Recommended Reading

With all my copious time over the holidays (between flying back and forth across country, driving all over Northern California to see my friends and family, keeping my new year's resolution by going to the gym, etc.), I did manage to squeeze in a little "light reading." I highly recommend Emma's War: An Aid Worker, a Warlord, Radical Islam, and the Politics of Oil--A True Story of Love and Death in Sudan by Deborah Scoggins.

The book provides a fascinating look at the 21-year Civil War in Sudan between the North and the South by detailing the true story of an aid worker, Emma McCune, who marries an official in the Sudanese People's Liberation Army (SPLA). The war ended two years ago this weekend when a peace agreement was signed on January 9, 2004. However, the fragile peace is rapidly being threatened by the ongoing conflict in Darfur. When Sarah Martin was in South Sudan last Spring, she described that weapons were still rampant throughout the region and landmines continue to kill and maim people.

The book is definitely worth reading if you want to understand more about Sudan, the politics of humanitarian aid or to just learn more about an interesting woman. And if you're looking for a few other recommendations, check out our reading list.