Excellent Book!, 19 Oct 2007
I'm now in my second year of an undergraduate course and my lecturers had recommended two main books - this one and another EU Law textbook by Jo.Steiner. I first bought the EU book by Jo.Steiner but realised that it had no caselaw (or insufficient at least) and decided to get this book by Burca. I have to say that you can rely on this book alone for the full course, it is very informative and has some interesting small debates on contentious issues. Quite rightly, it can be described as the 'Bible' of EU Law. Despite it being very thick with lots of information, it is very easy to read and comprehend.

In summary, get this book before any others! You would not need to buy any others, but remember always use other books as well for essays!

Why is it so long winded?, 08 Oct 2007
This book is massively over-detailed. Even my lecturer who suggested this book as recommended reading says on her handout 'It has far more detail than you will need on this course but there are nuggets of crucial information amongst all the detail'. Is there really? Well why can't people who are supposed to be such experts in their field that they write what is described as the leading textbooks get to the point a bit more quickly or better still make it clear which bits of their lengthy boredom-fest are the important bits that students need to know. I bought this, read the first reading from it that I had to read for a seminar and sent it back so that I could get a refund. There are tons of good, clear and to the point EU law textbooks out there that are for sale at a fraction of the price of this rambling mammoth so be sure to shop around for a book that is actualy useful (cuts through the chaff for you) rather than making things even more muddled.

Best EU Law book around, 18 Sep 2007
As a law student I've had to shell out loads of money for books that stay on the shelf and barely get opened... after five years of law school I can say without a shadow of a doubt Craig and De Burca was the book I got the most value for money out of. Absolutely, 100% recommended for any law student who will be taking a number of EU courses, or EU Law related degree. If only all other law books were as easy to read as this one!

Claptrap, 19 Jul 2007
This book is totally woeful - it completely misdescribes the crucial principle of indirect effect and is breathtakingly incompetent when discussing the Von Colson principle.

I urge all self-respecting students of the law to steer well clear of this depressing read, it will seriously challenge your will to live.

EU Law textbook review, 27 Jun 2006
Suddenly EU law becomes clear! If, like me, you have struggled to master the various areas and concepts of EU law then this book is for you. Easy to use, easy to read and easy to cross reference to other text books. Well worth the money!

Excellent Book!, 19 Oct 2007
I'm now in my second year of an undergraduate course and my lecturers had recommended two main books - this one and another EU Law textbook by Jo.Steiner. I first bought the EU book by Jo.Steiner but realised that it had no caselaw (or insufficient at least) and decided to get this book by Burca. I have to say that you can rely on this book alone for the full course, it is very informative and has some interesting small debates on contentious issues. Quite rightly, it can be described as the 'Bible' of EU Law. Despite it being very thick with lots of information, it is very easy to read and comprehend.

In summary, get this book before any others! You would not need to buy any others, but remember always use other books as well for essays!

Why is it so long winded?, 08 Oct 2007
This book is massively over-detailed. Even my lecturer who suggested this book as recommended reading says on her handout 'It has far more detail than you will need on this course but there are nuggets of crucial information amongst all the detail'. Is there really? Well why can't people who are supposed to be such experts in their field that they write what is described as the leading textbooks get to the point a bit more quickly or better still make it clear which bits of their lengthy boredom-fest are the important bits that students need to know. I bought this, read the first reading from it that I had to read for a seminar and sent it back so that I could get a refund. There are tons of good, clear and to the point EU law textbooks out there that are for sale at a fraction of the price of this rambling mammoth so be sure to shop around for a book that is actualy useful (cuts through the chaff for you) rather than making things even more muddled.

Best EU Law book around, 18 Sep 2007
As a law student I've had to shell out loads of money for books that stay on the shelf and barely get opened... after five years of law school I can say without a shadow of a doubt Craig and De Burca was the book I got the most value for money out of. Absolutely, 100% recommended for any law student who will be taking a number of EU courses, or EU Law related degree. If only all other law books were as easy to read as this one!

Claptrap, 19 Jul 2007
This book is totally woeful - it completely misdescribes the crucial principle of indirect effect and is breathtakingly incompetent when discussing the Von Colson principle.

I urge all self-respecting students of the law to steer well clear of this depressing read, it will seriously challenge your will to live.

EU Law textbook review, 27 Jun 2006
Suddenly EU law becomes clear! If, like me, you have struggled to master the various areas and concepts of EU law then this book is for you. Easy to use, easy to read and easy to cross reference to other text books. Well worth the money!

Witty and insightful account of the failure of aid in Africa, 11 May 2008
How come $2.3 trillion dollars of Western aid has been spent in the last 50 years mostly in Africa, my native continent, and yet millions of children still die of preventable diseases like dysentery, cholera and malaria? Why have the vast amounts of aid money and Western good intentions not been able to lift Africa out of back-breaking poverty? William Easterly's argument, in this fascinating book, is that Western aid has failed because of the traditional approach that it has taken to tackling Third World poverty: planning and bureaucracy.

According to Mr Easterly, Western aid in the form on the Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank and the IMF) is the most recent reincarnation of the White Man's Burden, a phrase which was immortalized by Kipling. The basic argument of the White Man's Burden in the 19th century was that Western Europe spread Christianity, commerce and civilization to the coloured, benighted races of the world (of course for the benefit of the Africans and Asians).

Mr Easterly, a former World Bank Economist, writes that the command-and-control bureaucrats of the aid establishment, whom he dubs as Planners, cannot understand the complexities of getting aid to the desperate poor because:
- There is no accountability for service delivery, as the poor cannot do this by voting.
- Planners' thinking is dominated by grandiose, non-specific plans such as ending poverty and the Millennium Development Goals
- Planners think that they already have the answers. Hence, they tend to be patronizing and have a ready-made answer for every poor country; structural adjustment, free markets and privatization

The author then contrasts the failure of the Planners with Searchers, whom he defines as people who work at the local level seeking incremental economic change for the poor by constantly experimenting with new ideas on the ground. He provides interesting accounts of aid projects, done by Searchers; Westerners and Africans, which were modest in scope but brought significant benefits to the poor. My favourite example was from India. By making a contribution of $5,000, Western donors built a toilet block for teenage girls in a rural school. This dramatically cut the drop-out rate for the girls because, as it turns out, they (the girls) had been dropping out "in droves because of the embarrassment that they felt once they started menstruating and had no private facilities".

He brilliantly shows that Western-style market societies cannot be planned "top-down" (contrary to the goals of the Planners). Markets in the developed West are the result of complex social and political institutions/norms that have taken thousands of years to evolve. Since free market opportunities in the West and The Rest depend on "bottom-up choices" which the planners don't begin to understand, Planners are doomed to fail in creating markets in the Third World.
Though the subject of the book is a serious one, the tome is spiced with witty accounts of the histories of various Third World countries: Western support for UNITA in Angola, the Contras in Nicaragua and in Haiti. On page after page, Easterly provides grim evidence of the failure of the World Bank, the IMF and Western military intervention to bring about desired social change. More often than not, it has led to much harm as in the above-mentioned countries. The message: Economic success in the tropics cannot be planned from an office in Washington DC. Instead, as has happened in Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China and India, it must be homegrown. Certainly Western aid still has a role to play but the Planners in the World Bank and IMF would do well to be more humble in their ambitions and seek to incrementally the improve lives of individuals in the poor countries.

Sometimes, Mr Easterly's analysis is quite dry. For example, he presents information showing that people in (rich) Denmark are more trustful of each other than people in (poor) The Philippines are. However, he erroneously concludes that wealth is a determinant of trust in a society. Could it be that Danes are more trustful of each other because theirs is a more ethnically homogenous and equal society than The Philippines? Could a breakdown in social institutions in The Philippines be the cause of mistrust, say more than wealth?

The distinction between Planners and Searchers struck me as being too simplistic. It is hard to believe that everyone who works for the World Bank and IMF falls neatly into the "Planner" category. Surely, the truth is more complex than the author presents it. However, since the crude distinction works well in contrasting the traditional approach to aid, I'll not fault the author for this.

Finally, the author presents some ideas for getting aid to work:

- Make aid agencies individually accountable for individual, feasible areas that help poor people improve their lives
- Give aid agencies the opportunity to experiment and search for what works
- Abandon the utopian blueprint to fix the Third World's complex problems. Instead focus on getting specific, incremental improvement in people's lives in fields such as health, sanitation and food security. Broad-brush plans for delivering market economies, `Making Poverty History" or establishing the rule of law, laudable as they are, are going to fail

In the concluding chapter, the author makes a most poignant point: "Aid won't make poverty history...only the self reliant efforts of poor people and poor societies themselves can end poverty, borrowing ideas and institutions from the West when it suits them to do so". It is a message with which I concur and one that I, as a Nigerian, have taken to heart. I recommend White Man's Burden for making such a timely point.

Excellent, 08 Feb 2008
An excellent book. Easterly sets out a balanced review of how aid has benefited/ not benefited many developing nations in an excellent thought provoking manner. Thoroughly recommended.

Intelligent critique of foreign aid policies, 18 May 2007
At the World Economic Forum in 2007, author William Easterly gave the audience some distressing news: The $2.3 trillion in aid sent to Africa since the 1950s had done nothing to increase Africa's GDP. It had been largely a waste of money. Bill Gates, who was sitting next to Easterly that day, admonished the author for focusing on narrowly economic benchmarks: "You don't eat GDP," Gates said petulantly. Easterly's riposte came a few days later in The Wall Street Journal, where he chided the world's richest college dropout for missing "the economics class that listed the components of GDP, such as food." Readers who enjoy such debates will love this acerbic, clearheaded book. Easterly, a former World Bank economist who is fervently committed to global prosperity, demolishes the myths that prop up ineffective efforts to help developing nations. He points his wrecking-ball at photo-op celebrities and utopian economists who feel that big plans and big aid budgets will eventually build big economies (the last 50 years of contrary evidence notwithstanding). Ah, you say, at least they are trying to do something good, while many others simply watch the impoverished world's agony in dismay. Instead, the author argues, only alternative, pinpointed aid tactics can succeed, but only if they use local knowledge and implementation. We recommend this to anyone interested in economic development and emerging markets, and to lovers of intelligent polemic on issues that matter.

Despite truly embarrasing title this book should be read, 09 May 2007
I bought this book fully expecting to disagree with almost everything the author said, but feeling that to have an open mind I should read it.

The title I found hugely embarrasing especially as I spend most of my time reading in public places where large proportions of the people are not white.

Easterly despite having spent a good time of his career earning money from the World Bank actually spends most of the time explaining how foreign aid policy has failed to work over the last 50 years largely due to the desire to have a 'Big Plan' and the arrogance of foreigners (from predominantly white nations) in their interventions in the rest of the world.

I actually found myself agreeing with more of this book than I thought I would and certainly most of it was easy but interesting to read. I think some of the explanations and criticisms were too clear cut but I could see that often trying to comply with a Big Plan does indeed distract from the more important task of finding ways to improve lives.

Two things about the book really annoyed me. One was the constant reference to Planners v Searchers which was much along the lines of here come the 'baddies' in the black clothes called 'Planners' and against them are the good, little people trying to bring light in their white clothes 'Searchers'.

Secondly was the use of statistics. I think if you have a good grasp of statistical analysis then you would be disappointed with the frequent lack of referencing of the data or only referencing secondary sources. If you are not statistically biased then trying to read and re-read the descriptions of the analysis - 'adjusting for reverse causality' is difficult because you are left unconvinced as to whether the conclusions presented have a strong basis.

However even saying this I felt there were many interesting points to consider in this book, generally it was written in an easy style all be it a little too frivolous at times. For anyone interested in development, aid or foreign policy this is a MUST READ book.

impressive!, 22 May 2006
finally a book on the subject worth reading....yes, it goes over some ground already covered by others...but it does offer new insight...i was skeptical reading this as an African...but in the end I found myself fully persuaded by his arguments....what an impressive book by Easterly!...this is by far the best book I have read on the subject...Easterly provides a unique blend of economic insight, personal experience and local knowledge of the issues...if it was possible, I would make every politician, activist and anyone who cares about aiding read this book BEFORE they act....its a pity that may be this book has come too late...go read it...

Excellent Book!, 19 Oct 2007
I'm now in my second year of an undergraduate course and my lecturers had recommended two main books - this one and another EU Law textbook by Jo.Steiner. I first bought the EU book by Jo.Steiner but realised that it had no caselaw (or insufficient at least) and decided to get this book by Burca. I have to say that you can rely on this book alone for the full course, it is very informative and has some interesting small debates on contentious issues. Quite rightly, it can be described as the 'Bible' of EU Law. Despite it being very thick with lots of information, it is very easy to read and comprehend.

In summary, get this book before any others! You would not need to buy any others, but remember always use other books as well for essays!

Why is it so long winded?, 08 Oct 2007
This book is massively over-detailed. Even my lecturer who suggested this book as recommended reading says on her handout 'It has far more detail than you will need on this course but there are nuggets of crucial information amongst all the detail'. Is there really? Well why can't people who are supposed to be such experts in their field that they write what is described as the leading textbooks get to the point a bit more quickly or better still make it clear which bits of their lengthy boredom-fest are the important bits that students need to know. I bought this, read the first reading from it that I had to read for a seminar and sent it back so that I could get a refund. There are tons of good, clear and to the point EU law textbooks out there that are for sale at a fraction of the price of this rambling mammoth so be sure to shop around for a book that is actualy useful (cuts through the chaff for you) rather than making things even more muddled.

Best EU Law book around, 18 Sep 2007
As a law student I've had to shell out loads of money for books that stay on the shelf and barely get opened... after five years of law school I can say without a shadow of a doubt Craig and De Burca was the book I got the most value for money out of. Absolutely, 100% recommended for any law student who will be taking a number of EU courses, or EU Law related degree. If only all other law books were as easy to read as this one!

Claptrap, 19 Jul 2007
This book is totally woeful - it completely misdescribes the crucial principle of indirect effect and is breathtakingly incompetent when discussing the Von Colson principle.

I urge all self-respecting students of the law to steer well clear of this depressing read, it will seriously challenge your will to live.

EU Law textbook review, 27 Jun 2006
Suddenly EU law becomes clear! If, like me, you have struggled to master the various areas and concepts of EU law then this book is for you. Easy to use, easy to read and easy to cross reference to other text books. Well worth the money!

Witty and insightful account of the failure of aid in Africa, 11 May 2008
How come $2.3 trillion dollars of Western aid has been spent in the last 50 years mostly in Africa, my native continent, and yet millions of children still die of preventable diseases like dysentery, cholera and malaria? Why have the vast amounts of aid money and Western good intentions not been able to lift Africa out of back-breaking poverty? William Easterly's argument, in this fascinating book, is that Western aid has failed because of the traditional approach that it has taken to tackling Third World poverty: planning and bureaucracy.

According to Mr Easterly, Western aid in the form on the Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank and the IMF) is the most recent reincarnation of the White Man's Burden, a phrase which was immortalized by Kipling. The basic argument of the White Man's Burden in the 19th century was that Western Europe spread Christianity, commerce and civilization to the coloured, benighted races of the world (of course for the benefit of the Africans and Asians).

Mr Easterly, a former World Bank Economist, writes that the command-and-control bureaucrats of the aid establishment, whom he dubs as Planners, cannot understand the complexities of getting aid to the desperate poor because:
- There is no accountability for service delivery, as the poor cannot do this by voting.
- Planners' thinking is dominated by grandiose, non-specific plans such as ending poverty and the Millennium Development Goals
- Planners think that they already have the answers. Hence, they tend to be patronizing and have a ready-made answer for every poor country; structural adjustment, free markets and privatization

The author then contrasts the failure of the Planners with Searchers, whom he defines as people who work at the local level seeking incremental economic change for the poor by constantly experimenting with new ideas on the ground. He provides interesting accounts of aid projects, done by Searchers; Westerners and Africans, which were modest in scope but brought significant benefits to the poor. My favourite example was from India. By making a contribution of $5,000, Western donors built a toilet block for teenage girls in a rural school. This dramatically cut the drop-out rate for the girls because, as it turns out, they (the girls) had been dropping out "in droves because of the embarrassment that they felt once they started menstruating and had no private facilities".

He brilliantly shows that Western-style market societies cannot be planned "top-down" (contrary to the goals of the Planners). Markets in the developed West are the result of complex social and political institutions/norms that have taken thousands of years to evolve. Since free market opportunities in the West and The Rest depend on "bottom-up choices" which the planners don't begin to understand, Planners are doomed to fail in creating markets in the Third World.
Though the subject of the book is a serious one, the tome is spiced with witty accounts of the histories of various Third World countries: Western support for UNITA in Angola, the Contras in Nicaragua and in Haiti. On page after page, Easterly provides grim evidence of the failure of the World Bank, the IMF and Western military intervention to bring about desired social change. More often than not, it has led to much harm as in the above-mentioned countries. The message: Economic success in the tropics cannot be planned from an office in Washington DC. Instead, as has happened in Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China and India, it must be homegrown. Certainly Western aid still has a role to play but the Planners in the World Bank and IMF would do well to be more humble in their ambitions and seek to incrementally the improve lives of individuals in the poor countries.

Sometimes, Mr Easterly's analysis is quite dry. For example, he presents information showing that people in (rich) Denmark are more trustful of each other than people in (poor) The Philippines are. However, he erroneously concludes that wealth is a determinant of trust in a society. Could it be that Danes are more trustful of each other because theirs is a more ethnically homogenous and equal society than The Philippines? Could a breakdown in social institutions in The Philippines be the cause of mistrust, say more than wealth?

The distinction between Planners and Searchers struck me as being too simplistic. It is hard to believe that everyone who works for the World Bank and IMF falls neatly into the "Planner" category. Surely, the truth is more complex than the author presents it. However, since the crude distinction works well in contrasting the traditional approach to aid, I'll not fault the author for this.

Finally, the author presents some ideas for getting aid to work:

- Make aid agencies individually accountable for individual, feasible areas that help poor people improve their lives
- Give aid agencies the opportunity to experiment and search for what works
- Abandon the utopian blueprint to fix the Third World's complex problems. Instead focus on getting specific, incremental improvement in people's lives in fields such as health, sanitation and food security. Broad-brush plans for delivering market economies, `Making Poverty History" or establishing the rule of law, laudable as they are, are going to fail

In the concluding chapter, the author makes a most poignant point: "Aid won't make poverty history...only the self reliant efforts of poor people and poor societies themselves can end poverty, borrowing ideas and institutions from the West when it suits them to do so". It is a message with which I concur and one that I, as a Nigerian, have taken to heart. I recommend White Man's Burden for making such a timely point.

Excellent, 08 Feb 2008
An excellent book. Easterly sets out a balanced review of how aid has benefited/ not benefited many developing nations in an excellent thought provoking manner. Thoroughly recommended.

Intelligent critique of foreign aid policies, 18 May 2007
At the World Economic Forum in 2007, author William Easterly gave the audience some distressing news: The $2.3 trillion in aid sent to Africa since the 1950s had done nothing to increase Africa's GDP. It had been largely a waste of money. Bill Gates, who was sitting next to Easterly that day, admonished the author for focusing on narrowly economic benchmarks: "You don't eat GDP," Gates said petulantly. Easterly's riposte came a few days later in The Wall Street Journal, where he chided the world's richest college dropout for missing "the economics class that listed the components of GDP, such as food." Readers who enjoy such debates will love this acerbic, clearheaded book. Easterly, a former World Bank economist who is fervently committed to global prosperity, demolishes the myths that prop up ineffective efforts to help developing nations. He points his wrecking-ball at photo-op celebrities and utopian economists who feel that big plans and big aid budgets will eventually build big economies (the last 50 years of contrary evidence notwithstanding). Ah, you say, at least they are trying to do something good, while many others simply watch the impoverished world's agony in dismay. Instead, the author argues, only alternative, pinpointed aid tactics can succeed, but only if they use local knowledge and implementation. We recommend this to anyone interested in economic development and emerging markets, and to lovers of intelligent polemic on issues that matter.

Despite truly embarrasing title this book should be read, 09 May 2007
I bought this book fully expecting to disagree with almost everything the author said, but feeling that to have an open mind I should read it.

The title I found hugely embarrasing especially as I spend most of my time reading in public places where large proportions of the people are not white.

Easterly despite having spent a good time of his career earning money from the World Bank actually spends most of the time explaining how foreign aid policy has failed to work over the last 50 years largely due to the desire to have a 'Big Plan' and the arrogance of foreigners (from predominantly white nations) in their interventions in the rest of the world.

I actually found myself agreeing with more of this book than I thought I would and certainly most of it was easy but interesting to read. I think some of the explanations and criticisms were too clear cut but I could see that often trying to comply with a Big Plan does indeed distract from the more important task of finding ways to improve lives.

Two things about the book really annoyed me. One was the constant reference to Planners v Searchers which was much along the lines of here come the 'baddies' in the black clothes called 'Planners' and against them are the good, little people trying to bring light in their white clothes 'Searchers'.

Secondly was the use of statistics. I think if you have a good grasp of statistical analysis then you would be disappointed with the frequent lack of referencing of the data or only referencing secondary sources. If you are not statistically biased then trying to read and re-read the descriptions of the analysis - 'adjusting for reverse causality' is difficult because you are left unconvinced as to whether the conclusions presented have a strong basis.

However even saying this I felt there were many interesting points to consider in this book, generally it was written in an easy style all be it a little too frivolous at times. For anyone interested in development, aid or foreign policy this is a MUST READ book.

impressive!, 22 May 2006
finally a book on the subject worth reading....yes, it goes over some ground already covered by others...but it does offer new insight...i was skeptical reading this as an African...but in the end I found myself fully persuaded by his arguments....what an impressive book by Easterly!...this is by far the best book I have read on the subject...Easterly provides a unique blend of economic insight, personal experience and local knowledge of the issues...if it was possible, I would make every politician, activist and anyone who cares about aiding read this book BEFORE they act....its a pity that may be this book has come too late...go read it...

Could have been so much better, 08 Mar 2008
Saving lives while putting yours under risk sounds like the perfect material for a compelling memoir and the juicy title of this one sounds like it would deliver in spades. However I was ultimately disappointed by "Emergency Sex".

The book is written by three aid workers: Ken, a recent Harvard graduate; Heidi, a social worker from New York; and Andrew, an idealistic doctor from New Zealand. The three meet initially when they are all working in Cambodia and their stories intersect as they work together and separately on assignment in various `90s trouble spots: Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia. The book is written by each of them in turn and the pace is quick and lively. Parts are exciting (the description of being in Somalia when the Black Hawk helicopter was downed) or very moving (the description of the terrible atrocities in Rwanda and Liberia).

So it's an interesting read but somehow it failed to grab me. The book does convey what its like to be an aid worker: alternating fear, adrenalin, exhaustion, hopelessness, cynicism and only very occasionally the sense that you've made a small difference to the world. It certainly gives the flavour of how terrible things were in these places and how the UN could have done things better. However the three personalities never rang true for me. I didn't feel that I got to know these people. They all sounded curiously alike to me and I got the sense that Ken perhaps penned all three stories. Heidi comes across as Ken's fantasy girl with her limpid eyes and active sexual appetite. Andrew also comes across as Ken's fantasy of the heroic and noble doctor who windsurfs in his spare time. I'm not saying that these aren't real people, just that they never leapt off the page and became real to me.

Perhaps because of this, or perhaps because the nature of aid work is such that it's one long grind, the book dragged along for me. While I didn't mind it, I never felt the urge to pick it up and read more. I felt several times that I could have skipped 100 pages here or there and it wouldn't have made much difference. Really, you could flip open the book in a bookstore, read a few pages here and there, and get the flavour of the entire piece. It's not a bad book by any stretch, but it could have been much better with judicious editing.

thrilling, captivating nonfiction, 18 Jan 2008
I bought this book based on a feeling it was good and I wasn't wrong. It's written by 3 very good authors, their writing style is sophisticated but simple enough not to boggle your mind. Three perspectives on a situation is a jewel in itself and it's nonfiction, an extra for me. You won't want to put it down.

The laughter & tears , 10 Nov 2007
I loved this book. I have recommended it to everyone- ex-Army, complacent city city kids. It doesn't have a sweet conclusion, but in that sense, nor does life. It starts off with the romantic dream of working for an NGO, and describes the kind of enlighenment that day to day living brings with any issue. On the eve of Remmberance, and with my closest friends who have been there, this has helped me to understand more so than any text book or lecture. My copy is well thumbed and I am proud.

Gritty and realistic, 04 Jul 2007
Having sent some time in some of these places during my Air Force days I was interesed to see a different perspective of these places. This book is not only gritty but honest and even when times seem boring this only punctuates the frustration and fear felt when times you thought things could not get worse, they do. As the entries (this is written in a journal style) continue you are drawn into the small group and begin to genuinely care about them.
Some of the atrocities recorded here are hard to stomach but have to read so that even when you are safe and comfortable at home you can appreciate that because you can't see evil in the world, it doesn't mean it's not there. This book is proof that there are good people who care but are constantly having their hands tied by those who just don't want to look bad.
Read it, read it, read it.


Amazing, 02 Jan 2007
I work in the sector and was fascinated by the account: it is very close to my own reality. It is fun, it is sad, it is enjoyable, it is scary. The best and the worst of the human kind.
The book is EXTREMELY well written, with the three authors overlapping their accounts/perspectives/stories chronologically.
I will certainly buy some few extra copies to give to some friends.

Excellent Book!, 19 Oct 2007
I'm now in my second year of an undergraduate course and my lecturers had recommended two main books - this one and another EU Law textbook by Jo.Steiner. I first bought the EU book by Jo.Steiner but realised that it had no caselaw (or insufficient at least) and decided to get this book by Burca. I have to say that you can rely on this book alone for the full course, it is very informative and has some interesting small debates on contentious issues. Quite rightly, it can be described as the 'Bible' of EU Law. Despite it being very thick with lots of information, it is very easy to read and comprehend.

In summary, get this book before any others! You would not need to buy any others, but remember always use other books as well for essays!

Why is it so long winded?, 08 Oct 2007
This book is massively over-detailed. Even my lecturer who suggested this book as recommended reading says on her handout 'It has far more detail than you will need on this course but there are nuggets of crucial information amongst all the detail'. Is there really? Well why can't people who are supposed to be such experts in their field that they write what is described as the leading textbooks get to the point a bit more quickly or better still make it clear which bits of their lengthy boredom-fest are the important bits that students need to know. I bought this, read the first reading from it that I had to read for a seminar and sent it back so that I could get a refund. There are tons of good, clear and to the point EU law textbooks out there that are for sale at a fraction of the price of this rambling mammoth so be sure to shop around for a book that is actualy useful (cuts through the chaff for you) rather than making things even more muddled.

Best EU Law book around, 18 Sep 2007
As a law student I've had to shell out loads of money for books that stay on the shelf and barely get opened... after five years of law school I can say without a shadow of a doubt Craig and De Burca was the book I got the most value for money out of. Absolutely, 100% recommended for any law student who will be taking a number of EU courses, or EU Law related degree. If only all other law books were as easy to read as this one!

Claptrap, 19 Jul 2007
This book is totally woeful - it completely misdescribes the crucial principle of indirect effect and is breathtakingly incompetent when discussing the Von Colson principle.

I urge all self-respecting students of the law to steer well clear of this depressing read, it will seriously challenge your will to live.

EU Law textbook review, 27 Jun 2006
Suddenly EU law becomes clear! If, like me, you have struggled to master the various areas and concepts of EU law then this book is for you. Easy to use, easy to read and easy to cross reference to other text books. Well worth the money!

Witty and insightful account of the failure of aid in Africa, 11 May 2008
How come $2.3 trillion dollars of Western aid has been spent in the last 50 years mostly in Africa, my native continent, and yet millions of children still die of preventable diseases like dysentery, cholera and malaria? Why have the vast amounts of aid money and Western good intentions not been able to lift Africa out of back-breaking poverty? William Easterly's argument, in this fascinating book, is that Western aid has failed because of the traditional approach that it has taken to tackling Third World poverty: planning and bureaucracy.

According to Mr Easterly, Western aid in the form on the Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank and the IMF) is the most recent reincarnation of the White Man's Burden, a phrase which was immortalized by Kipling. The basic argument of the White Man's Burden in the 19th century was that Western Europe spread Christianity, commerce and civilization to the coloured, benighted races of the world (of course for the benefit of the Africans and Asians).

Mr Easterly, a former World Bank Economist, writes that the command-and-control bureaucrats of the aid establishment, whom he dubs as Planners, cannot understand the complexities of getting aid to the desperate poor because:
- There is no accountability for service delivery, as the poor cannot do this by voting.
- Planners' thinking is dominated by grandiose, non-specific plans such as ending poverty and the Millennium Development Goals
- Planners think that they already have the answers. Hence, they tend to be patronizing and have a ready-made answer for every poor country; structural adjustment, free markets and privatization

The author then contrasts the failure of the Planners with Searchers, whom he defines as people who work at the local level seeking incremental economic change for the poor by constantly experimenting with new ideas on the ground. He provides interesting accounts of aid projects, done by Searchers; Westerners and Africans, which were modest in scope but brought significant benefits to the poor. My favourite example was from India. By making a contribution of $5,000, Western donors built a toilet block for teenage girls in a rural school. This dramatically cut the drop-out rate for the girls because, as it turns out, they (the girls) had been dropping out "in droves because of the embarrassment that they felt once they started menstruating and had no private facilities".

He brilliantly shows that Western-style market societies cannot be planned "top-down" (contrary to the goals of the Planners). Markets in the developed West are the result of complex social and political institutions/norms that have taken thousands of years to evolve. Since free market opportunities in the West and The Rest depend on "bottom-up choices" which the planners don't begin to understand, Planners are doomed to fail in creating markets in the Third World.
Though the subject of the book is a serious one, the tome is spiced with witty accounts of the histories of various Third World countries: Western support for UNITA in Angola, the Contras in Nicaragua and in Haiti. On page after page, Easterly provides grim evidence of the failure of the World Bank, the IMF and Western military intervention to bring about desired social change. More often than not, it has led to much harm as in the above-mentioned countries. The message: Economic success in the tropics cannot be planned from an office in Washington DC. Instead, as has happened in Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China and India, it must be homegrown. Certainly Western aid still has a role to play but the Planners in the World Bank and IMF would do well to be more humble in their ambitions and seek to incrementally the improve lives of individuals in the poor countries.

Sometimes, Mr Easterly's analysis is quite dry. For example, he presents information showing that people in (rich) Denmark are more trustful of each other than people in (poor) The Philippines are. However, he erroneously concludes that wealth is a determinant of trust in a society. Could it be that Danes are more trustful of each other because theirs is a more ethnically homogenous and equal society than The Philippines? Could a breakdown in social institutions in The Philippines be the cause of mistrust, say more than wealth?

The distinction between Planners and Searchers struck me as being too simplistic. It is hard to believe that everyone who works for the World Bank and IMF falls neatly into the "Planner" category. Surely, the truth is more complex than the author presents it. However, since the crude distinction works well in contrasting the traditional approach to aid, I'll not fault the author for this.

Finally, the author presents some ideas for getting aid to work:

- Make aid agencies individually accountable for individual, feasible areas that help poor people improve their lives
- Give aid agencies the opportunity to experiment and search for what works
- Abandon the utopian blueprint to fix the Third World's complex problems. Instead focus on getting specific, incremental improvement in people's lives in fields such as health, sanitation and food security. Broad-brush plans for delivering market economies, `Making Poverty History" or establishing the rule of law, laudable as they are, are going to fail

In the concluding chapter, the author makes a most poignant point: "Aid won't make poverty history...only the self reliant efforts of poor people and poor societies themselves can end poverty, borrowing ideas and institutions from the West when it suits them to do so". It is a message with which I concur and one that I, as a Nigerian, have taken to heart. I recommend White Man's Burden for making such a timely point.

Excellent, 08 Feb 2008
An excellent book. Easterly sets out a balanced review of how aid has benefited/ not benefited many developing nations in an excellent thought provoking manner. Thoroughly recommended.

Intelligent critique of foreign aid policies, 18 May 2007
At the World Economic Forum in 2007, author William Easterly gave the audience some distressing news: The $2.3 trillion in aid sent to Africa since the 1950s had done nothing to increase Africa's GDP. It had been largely a waste of money. Bill Gates, who was sitting next to Easterly that day, admonished the author for focusing on narrowly economic benchmarks: "You don't eat GDP," Gates said petulantly. Easterly's riposte came a few days later in The Wall Street Journal, where he chided the world's richest college dropout for missing "the economics class that listed the components of GDP, such as food." Readers who enjoy such debates will love this acerbic, clearheaded book. Easterly, a former World Bank economist who is fervently committed to global prosperity, demolishes the myths that prop up ineffective efforts to help developing nations. He points his wrecking-ball at photo-op celebrities and utopian economists who feel that big plans and big aid budgets will eventually build big economies (the last 50 years of contrary evidence notwithstanding). Ah, you say, at least they are trying to do something good, while many others simply watch the impoverished world's agony in dismay. Instead, the author argues, only alternative, pinpointed aid tactics can succeed, but only if they use local knowledge and implementation. We recommend this to anyone interested in economic development and emerging markets, and to lovers of intelligent polemic on issues that matter.

Despite truly embarrasing title this book should be read, 09 May 2007
I bought this book fully expecting to disagree with almost everything the author said, but feeling that to have an open mind I should read it.

The title I found hugely embarrasing especially as I spend most of my time reading in public places where large proportions of the people are not white.

Easterly despite having spent a good time of his career earning money from the World Bank actually spends most of the time explaining how foreign aid policy has failed to work over the last 50 years largely due to the desire to have a 'Big Plan' and the arrogance of foreigners (from predominantly white nations) in their interventions in the rest of the world.

I actually found myself agreeing with more of this book than I thought I would and certainly most of it was easy but interesting to read. I think some of the explanations and criticisms were too clear cut but I could see that often trying to comply with a Big Plan does indeed distract from the more important task of finding ways to improve lives.

Two things about the book really annoyed me. One was the constant reference to Planners v Searchers which was much along the lines of here come the 'baddies' in the black clothes called 'Planners' and against them are the good, little people trying to bring light in their white clothes 'Searchers'.

Secondly was the use of statistics. I think if you have a good grasp of statistical analysis then you would be disappointed with the frequent lack of referencing of the data or only referencing secondary sources. If you are not statistically biased then trying to read and re-read the descriptions of the analysis - 'adjusting for reverse causality' is difficult because you are left unconvinced as to whether the conclusions presented have a strong basis.

However even saying this I felt there were many interesting points to consider in this book, generally it was written in an easy style all be it a little too frivolous at times. For anyone interested in development, aid or foreign policy this is a MUST READ book.

impressive!, 22 May 2006
finally a book on the subject worth reading....yes, it goes over some ground already covered by others...but it does offer new insight...i was skeptical reading this as an African...but in the end I found myself fully persuaded by his arguments....what an impressive book by Easterly!...this is by far the best book I have read on the subject...Easterly provides a unique blend of economic insight, personal experience and local knowledge of the issues...if it was possible, I would make every politician, activist and anyone who cares about aiding read this book BEFORE they act....its a pity that may be this book has come too late...go read it...

Could have been so much better, 08 Mar 2008
Saving lives while putting yours under risk sounds like the perfect material for a compelling memoir and the juicy title of this one sounds like it would deliver in spades. However I was ultimately disappointed by "Emergency Sex".

The book is written by three aid workers: Ken, a recent Harvard graduate; Heidi, a social worker from New York; and Andrew, an idealistic doctor from New Zealand. The three meet initially when they are all working in Cambodia and their stories intersect as they work together and separately on assignment in various `90s trouble spots: Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia. The book is written by each of them in turn and the pace is quick and lively. Parts are exciting (the description of being in Somalia when the Black Hawk helicopter was downed) or very moving (the description of the terrible atrocities in Rwanda and Liberia).

So it's an interesting read but somehow it failed to grab me. The book does convey what its like to be an aid worker: alternating fear, adrenalin, exhaustion, hopelessness, cynicism and only very occasionally the sense that you've made a small difference to the world. It certainly gives the flavour of how terrible things were in these places and how the UN could have done things better. However the three personalities never rang true for me. I didn't feel that I got to know these people. They all sounded curiously alike to me and I got the sense that Ken perhaps penned all three stories. Heidi comes across as Ken's fantasy girl with her limpid eyes and active sexual appetite. Andrew also comes across as Ken's fantasy of the heroic and noble doctor who windsurfs in his spare time. I'm not saying that these aren't real people, just that they never leapt off the page and became real to me.

Perhaps because of this, or perhaps because the nature of aid work is such that it's one long grind, the book dragged along for me. While I didn't mind it, I never felt the urge to pick it up and read more. I felt several times that I could have skipped 100 pages here or there and it wouldn't have made much difference. Really, you could flip open the book in a bookstore, read a few pages here and there, and get the flavour of the entire piece. It's not a bad book by any stretch, but it could have been much better with judicious editing.

thrilling, captivating nonfiction, 18 Jan 2008
I bought this book based on a feeling it was good and I wasn't wrong. It's written by 3 very good authors, their writing style is sophisticated but simple enough not to boggle your mind. Three perspectives on a situation is a jewel in itself and it's nonfiction, an extra for me. You won't want to put it down.

The laughter & tears , 10 Nov 2007
I loved this book. I have recommended it to everyone- ex-Army, complacent city city kids. It doesn't have a sweet conclusion, but in that sense, nor does life. It starts off with the romantic dream of working for an NGO, and describes the kind of enlighenment that day to day living brings with any issue. On the eve of Remmberance, and with my closest friends who have been there, this has helped me to understand more so than any text book or lecture. My copy is well thumbed and I am proud.

Gritty and realistic, 04 Jul 2007
Having sent some time in some of these places during my Air Force days I was interesed to see a different perspective of these places. This book is not only gritty but honest and even when times seem boring this only punctuates the frustration and fear felt when times you thought things could not get worse, they do. As the entries (this is written in a journal style) continue you are drawn into the small group and begin to genuinely care about them.
Some of the atrocities recorded here are hard to stomach but have to read so that even when you are safe and comfortable at home you can appreciate that because you can't see evil in the world, it doesn't mean it's not there. This book is proof that there are good people who care but are constantly having their hands tied by those who just don't want to look bad.
Read it, read it, read it.


Amazing, 02 Jan 2007
I work in the sector and was fascinated by the account: it is very close to my own reality. It is fun, it is sad, it is enjoyable, it is scary. The best and the worst of the human kind.
The book is EXTREMELY well written, with the three authors overlapping their accounts/perspectives/stories chronologically.
I will certainly buy some few extra copies to give to some friends.

International Relations - Fantastic introduction to subject!, 18 Apr 2006
Used this book as intruductiory text whilst studying for an MA in International Relations. Proved to be invaluable, providing a simple, easy to understand background and introduction to theories. Would recommend to anyone looking to study in this area.

Essential, 07 Oct 2001
This was the first book I had bought on the subject of International Relations, or IR. I found it to be an indispensable resource for those who are starting out in the area of IR--the key concepts are explained accurately, and the whole set-up of the book is user friendly.

At the end of each chapter (of which there are eight), the reader can attempt several relevent questions, designed to enforce what you've just read. This is, I beleive, a great way to engrain the knowledge into one's mind, helping the reader to retain what they have learnt.

If you're interested in IR, but have been scared by the 1000 page books on the subject, don't waste any more time: buy this books ASAP.

A comprehensive introductory text to International Relations, 06 Oct 2001
I liked this book because it explained the various theories and traditions that make up the discipline of International Relations. It covers Realism, Liberalism, and International Society and also discusses issues within the International Political Economy. The book examines the theories strong sides, weaknesses and limitations. It also shows how the theories sometimes overlap. In this respect, it forms a solid foundation for anyone interested in the pursuit if IR studies. I especially liked the book as it gives illustrations and recent case studies. This makes it interesting and demonstrates how the theories behind world politics are linked to actual events. It brings the theories to life. Jackson and Sorensen have included boxes and charts to make show comparisons and highlight key elements. It is also a useful text for students because each chapter contains a list of key points and study questions that help focus the main points of the chapter. Furthermore, there is a guide to further reading. This enables the reader to go beyond the basic issues, do further research and obtain an in-depth knowledge. I would highly recommend this as a basic text for anyone who is interested in current affairs and way our global political system works.

Excellent Book!, 19 Oct 2007
I'm now in my second year of an undergraduate course and my lecturers had recommended two main books - this one and another EU Law textbook by Jo.Steiner. I first bought the EU book by Jo.Steiner but realised that it had no caselaw (or insufficient at least) and decided to get this book by Burca. I have to say that you can rely on this book alone for the full course, it is very informative and has some interesting small debates on contentious issues. Quite rightly, it can be described as the 'Bible' of EU Law. Despite it being very thick with lots of information, it is very easy to read and comprehend.

In summary, get this book before any others! You would not need to buy any others, but remember always use other books as well for essays!

Why is it so long winded?, 08 Oct 2007
This book is massively over-detailed. Even my lecturer who suggested this book as recommended reading says on her handout 'It has far more detail than you will need on this course but there are nuggets of crucial information amongst all the detail'. Is there really? Well why can't people who are supposed to be such experts in their field that they write what is described as the leading textbooks get to the point a bit more quickly or better still make it clear which bits of their lengthy boredom-fest are the important bits that students need to know. I bought this, read the first reading from it that I had to read for a seminar and sent it back so that I could get a refund. There are tons of good, clear and to the point EU law textbooks out there that are for sale at a fraction of the price of this rambling mammoth so be sure to shop around for a book that is actualy useful (cuts through the chaff for you) rather than making things even more muddled.

Best EU Law book around, 18 Sep 2007
As a law student I've had to shell out loads of money for books that stay on the shelf and barely get opened... after five years of law school I can say without a shadow of a doubt Craig and De Burca was the book I got the most value for money out of. Absolutely, 100% recommended for any law student who will be taking a number of EU courses, or EU Law related degree. If only all other law books were as easy to read as this one!

Claptrap, 19 Jul 2007
This book is totally woeful - it completely misdescribes the crucial principle of indirect effect and is breathtakingly incompetent when discussing the Von Colson principle.

I urge all self-respecting students of the law to steer well clear of this depressing read, it will seriously challenge your will to live.

EU Law textbook review, 27 Jun 2006
Suddenly EU law becomes clear! If, like me, you have struggled to master the various areas and concepts of EU law then this book is for you. Easy to use, easy to read and easy to cross reference to other text books. Well worth the money!

Witty and insightful account of the failure of aid in Africa, 11 May 2008
How come $2.3 trillion dollars of Western aid has been spent in the last 50 years mostly in Africa, my native continent, and yet millions of children still die of preventable diseases like dysentery, cholera and malaria? Why have the vast amounts of aid money and Western good intentions not been able to lift Africa out of back-breaking poverty? William Easterly's argument, in this fascinating book, is that Western aid has failed because of the traditional approach that it has taken to tackling Third World poverty: planning and bureaucracy.

According to Mr Easterly, Western aid in the form on the Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank and the IMF) is the most recent reincarnation of the White Man's Burden, a phrase which was immortalized by Kipling. The basic argument of the White Man's Burden in the 19th century was that Western Europe spread Christianity, commerce and civilization to the coloured, benighted races of the world (of course for the benefit of the Africans and Asians).

Mr Easterly, a former World Bank Economist, writes that the command-and-control bureaucrats of the aid establishment, whom he dubs as Planners, cannot understand the complexities of getting aid to the desperate poor because:
- There is no accountability for service delivery, as the poor cannot do this by voting.
- Planners' thinking is dominated by grandiose, non-specific plans such as ending poverty and the Millennium Development Goals
- Planners think that they already have the answers. Hence, they tend to be patronizing and have a ready-made answer for every poor country; structural adjustment, free markets and privatization

The author then contrasts the failure of the Planners with Searchers, whom he defines as people who work at the local level seeking incremental economic change for the poor by constantly experimenting with new ideas on the ground. He provides interesting accounts of aid projects, done by Searchers; Westerners and Africans, which were modest in scope but brought significant benefits to the poor. My favourite example was from India. By making a contribution of $5,000, Western donors built a toilet block for teenage girls in a rural school. This dramatically cut the drop-out rate for the girls because, as it turns out, they (the girls) had been dropping out "in droves because of the embarrassment that they felt once they started menstruating and had no private facilities".

He brilliantly shows that Western-style market societies cannot be planned "top-down" (contrary to the goals of the Planners). Markets in the developed West are the result of complex social and political institutions/norms that have taken thousands of years to evolve. Since free market opportunities in the West and The Rest depend on "bottom-up choices" which the planners don't begin to understand, Planners are doomed to fail in creating markets in the Third World.
Though the subject of the book is a serious one, the tome is spiced with witty accounts of the histories of various Third World countries: Western support for UNITA in Angola, the Contras in Nicaragua and in Haiti. On page after page, Easterly provides grim evidence of the failure of the World Bank, the IMF and Western military intervention to bring about desired social change. More often than not, it has led to much harm as in the above-mentioned countries. The message: Economic success in the tropics cannot be planned from an office in Washington DC. Instead, as has happened in Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China and India, it must be homegrown. Certainly Western aid still has a role to play but the Planners in the World Bank and IMF would do well to be more humble in their ambitions and seek to incrementally the improve lives of individuals in the poor countries.

Sometimes, Mr Easterly's analysis is quite dry. For example, he presents information showing that people in (rich) Denmark are more trustful of each other than people in (poor) The Philippines are. However, he erroneously concludes that wealth is a determinant of trust in a society. Could it be that Danes are more trustful of each other because theirs is a more ethnically homogenous and equal society than The Philippines? Could a breakdown in social institutions in The Philippines be the cause of mistrust, say more than wealth?

The distinction between Planners and Searchers struck me as being too simplistic. It is hard to believe that everyone who works for the World Bank and IMF falls neatly into the "Planner" category. Surely, the truth is more complex than the author presents it. However, since the crude distinction works well in contrasting the traditional approach to aid, I'll not fault the author for this.

Finally, the author presents some ideas for getting aid to work:

- Make aid agencies individually accountable for individual, feasible areas that help poor people improve their lives
- Give aid agencies the opportunity to experiment and search for what works
- Abandon the utopian blueprint to fix the Third World's complex problems. Instead focus on getting specific, incremental improvement in people's lives in fields such as health, sanitation and food security. Broad-brush plans for delivering market economies, `Making Poverty History" or establishing the rule of law, laudable as they are, are going to fail

In the concluding chapter, the author makes a most poignant point: "Aid won't make poverty history...only the self reliant efforts of poor people and poor societies themselves can end poverty, borrowing ideas and institutions from the West when it suits them to do so". It is a message with which I concur and one that I, as a Nigerian, have taken to heart. I recommend White Man's Burden for making such a timely point.

Excellent, 08 Feb 2008
An excellent book. Easterly sets out a balanced review of how aid has benefited/ not benefited many developing nations in an excellent thought provoking manner. Thoroughly recommended.

Intelligent critique of foreign aid policies, 18 May 2007
At the World Economic Forum in 2007, author William Easterly gave the audience some distressing news: The $2.3 trillion in aid sent to Africa since the 1950s had done nothing to increase Africa's GDP. It had been largely a waste of money. Bill Gates, who was sitting next to Easterly that day, admonished the author for focusing on narrowly economic benchmarks: "You don't eat GDP," Gates said petulantly. Easterly's riposte came a few days later in The Wall Street Journal, where he chided the world's richest college dropout for missing "the economics class that listed the components of GDP, such as food." Readers who enjoy such debates will love this acerbic, clearheaded book. Easterly, a former World Bank economist who is fervently committed to global prosperity, demolishes the myths that prop up ineffective efforts to help developing nations. He points his wrecking-ball at photo-op celebrities and utopian economists who feel that big plans and big aid budgets will eventually build big economies (the last 50 years of contrary evidence notwithstanding). Ah, you say, at least they are trying to do something good, while many others simply watch the impoverished world's agony in dismay. Instead, the author argues, only alternative, pinpointed aid tactics can succeed, but only if they use local knowledge and implementation. We recommend this to anyone interested in economic development and emerging markets, and to lovers of intelligent polemic on issues that matter.

Despite truly embarrasing title this book should be read, 09 May 2007
I bought this book fully expecting to disagree with almost everything the author said, but feeling that to have an open mind I should read it.

The title I found hugely embarrasing especially as I spend most of my time reading in public places where large proportions of the people are not white.

Easterly despite having spent a good time of his career earning money from the World Bank actually spends most of the time explaining how foreign aid policy has failed to work over the last 50 years largely due to the desire to have a 'Big Plan' and the arrogance of foreigners (from predominantly white nations) in their interventions in the rest of the world.

I actually found myself agreeing with more of this book than I thought I would and certainly most of it was easy but interesting to read. I think some of the explanations and criticisms were too clear cut but I could see that often trying to comply with a Big Plan does indeed distract from the more important task of finding ways to improve lives.

Two things about the book really annoyed me. One was the constant reference to Planners v Searchers which was much along the lines of here come the 'baddies' in the black clothes called 'Planners' and against them are the good, little people trying to bring light in their white clothes 'Searchers'.

Secondly was the use of statistics. I think if you have a good grasp of statistical analysis then you would be disappointed with the frequent lack of referencing of the data or only referencing secondary sources. If you are not statistically biased then trying to read and re-read the descriptions of the analysis - 'adjusting for reverse causality' is difficult because you are left unconvinced as to whether the conclusions presented have a strong basis.

However even saying this I felt there were many interesting points to consider in this book, generally it was written in an easy style all be it a little too frivolous at times. For anyone interested in development, aid or foreign policy this is a MUST READ book.

impressive!, 22 May 2006
finally a book on the subject worth reading....yes, it goes over some ground already covered by others...but it does offer new insight...i was skeptical reading this as an African...but in the end I found myself fully persuaded by his arguments....what an impressive book by Easterly!...this is by far the best book I have read on the subject...Easterly provides a unique blend of economic insight, personal experience and local knowledge of the issues...if it was possible, I would make every politician, activist and anyone who cares about aiding read this book BEFORE they act....its a pity that may be this book has come too late...go read it...

Could have been so much better, 08 Mar 2008
Saving lives while putting yours under risk sounds like the perfect material for a compelling memoir and the juicy title of this one sounds like it would deliver in spades. However I was ultimately disappointed by "Emergency Sex".

The book is written by three aid workers: Ken, a recent Harvard graduate; Heidi, a social worker from New York; and Andrew, an idealistic doctor from New Zealand. The three meet initially when they are all working in Cambodia and their stories intersect as they work together and separately on assignment in various `90s trouble spots: Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia. The book is written by each of them in turn and the pace is quick and lively. Parts are exciting (the description of being in Somalia when the Black Hawk helicopter was downed) or very moving (the description of the terrible atrocities in Rwanda and Liberia).

So it's an interesting read but somehow it failed to grab me. The book does convey what its like to be an aid worker: alternating fear, adrenalin, exhaustion, hopelessness, cynicism and only very occasionally the sense that you've made a small difference to the world. It certainly gives the flavour of how terrible things were in these places and how the UN could have done things better. However the three personalities never rang true for me. I didn't feel that I got to know these people. They all sounded curiously alike to me and I got the sense that Ken perhaps penned all three stories. Heidi comes across as Ken's fantasy girl with her limpid eyes and active sexual appetite. Andrew also comes across as Ken's fantasy of the heroic and noble doctor who windsurfs in his spare time. I'm not saying that these aren't real people, just that they never leapt off the page and became real to me.

Perhaps because of this, or perhaps because the nature of aid work is such that it's one long grind, the book dragged along for me. While I didn't mind it, I never felt the urge to pick it up and read more. I felt several times that I could have skipped 100 pages here or there and it wouldn't have made much difference. Really, you could flip open the book in a bookstore, read a few pages here and there, and get the flavour of the entire piece. It's not a bad book by any stretch, but it could have been much better with judicious editing.

thrilling, captivating nonfiction, 18 Jan 2008
I bought this book based on a feeling it was good and I wasn't wrong. It's written by 3 very good authors, their writing style is sophisticated but simple enough not to boggle your mind. Three perspectives on a situation is a jewel in itself and it's nonfiction, an extra for me. You won't want to put it down.

The laughter & tears , 10 Nov 2007
I loved this book. I have recommended it to everyone- ex-Army, complacent city city kids. It doesn't have a sweet conclusion, but in that sense, nor does life. It starts off with the romantic dream of working for an NGO, and describes the kind of enlighenment that day to day living brings with any issue. On the eve of Remmberance, and with my closest friends who have been there, this has helped me to understand more so than any text book or lecture. My copy is well thumbed and I am proud.

Gritty and realistic, 04 Jul 2007
Having sent some time in some of these places during my Air Force days I was interesed to see a different perspective of these places. This book is not only gritty but honest and even when times seem boring this only punctuates the frustration and fear felt when times you thought things could not get worse, they do. As the entries (this is written in a journal style) continue you are drawn into the small group and begin to genuinely care about them.
Some of the atrocities recorded here are hard to stomach but have to read so that even when you are safe and comfortable at home you can appreciate that because you can't see evil in the world, it doesn't mean it's not there. This book is proof that there are good people who care but are constantly having their hands tied by those who just don't want to look bad.
Read it, read it, read it.


Amazing, 02 Jan 2007
I work in the sector and was fascinated by the account: it is very close to my own reality. It is fun, it is sad, it is enjoyable, it is scary. The best and the worst of the human kind.
The book is EXTREMELY well written, with the three authors overlapping their accounts/perspectives/stories chronologically.
I will certainly buy some few extra copies to give to some friends.

International Relations - Fantastic introduction to subject!, 18 Apr 2006
Used this book as intruductiory text whilst studying for an MA in International Relations. Proved to be invaluable, providing a simple, easy to understand background and introduction to theories. Would recommend to anyone looking to study in this area.

Essential, 07 Oct 2001
This was the first book I had bought on the subject of International Relations, or IR. I found it to be an indispensable resource for those who are starting out in the area of IR--the key concepts are explained accurately, and the whole set-up of the book is user friendly.

At the end of each chapter (of which there are eight), the reader can attempt several relevent questions, designed to enforce what you've just read. This is, I beleive, a great way to engrain the knowledge into one's mind, helping the reader to retain what they have learnt.

If you're interested in IR, but have been scared by the 1000 page books on the subject, don't waste any more time: buy this books ASAP.

A comprehensive introductory text to International Relations, 06 Oct 2001
I liked this book because it explained the various theories and traditions that make up the discipline of International Relations. It covers Realism, Liberalism, and International Society and also discusses issues within the International Political Economy. The book examines the theories strong sides, weaknesses and limitations. It also shows how the theories sometimes overlap. In this respect, it forms a solid foundation for anyone interested in the pursuit if IR studies. I especially liked the book as it gives illustrations and recent case studies. This makes it interesting and demonstrates how the theories behind world politics are linked to actual events. It brings the theories to life. Jackson and Sorensen have included boxes and charts to make show comparisons and highlight key elements. It is also a useful text for students because each chapter contains a list of key points and study questions that help focus the main points of the chapter. Furthermore, there is a guide to further reading. This enables the reader to go beyond the basic issues, do further research and obtain an in-depth knowledge. I would highly recommend this as a basic text for anyone who is interested in current affairs and way our global political system works.

Excellent in principle but now, sadly, out of date, 01 Nov 2005
The EU is a very complex organisation and Pinder provides a clear, structured description, starting with the historical background of the EU's predecessor organisations, moving through its structure and institutions through to key issues such as budget and CAP, and social policy.

His explanation of the difference between a federal approach and inter-governmentalism is particularly interesting to Brits, and he makes the UK's position and actions (and those of others) clear in context.

The principles underlying the EU's creation, development and functioning are clearly explained.

My major criticism, though, is that so much has happened to the EU since the book's publication - the launch of the Euro and the accession of ten further countries in May 2004. These are prospects in the book - what we need is an up-to-date version which describes the impact of these important changes.

Charts of numbers of MEPs (and similar data) by country are of no more than historical interest when they're based on fifteen members. An updated version would get five stars from me.

Unclear and unfocused, 14 Feb 2003
I picked up this book to try and clear some of the confusion that surrounds the EU. Quite simply I wanted to understand what it was all about. As part of the 'Short Guide' series, the aim is to present topics in an accessible and clear way. What better subject than the EU for this series which despite having such a profound impact on our lives, few truly understand. Unfortunately, I was bitterly disappointed. From the word go, the author makes assumptions and far from presenting the topic in a clear and accessible way - he confuses and almost assumes those reading it are elected EU parliamentarians. I was crying out for a definition of some of the jargon in simple, clear english. What is qualified majority voting for example? If your aim is to give an understanding, you can't assume knowledge and just launch into the first chapter bandying it around. In fact, reading this book is similar to reading a dry contract.

Excellent - a stylish and well-presented introduction., 25 Jun 2001
This is a superbly written précis - ideal for those with only a basic understanding of the complexities of the European Union - and an excellent springboard to more thorough books on the subject. The author is knowledgeable and opinionated, but generally able to present his work in an unbiased manner, without overburdening the reader with technical details about the various institutions.

For such a short book, it is remarkably comprehensive, including political, economic, legal and historical observations. I particularly enjoyed the presentation of the EU's history, with its emphasis on the characters that have been involved in the development of the EU. Pinder's views on Britain's role are obvious - he is a fervent Europhile - but he is also quick to point out the shortcomings of badly conceived or poorly executed policies in which Britain has played no part.

Given the current political climate, it was a pleasure to read a pro-European book written with authority and style. A far cry from the emotive rhetoric that pervaded the recent election campaign. This is compulsory reading for us all before the promised referendum on Europe.

Excellent Book!, 19 Oct 2007
I'm now in my second year of an undergraduate course and my lecturers had recommended two main books - this one and another EU Law textbook by Jo.Steiner. I first bought the EU book by Jo.Steiner but realised that it had no caselaw (or insufficient at least) and decided to get this book by Burca. I have to say that you can rely on this book alone for the full course, it is very informative and has some interesting small debates on contentious issues. Quite rightly, it can be described as the 'Bible' of EU Law. Despite it being very thick with lots of information, it is very easy to read and comprehend.

In summary, get this book before any others! You would not need to buy any others, but remember always use other books as well for essays!

Why is it so long winded?, 08 Oct 2007
This book is massively over-detailed. Even my lecturer who suggested this book as recommended reading says on her handout 'It has far more detail than you will need on this course but there are nuggets of crucial information amongst all the detail'. Is there really? Well why can't people who are supposed to be such experts in their field that they write what is described as the leading textbooks get to the point a bit more quickly or better still make it clear which bits of their lengthy boredom-fest are the important bits that students need to know. I bought this, read the first reading from it that I had to read for a seminar and sent it back so that I could get a refund. There are tons of good, clear and to the point EU law textbooks out there that are for sale at a fraction of the price of this rambling mammoth so be sure to shop around for a book that is actualy useful (cuts through the chaff for you) rather than making things even more muddled.

Best EU Law book around, 18 Sep 2007
As a law student I've had to shell out loads of money for books that stay on the shelf and barely get opened... after five years of law school I can say without a shadow of a doubt Craig and De Burca was the book I got the most value for money out of. Absolutely, 100% recommended for any law student who will be taking a number of EU courses, or EU Law related degree. If only all other law books were as easy to read as this one!

Claptrap, 19 Jul 2007
This book is totally woeful - it completely misdescribes the crucial principle of indirect effect and is breathtakingly incompetent when discussing the Von Colson principle.

I urge all self-respecting students of the law to steer well clear of this depressing read, it will seriously challenge your will to live.

EU Law textbook review, 27 Jun 2006
Suddenly EU law becomes clear! If, like me, you have struggled to master the various areas and concepts of EU law then this book is for you. Easy to use, easy to read and easy to cross reference to other text books. Well worth the money!

Witty and insightful account of the failure of aid in Africa, 11 May 2008
How come $2.3 trillion dollars of Western aid has been spent in the last 50 years mostly in Africa, my native continent, and yet millions of children still die of preventable diseases like dysentery, cholera and malaria? Why have the vast amounts of aid money and Western good intentions not been able to lift Africa out of back-breaking poverty? William Easterly's argument, in this fascinating book, is that Western aid has failed because of the traditional approach that it has taken to tackling Third World poverty: planning and bureaucracy.

According to Mr Easterly, Western aid in the form on the Bretton Woods institutions (the World Bank and the IMF) is the most recent reincarnation of the White Man's Burden, a phrase which was immortalized by Kipling. The basic argument of the White Man's Burden in the 19th century was that Western Europe spread Christianity, commerce and civilization to the coloured, benighted races of the world (of course for the benefit of the Africans and Asians).

Mr Easterly, a former World Bank Economist, writes that the command-and-control bureaucrats of the aid establishment, whom he dubs as Planners, cannot understand the complexities of getting aid to the desperate poor because:
- There is no accountability for service delivery, as the poor cannot do this by voting.
- Planners' thinking is dominated by grandiose, non-specific plans such as ending poverty and the Millennium Development Goals
- Planners think that they already have the answers. Hence, they tend to be patronizing and have a ready-made answer for every poor country; structural adjustment, free markets and privatization

The author then contrasts the failure of the Planners with Searchers, whom he defines as people who work at the local level seeking incremental economic change for the poor by constantly experimenting with new ideas on the ground. He provides interesting accounts of aid projects, done by Searchers; Westerners and Africans, which were modest in scope but brought significant benefits to the poor. My favourite example was from India. By making a contribution of $5,000, Western donors built a toilet block for teenage girls in a rural school. This dramatically cut the drop-out rate for the girls because, as it turns out, they (the girls) had been dropping out "in droves because of the embarrassment that they felt once they started menstruating and had no private facilities".

He brilliantly shows that Western-style market societies cannot be planned "top-down" (contrary to the goals of the Planners). Markets in the developed West are the result of complex social and political institutions/norms that have taken thousands of years to evolve. Since free market opportunities in the West and The Rest depend on "bottom-up choices" which the planners don't begin to understand, Planners are doomed to fail in creating markets in the Third World.
Though the subject of the book is a serious one, the tome is spiced with witty accounts of the histories of various Third World countries: Western support for UNITA in Angola, the Contras in Nicaragua and in Haiti. On page after page, Easterly provides grim evidence of the failure of the World Bank, the IMF and Western military intervention to bring about desired social change. More often than not, it has led to much harm as in the above-mentioned countries. The message: Economic success in the tropics cannot be planned from an office in Washington DC. Instead, as has happened in Japan, Thailand, Singapore, Malaysia, China and India, it must be homegrown. Certainly Western aid still has a role to play but the Planners in the World Bank and IMF would do well to be more humble in their ambitions and seek to incrementally the improve lives of individuals in the poor countries.

Sometimes, Mr Easterly's analysis is quite dry. For example, he presents information showing that people in (rich) Denmark are more trustful of each other than people in (poor) The Philippines are. However, he erroneously concludes that wealth is a determinant of trust in a society. Could it be that Danes are more trustful of each other because theirs is a more ethnically homogenous and equal society than The Philippines? Could a breakdown in social institutions in The Philippines be the cause of mistrust, say more than wealth?

The distinction between Planners and Searchers struck me as being too simplistic. It is hard to believe that everyone who works for the World Bank and IMF falls neatly into the "Planner" category. Surely, the truth is more complex than the author presents it. However, since the crude distinction works well in contrasting the traditional approach to aid, I'll not fault the author for this.

Finally, the author presents some ideas for getting aid to work:

- Make aid agencies individually accountable for individual, feasible areas that help poor people improve their lives
- Give aid agencies the opportunity to experiment and search for what works
- Abandon the utopian blueprint to fix the Third World's complex problems. Instead focus on getting specific, incremental improvement in people's lives in fields such as health, sanitation and food security. Broad-brush plans for delivering market economies, `Making Poverty History" or establishing the rule of law, laudable as they are, are going to fail

In the concluding chapter, the author makes a most poignant point: "Aid won't make poverty history...only the self reliant efforts of poor people and poor societies themselves can end poverty, borrowing ideas and institutions from the West when it suits them to do so". It is a message with which I concur and one that I, as a Nigerian, have taken to heart. I recommend White Man's Burden for making such a timely point.

Excellent, 08 Feb 2008
An excellent book. Easterly sets out a balanced review of how aid has benefited/ not benefited many developing nations in an excellent thought provoking manner. Thoroughly recommended.

Intelligent critique of foreign aid policies, 18 May 2007
At the World Economic Forum in 2007, author William Easterly gave the audience some distressing news: The $2.3 trillion in aid sent to Africa since the 1950s had done nothing to increase Africa's GDP. It had been largely a waste of money. Bill Gates, who was sitting next to Easterly that day, admonished the author for focusing on narrowly economic benchmarks: "You don't eat GDP," Gates said petulantly. Easterly's riposte came a few days later in The Wall Street Journal, where he chided the world's richest college dropout for missing "the economics class that listed the components of GDP, such as food." Readers who enjoy such debates will love this acerbic, clearheaded book. Easterly, a former World Bank economist who is fervently committed to global prosperity, demolishes the myths that prop up ineffective efforts to help developing nations. He points his wrecking-ball at photo-op celebrities and utopian economists who feel that big plans and big aid budgets will eventually build big economies (the last 50 years of contrary evidence notwithstanding). Ah, you say, at least they are trying to do something good, while many others simply watch the impoverished world's agony in dismay. Instead, the author argues, only alternative, pinpointed aid tactics can succeed, but only if they use local knowledge and implementation. We recommend this to anyone interested in economic development and emerging markets, and to lovers of intelligent polemic on issues that matter.

Despite truly embarrasing title this book should be read, 09 May 2007
I bought this book fully expecting to disagree with almost everything the author said, but feeling that to have an open mind I should read it.

The title I found hugely embarrasing especially as I spend most of my time reading in public places where large proportions of the people are not white.

Easterly despite having spent a good time of his career earning money from the World Bank actually spends most of the time explaining how foreign aid policy has failed to work over the last 50 years largely due to the desire to have a 'Big Plan' and the arrogance of foreigners (from predominantly white nations) in their interventions in the rest of the world.

I actually found myself agreeing with more of this book than I thought I would and certainly most of it was easy but interesting to read. I think some of the explanations and criticisms were too clear cut but I could see that often trying to comply with a Big Plan does indeed distract from the more important task of finding ways to improve lives.

Two things about the book really annoyed me. One was the constant reference to Planners v Searchers which was much along the lines of here come the 'baddies' in the black clothes called 'Planners' and against them are the good, little people trying to bring light in their white clothes 'Searchers'.

Secondly was the use of statistics. I think if you have a good grasp of statistical analysis then you would be disappointed with the frequent lack of referencing of the data or only referencing secondary sources. If you are not statistically biased then trying to read and re-read the descriptions of the analysis - 'adjusting for reverse causality' is difficult because you are left unconvinced as to whether the conclusions presented have a strong basis.

However even saying this I felt there were many interesting points to consider in this book, generally it was written in an easy style all be it a little too frivolous at times. For anyone interested in development, aid or foreign policy this is a MUST READ book.

impressive!, 22 May 2006
finally a book on the subject worth reading....yes, it goes over some ground already covered by others...but it does offer new insight...i was skeptical reading this as an African...but in the end I found myself fully persuaded by his arguments....what an impressive book by Easterly!...this is by far the best book I have read on the subject...Easterly provides a unique blend of economic insight, personal experience and local knowledge of the issues...if it was possible, I would make every politician, activist and anyone who cares about aiding read this book BEFORE they act....its a pity that may be this book has come too late...go read it...

Could have been so much better, 08 Mar 2008
Saving lives while putting yours under risk sounds like the perfect material for a compelling memoir and the juicy title of this one sounds like it would deliver in spades. However I was ultimately disappointed by "Emergency Sex".

The book is written by three aid workers: Ken, a recent Harvard graduate; Heidi, a social worker from New York; and Andrew, an idealistic doctor from New Zealand. The three meet initially when they are all working in Cambodia and their stories intersect as they work together and separately on assignment in various `90s trouble spots: Somalia, Haiti, Rwanda, Bosnia. The book is written by each of them in turn and the pace is quick and lively. Parts are exciting (the description of being in Somalia when the Black Hawk helicopter was downed) or very moving (the description of the terrible atrocities in Rwanda and Liberia).

So it's an interesting read but somehow it failed to grab me. The book does convey what its like to be an aid worker: alternating fear, adrenalin, exhaustion, hopelessness, cynicism and only very occasionally the sense that you've made a small difference to the world. It certainly gives the flavour of how terrible things were in these places and how the UN could have done things better. However the three personalities never rang true for me. I didn't feel that I got to know these people. They all sounded curiously alike to me and I got the sense that Ken perhaps penned all three stories. Heidi comes across as Ken's fantasy girl with her limpid eyes and active sexual appetite. Andrew also comes across as Ken's fantasy of the heroic and noble doctor who windsurfs in his spare time. I'm not saying that these aren't real people, just that they never leapt off the page and became real to me.

Perhaps because of this, or perhaps because the nature of aid work is such that it's one long grind, the book dragged along for me. While I didn't mind it, I never felt the urge to pick it up and read more. I felt several times that I could have skipped 100 pages here or there and it wouldn't have made much difference. Really, you could flip open the book in a bookstore, read a few pages here and there, and get the flavour of the entire piece. It's not a bad book by any stretch, but it could have been much better with judicious editing.

thrilling, captivating nonfiction, 18 Jan 2008
I bought this book based on a feeling it was good and I wasn't wrong. It's written by 3 very good authors, their writing style is sophisticated but simple enough not to boggle your mind. Three perspectives on a situation is a jewel in itself and it's nonfiction, an extra for me. You won't want to put it down.

The laughter & tears , 10 Nov 2007
I loved this book. I have recommended it to everyone- ex-Army, complacent city city kids. It doesn't have a sweet conclusion, but in that sense, nor does life. It starts off with the romantic dream of working for an NGO, and describes the kind of enlighenment that day to day living brings with any issue. On the eve of Remmberance, and with my closest friends who have been there, this has helped me to understand more so than any text book or lecture. My copy is well thumbed and I am proud.

Gritty and realistic, 04 Jul 2007
Having sent some time in some of these places during my Air Force days I was interesed to see a different perspective of these p