors provide a well-balanced, unbiased historical account of the accounts leading to the war of 1971.The book is very well researched with numerous notes on various sources of information.

The book describes thegenesis of the problems in East Pakistan, beginning with the partition ofIndia and the formation of Pakistan's two wings.Carefully collectedeconomic data demonstrates the lop-sided distribution of wealth in Pakistanwith more government spending and foreign aid going to the West than to theEast, despite the latter having a greater population and suffering fromsevere natural disasters.Also cited are the differences between East andWest Pakistan over confronting India over Kashmir.The East did not sharea penchant for confronting India over Kashmir - a territory that lay over a1000 miles away.There were more pressing problems at home then(circumstances that are eerily similar to those today inPakistan!).

These differences came to a height in a war fought overKashmir in 1965 (instigated upon Bhutto's advice to Ayub Khan) when EastPakistan was left virtually undefended against any potential Indianmilitary advances.This further contributed to its sense ofinsecurity.

The politicians of West Pakistan, most notably Z. A. Bhuttoand Yahya Khan, are blamed unambiguously for their role in canceling asession of the first democratically elected national assembly in Pakistanthat precipitated in a crisis in March 1971.India's role in contributingto the crisis until March 1971 was minimal, if any, but was to assumegreater importance in the months to follow.The failure of all politicalprocesses to placate the demands of Z. A. Bhutto led to the suspension ofthe National Assembly, and subsequent events.

However, once the crisisresulted in millions of refugees flowing into India that threatened toupset the delicate demographic balance in the affected states, the problemalso became one of India's.The authors fault Indira Gandhi for not tryingharder to achieve a political settlement of the problem.It is highlyunlikely that India could have mediated a problem between West and EastPakistan.After Indira Gandhi concluded that the problem could not beresolved politically by Pakistan's leaders, India began to play anincreasingly larger political-military role, beginning in the summer of1971 and concluding with a lightning military campaign in December, 1971.

Balanced and informative
Sisson and Rose present a highly informative account of the events leading to the independence of Bangladesh. As a Pakistani, it proved depressing reading as one sees how events unfolded in what would almost be a comedy of errors had the human cost not been so high. The actions of key protaganistsleave one disgusted at their short-sightedness and venality. Much as we maylike to think that it was 'all India's fault', the authors make it quiteclear that while India acted to take full opportunity of the chances ithad, its role in precipitating the Crisis was negligible (if at all).Similarly, while Yahya Khan and the Army must take the blame for theultimate decision of the Army action, the behaviour of the prominentPakistani political leaders, especially Bhutto (who, from the eventsnarrated in the book, seems to come away with the most blame), beggarsbelief. A must read for anyone interested in the events of 1971 free of thebaggage that subcontinental writers bring to the subject. ... Read more

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This volume collects Chatterjee's academic writings, lectures, reportage, and editorial comments on the politics and history of Bengal. He argues that the popular upsurge of the 1930s is central to understanding Bengal's experience. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

Political criticism as a mode of historiography
Who would have thought that present is a veritable part of history? Who would have thought that political criticism in form of a number of essays could be a way of recounting history ? Well, Partho Chatterjee did . A collection of commentaries and criticisms at various points of the history ,some of course pretty well referenceddocuments ,some even very personal view-points which are highly argueable , yet when one finishes reading all of them(and one cannot keep it away till fully done) , one gets to form one's one image of the present Wbengal . Is that history ?? Why not?? since the concept of history as "objective" and only "factual" does not have many takers in the wake of post-modernist debate , one starts to appreciate various modes of history-telling .Partho-da has shown us one. Economics, comparative statitistics in the two bengals before and after the partition, social-psyche and expectations of people and the non-fulfillment of them , their effect subsequently , how the culture is getting affected by phenomena in other parts of India,subcontinent and other parts of the world , all these are found in this book . I would dream of a period when this style would grow up and streatch to compiling representative debates or discourses with political annotations and comments .Sumanta Bannerjee and the Frontier Anthology tried to do such a thing with the Naxalite movement .It would be nice if PArtho-da and others could eke out a method of history-telling through comments and discourses as well with some relevant news clippings and chronology . It bemuses me how beautifully the shruti and smriti tradition is getting flourished in the text tradition at this post-modern age . ... Read more

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Confidential British diplomatic dispatches have surfaced that provide a revealing view of events in the subcontinent from 1947 right up to 1969. These documents, obtained from the British Archives, include reports of meetings with Heads of State and government, ministers, high dignitaries and political leaders, and critical analysis of the state of mind of the people in power and their political opponents. Also captured in these reports is the thinking and assessments of key players in the drama, the internal power struggle, shifting loyalties and Byzantine palace intrigues. ... Read more

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Bangladesh became an independent state in 1971. But its story, often overshadowed by flood, famine and natural disaster is one that should make every Bangladeshi proud. David Urch's vivid narrative evokes the people and the place, describing how, after years of outside influence, modern Bangladesh was born. Despite centuries of external domination, the Bangladeshis remain a proud people. Now at last they themselves can benefit from their rich and diverse country. This book is the first to provide an objective outside view of the immense contribution of the Bangladeshi people. It should be of great interest both to the wide diaspora of Bangladeshis and those who wish to learn more about the compelling history of the region.

The University of Buckingham Press

The University of Buckingham is the only independent university in the UK and our publishing program reflects the tenets of the university and the principles of its founding fathers:

-Liberty
-Freedom of the individual
-Freedom from state intervention

The University of Buckingham Press provides a forum for the exchange of views and a vehicle for rigorous academic research to disseminate the values which underpin the university in the subject areas at which the university excels:

-Law
-Education
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-Education ... Read more

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The partition of India in 1947 was a seminal event of the twentieth century. Much has been written about the Punjab and the creation of West Pakistan; by contrast, little is known about the partition of Bengal. This remarkable book by an acknowledged expert on the subject assesses the social, economic and political consequences of partition. Using compelling sources, the book, which was originally published in 2007, shows how and why the borders were redrawn, how the creation of new nation states led to unprecedented upheavals, massive shifts in population and wholly unexpected transformations of the political landscape in both Bengal and India. The book also reveals how the spoils of partition, which the Congress in Bengal had expected from the new boundaries, were squandered over the twenty years which followed. This is an intriguing and challenging work whose findings change our understanding and its consequences for the history of the subcontinent. ... Read more

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Customer Reviews (5)

Searing beauty
Divakaruni's poetry is visceral, breath taking, and haunting.Her images will stay with you.Her other collection of poetry is also impressive.Leaving Yuba City: Poems.I recommend reading anything she has written.Her prose is beautiful: Sister of My Heart: A Novel, Queen of Dreams, The Mistress of Spices: A Novel, The Vine of Desire: A Novel, The Unknown Errors of Our Lives: Stories, Arranged Marriage: Stories... All are excellent.

Interesting, provocative and flawed
Black Candle succeeds in its prose poems that a vignettes of thedifficulties of life as a South Asian.The poems also work if one judgesthem as vignettes rather than poetry.Yoga Lessons is the strongest pieceas poetry.Even as vignettes, however, the ubiquous use of first person,which works well for the poems in isolation, fails to work in thecollection as the reader gets many "I's" of which some are thesame and others not.The book does as excellent job of making the foreignculture and environment accessible to Americans.

This book reminds memost of Jana Harris' work where pioneer women's stories are made intopoetry.If you enjoyed that, you'll surely enjoy this,

A supremely impressive collection rich in metaphor.
Black Candle is a supremely impressive collection of poetry rich withmetaphor and set on the Indian sub-continent. These poems portray moving,palpable portraits of women's lives that will strike a universal chord ofrecognition and appreciation with the western reader. The Room: I havewalked this corridor so many times/I no longer notice/the gougedfloorboards, the brown light/washing the peeling walls, the stale/childhoodsmell of curried cabbage.//I am looking for the door,/the one whosestriated knob/matches perfectly the lines of my palm,/which opens withoutsound/into a room with milk-blue walls.//On the sill, a brass bowl/ofgardenias in water. Peacocks/spread silk feathers against cushions./Thewhite cockatoo on its stand/knows my name. Sun filters/through the sari ofa woman/who rises toward me. I am caught/by the lines of her bones, thefine/lighted hairs on her held-out arm,/your eyes, mother, in her mouthlessface.

Good thing I joined Amnesty International
I found these poems to reveal a harsh beauty.If I joke that American women should read this before they complain it would be to ease the tension over severity with which women are treated in many of these Asian cultures.Divakaruni has revealed a piece of her soul and raised concerns over themistreatment of women in Asia (as well as anywhere in the world for thatmatter)These poems are best read a couple at a time so one can absorb thepassion and the reality of the situations described.A few of the poems inthis collection moved me close to tears.Hopefully, a better day willdawn.I would like to apend my earlier comment that American women shouldread this by stating that all the men need to read it, too.

Nice Poems But Too Gloomy
I was surprised by this book. I generally dislike "modern" poetry, but these poems were different. They seemed to speak of things in a way that sounded very genuine. The major fault of the book was that all ofthe poems seemed to emphasise how hard and terrible women's lives were,usually as the result of actions by men. This is fair enough, but when ALLof the poems seemed to have this same theme, it began to sound more like acollection of ehining rather than genuine emotional expression. A fewverses on something other than mosery would have been nice. But all in alla very nice book. Well worth the price. ... Read more

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This critical study of the first 20 years of Bangladesh examines Bangladesh's ethos and legacy. Lawrence Ziring traces the tragic circumstances of its emergence and the difficulties encountered in giving expression to Bengali political aspirations. In major part, the volume analyzes the performances of Bangladesh's principal leaders, who sought, Ziring argues, to articulate the sentiments of their people, but nevertheless failed the nation. ... Read more

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The Bengali are considered to be the original inhabitants of the Bengal region of southwest Asia. This territory is divided politically between Bangladesh and West Bengal, a state in India. Bengali is the native language spoken by most of the groups in this region. While the vast majority of Bengalis live in Bangladesh and northeast India, there are significant communities in a number of other countries and other parts of India as well. Although the Bengalis are primarily classified according to language, their culture remains very diversified. It is made up of various castes, such as the Brahman, Kayastha, Vaidya, Namasudra, Gandha Banik, Saadgop, Napit, Mahisya, Kanaani, and Subarnabanik.Their assortment of occupations and religious preferences has created other cultural distinctions as well. In general, the Bengalis are a proud people, highly ambitious, and always striving for excellence. Although outside influences are being incorporated into their culture, the Bengalis remain very proud of their cultural heritage. These volumes provide an extended introduction to the Bengalis by discussing all important facets that make them so vibrant a society.The volumes arranged thematically provide a glimpse into their History, Culture, Politics, Language and Literature, the world famous intellectual traditions of the Bengalis, the social progress; including the Bengali Renaissance, the individuals who are significant to the understanding of the Bengali culture and its fascinating traditions. ... Read more

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This comprehensive study explores issues pertaining to the stateless status of the ethnic Buddhist Chakma refugees in the Indian state of Arunachal Pradesh, who originally belonged to the Chittagong Hill Tracts (CHTs). What sets it apart is its holistic overview of the social history of the Chakmas from the colonial period onwards. While analyzing and emphasizing the current plight of the Chakmas in India as stateless refugees, it raises the concomitant question of what it takes to qualify as citizens of a modern postcolonial state. ... Read more