Security and development in India's northeast

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Pamela G. Price

In a cultural history which considers the transformation of south Indian institutions under British colonial rule in the nineteenth century, Pamela Price focuses on the two former 'little kingdoms' of Ramnad and Sivagangai which came under colonial governance as revenue estates. She demonstrates how rivalries among the royal families and major zamindari temples, and the disintegration of indigenous institutions of rule, contributed to the development of nationalist ideologies and new political identities among the people of southern Tamil country. The author also shows how religious symbols and practices going back to the seventeenth century were reformulated and acquired a new significance in the colonial context. Arguing for a reappraisal of the relationship of Hinduism to politics, Price finds that these symbols and practices continue to inform popular expectation of political leadership today.

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Asoka Bandarage

"The book provides a detailed historically-based analysis of the origin, evolution and potential resolution of the civil conflict in Sri Lanka over the struggle to establish a separate state in its Northern and Eastern provinces. This conflict between the Sri Lankan government and the secessionist LTTE (Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam) is one of the world's most intractable contemporary armed struggles. The internationally banned LTTE is considered the prototype of modern terrorism. It is known to have introduced suicide bombing to the world, and recently became the first terrorist organization ever to acquire an air force."--BOOK JACKET.

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Robert H. Ferrell

As Franklin D. Roosevelt's health deteriorated in the months leading up to the Democratic National Convention of 1944, Democratic leaders confronted a dire situation. Given the inevitability of the president's death during a fourth term, the choice of a running mate for FDR was of profound importance. The Democrats needed a man they could trust. They needed Harry S. Truman. In the days between July 11 and July 21, 1944, the vice-presidential nomination went to Truman in a series of moves, countermoves, and near chaotic happenings. This first detailed account of those tumultuous days explains how Truman, a man whom Roosevelt barely knew and who had not actively sought the nomination, became the president's running mate. Robert Ferrell tells an engrossing tale of ruthless ambition, secret meetings, and party politics. Roosevelt emerges as a manipulative leader whose desire to retain power led to a blatant disregard for the loyalty of his subordinates and the aspirations of his vice-presidential hopefuls. Ferrell demonstrates how the conspiratorial efforts of a handful of White House insiders unseated Vice-President Henry Wallace as a contender, while the president himself thwarted the hopes of powerful White House aide James F. Byrnes . The events surrounding Truman's nomination would have seemed almost unbelievable, had not so much been at risk. But as the convention came to a close, the kingmakers of the party could assure themselves of one thing: Truman would be the next president of the United States. Startling in its conclusions, impeccable in its research, Choosing Truman is an engrossing, behind-the-scenes look at the making of the nation's thirty-third president.

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Tom Herron and John Lynch

"After Bloody Sunday examines the portrayals of the day and its devastating repercussions in photography, film, theatre, poetry, television documentary, art installations, murals, commemorative events and legal discourse. The authors consider these representations' veridicity, their mechanisms of authenticity and their assumption that a particular medium - be it film, language, or visual art - can somehow articulate the 'truth' of Bloody Sunday." "The authors place special emphasis on the commemorative events held each year in Derry in which the families of the victims have - over many years - remembered their dead and injured, while at the same time building a highly-effective campaign that resulted, finally, in the new Inquiry." "Drawing on their expertise in the fields of literature, cultural theory, media studies and visual art, the authors have produced a thoroughly interdisciplinary approach towards the many representations that claim, with varying degrees of confidence, to tell the story of 'what really happened' on the streets of the Bogside on the afternoon of 30 January 1972."--BOOK JACKET.