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Eichstaedt, PeterEichstaedt, Peter | Alt 1
Eichstaedt, PeterEichstaedt, Peter | Alt 1

Peter Eichstaedt

Peter Eichstaedt is a veteran journalist who has reported from locations worldwide, including Afghanistan, Albania, Somalia, the Sudans, Uganda, Kenya, eastern DR Congo, eastern Europe, and the Caucasus. He attended the University of the Americas in Mexico City and lived and worked as a journalist in Santa Fe, New Mexico, for more than twenty years. He worked most recently as the Afghanistan Country Director for the Institute for War and Peace Reporting in Kabul. He is the author of Above the Din of War, Consuming the Congo, Pirate State, First Kill Your Family, and If You Poison Us.
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Titles Found: 6
Above the Din of War
Above the Din of War (5 Formats) ›
By Peter Eichstaedt
Cloth Price 26.95

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Published Apr 2013

Most books about the war in Afghanistan examine the conflict from the perspective of a foreign correspondent, political analyst, or U.S. soldier, but Above the Din of War focuses on the people of Afghanistan themselves, providing a forum in which the thoughts of everyday people can be considered. Having traveled the country for a year, Peter Eichstaedt draws out Afghans from all walks of life: a former warlord, a Taliban judge, victims of self-immolation, courageous women parliamentarians, would-be suicide bombers, besieged merchants, frightened mullahs, and desperate archaeologists. The book explores a country that both vexes and fascinates the world and relates what its people have to say about living through 30 years of continual unrest, violence, and negative international attention. From his time spent interviewing and living with the people of Afghanistan, Eichstaedt proposes American and NATO exit strategies that could avoid leaving Afghanistan mired in chaos and war. This thought-provoking title from a journalist’s point of view adds a human element to this complex international situation.
Consuming the Congo
Consuming the Congo (5 Formats) ›
By Peter Eichstaedt
Cloth Price 24.95

Cloth, Trade Paper, PDF, EPUB, Mobipocket

Published Jul 2011

Going behind the headlines and deep into the brutal world of the Congo, this exposé examines why eastern Congo is the most dangerous place on the planet. While the Western world takes for granted its creature comforts such as cell phones or computers, five million Congolese needlessly die in the quest for the valuable minerals that make those technologies work. Much of the war-torn country has largely become lawless, overrun by warlords who exploit and murder the population for their own gain. Delving into the history of the former Belgian colony, this book exposes the horror of day-to-day life in the Congo, largely precipitated by colonial exploitation and internal strife after gaining independence. It offers not only a view into the dire situation but also examines how the Western world, a part of the problem, can become a part of the solution.
First Kill Your Family
First Kill Your Family (4 Formats) ›
By Peter Eichstaedt
Trade Paper Price 16.95

Trade Paper, PDF, EPUB, Mobipocket

Published Apr 2013

Told through the voices of those who have suffered, this illuminating exposé examines how a forgotten region of one of Africa’s most promising nations—Uganda, dubbed "the pearl of Africa" by Winston Churchill—has been systematically destroyed by a bloody, senseless, and seemingly endless war that has gone largely unnoticed by the rest of the world. For the past 20 years, the Lord’s Resistance Army has ravaged northern Uganda and has been led by the reclusive Joseph Kony, a former witch doctor and self-professed spirit medium. Through the large-scale abduction and manipulation of children, Kony transformed his army into an efficient killing machine that has murdered nearly 100,000 and displaced two million people. Kony utilized the society's pervasive belief in witchcraft to instill cultlike convictions in his fighters. This insightful analysis delves into the war’s foundations and argues that, much like Rwanda’s genocide, international intervention is needed to stop Uganda’s virulent cycle of violence. This updated paperback edition includes a new afterword by the author that discusses developments since 2008, including failed attempts to capture Joseph Kony and the controversial Kony 2012 video.

First Kill Your Family
First Kill Your Family ›
By Peter Eichstaedt
Price 24.95

Cloth

Published Feb 2009

Told through the voices of those who have suffered, this illuminating exposé examines how a forgotten region of one of Africa’s most promising nations—Uganda, dubbed "the pearl" of Africa by Winston Churchill—has been systematically destroyed by a bloody, senseless, and seemingly endless war that has gone largely unnoticed by the rest of the world. For the past 20 years, the Lord’s Resistance Army has ravaged northern Uganda and has been led by the reclusive Joseph Kony, a former witch doctor and self-professed spirit medium. Through the large-scale abduction and manipulation of children, Kony transformed his army into an efficient killing machine that has murdered nearly 100,000 and displaced two million people. Kony utilized the society's pervasive belief in witchcraft to instill cultlike convictions in his fighters. This insightful analysis delves into the war’s foundations and argues that, much like Rwanda’s genocide, international intervention is needed to stop Africa’s virulent cycle of violence.
Pirate State
Pirate State (5 Formats) ›
By Peter Eichstaedt
Cloth Price 24.95

Cloth, Trade Paper, PDF, EPUB, Mobipocket

Published Oct 2010

Providing a timely and never-before-seen perspective on the ever-increasing menace of Somali pirates, this account shows how the cargo ship and oil tanker hijackings and ransoms in the Gulf of Aden and the Indian Ocean have turned one of the world’s busiest shipping lanes into one of the most dangerous. By way of one-on-one interviews with pirates, their associates, their victims, and those who police them, the book reveals piracy’s origins, tactics, and increasing links to terrorists in Somalia, East Africa, and the Middle East, including Yemen, Afghanistan, and Pakistan. These sources point to a scenario in which Somali pirates might not just be out for themselves; they may be a part of a larger, more sinister infrastructure of global financiers and Islamic extremists that—if not dealt with soon—could greatly destabilize the region and perhaps threaten United States national security.

The Dangerous Divide
The Dangerous Divide (4 Formats) ›
By Peter Eichstaedt
Trade Paper Price 16.99

Trade Paper, PDF, EPUB, Mobipocket

Published Apr 2017

2015 International Latino Book Awards Winner for Best Political / Current Affairs Book

How do we balance border security and America’s need for a vital workforce while continuing to provide access to the American dream? Since the attacks of 9/11, the United States has steadily ramped up security along the U.S.-Mexico border, transforming America’s legendary Southwest into a frontier of fear. Veteran journalist Peter Eichstaedt roams this fabled region from Tucson, Arizona, to El Paso, Texas, meeting with migrants, border security advocates, and communities ravaged by cross-border crime. Eichstaedt finds that despite tens of thousands of border agents and the expenditure of billions of dollars, an estimated one million Mexicans and Central Americans continue to cross the border each year, filling jobs that have become the underpinnings of the U.S. economy. Rather than building more and better barricades, Eichstaedt argues that the U.S. must reform its immigration and drug laws and acknowledge that costly, counterproductive, and antiquated policies have created deadly circumstances on both sides of the border. Recognizing the truth of America’s long and tortured relations with Mexico must be followed by legitimizing the contributions made by migrants to the American way of life.