Island of Blood: Frontline Reports from Sri Lanka, Afghanistan, and Other South Asian Flashpoints

By Anita Pratap

Book Overview

In this distillation of frontline experiences and cultural insights, Anita Pratap, one of the finest journalists India has ever produced, faithfully reports on the consequences of war, ethnic conflict, earthquakes, cyclones, prejudices, and the mindless hatred and fear that has hurt so much of the world. Wherever there was a story to be told-from her native India to Afghanistan and Sri Lanka-Pratap braved the odds to send in reports from the front, managing to track down elusive stories and make headlines. With determined diligence she exposed the terrors inside such frightening regimes as the Taliban, returning home each time with a renewed determination to appreciate and celebrate the ordinary.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0142003662
• ISBN13: 9780142003664
• Release Date: August 2003
• Publisher: Penguin Books
• Length: 288 Pages
• Weight: 0.48 lbs.
• Dimensions: 7.7" x 0.8" x 5.1"

Customer Reviews

Mind of an elusive fighter

Anita Pratap gives an exclusive view of LTTE and its leader, Mr.Prabhakaran. There is no journalist other than Anita that has so much access to LTTE and have given an inside look into the mind of world's most elusive man, Prabhakarn. She has taken extreme step to visit all the hot spots of the Indian Subcontinent. Her instincts about LTTE were correct when she met them in 1986.

A Brave and Informative Read

I picked up this book not realizing the impact it contained. Anita Pratap is a journalist who relentlessly pursues her stories throughout war torn areas. As a woman she is inspirational and as a fact finder a bull-dog who gets her story done. She writes with great impact telling horror stories but still managing to find a fleck of beauty that emerges in her own life from the experience.Pratap writes about dowry killings, Taliban rule and abuse, tribal wars and atrocites, class prejudices, poor people and abused children in areas like Sri Lanka, Afghanistan and India. These stories are courageous and bold and horribly real at the same time. Your heart will ache for the families that witness the horror of war killings and the pain of losing all that they own. This book will make you re-think your idea of sadness.

Frontline stories, full of detail

Ms. Pratap's intimate knowledge of the conflicts in Sri Lanka and Afghanistan are instrumental in the success of Island of Blood. Filled with intimate details of the LTTE, Island of Blood provides a great deal of insight into the conflict battered nation of Sri Lanka. Whether or not you are familiar with the situation in Sri Lanka, Ms. Pratrap does a wonderful job of presenting an easy to read version of the story. I highly recommend this book because of the intimate details that aren't available anywhere else.