All Hail the New Puritans begins with a ten-point manifesto. Part pastiche of modernist manifestos, part bullet-point mission statement, this manifesto claims to eschew inter alia voice, flashbacks, poetic licence and rhetoric in favour of plain, authentic, transparent testimonial prose.

Fortunately, the practice of the New Puritans is much more interesting and sophisticated than their theory. All set in the present, the stories dissect many aspects of contemporary life with verve, wit and sympathy. While ostensibly offering us faithful representations of the present, many of the stories have considerable satirical bite.

The entertainment/information economy and its possibilities and pitfalls are chronicled in Blincoe's "Short Guide to Game Theory"--a tale of schoolboy rivalry transposed into the conflict between a board-game developer and the aspirant designer of a game called SWING, the object of which is to create and market a pop group; the protagonist and narrator in Matthew Branton's "Monkey See" works as a techie tracing internet porn, who tries to spice up his sex-life with his much-loved wife by joining a swingers group. Tony White's "Poet" explores the possibilities (emotional, economic and formal) of using Excel to write sonnets in a moving meditation on being a writer in a digital age. --Neville Hoad

refreshing and entertaining stories - some even brilliant, 22 Jun 2005
i'm not interested in (re)viewing this book in a context of contemporary british fiction but recently i've burrowed through a dozen or so short story collections in search of a refreshing read and this one struck me as the most intelligent, witty and fun of them all. obviously, "your mileage may vary" but still i dread to imagine what the pompous critics of this book actually consider a good read.

the "dogme-like" manifesto is a fun idea, and i even tracked down other works by these authors (and found most of their lengthier novels disappointing). so - confirmed is my faith in the short story format and i'd like to recommend this collection even to those who don't necessarily rate these authors' other work.

Fiction for the Future, 10 Feb 2002
I bought this book mainly because I like Matt Thorne's novels, and wasn't sure about the hype and the strange rules. But the stories deliver, and are all really good. A cool collection.

Good stories; strange rules, 26 Nov 2000
I think I have to begin by review by arguing with the last review. [The]remarks are typical of many of the criticisms fired at this anthology - which all stem from literary snobbery... After all, ordinary readers like me and my friends love these stories. They are relevant to us and to our lives. These stories do have depth and complexity - just because they're not 'clever clever' and don't have Julian-Barnes-style references to Flaubert to show off how well-read the readers are, this doesn't mean to say they don't have depth. They are not cliche either - not just about relationships between twentysomethings - but wierd and wonderful subjects, like Matt Thorne's brilliantly erotic and bizarre story.

On the other hand - I don't think the New Puritans needed to be 'New Puritans.' They could have just put together a collection of short stories for charity, like Nick Hornby's fantastic 'Speaking with the Angel' or the slightly trashy 'Girls Night In'. I found the rules silly and pretentious; I can't help feeling they were just a publicity stunt, which has got everyone talking and arguing...Or me writing this review. Still, in age where the success of books depends as much on hype as quality, who can blame then?

What a shower, 07 Nov 2000
It's difficult to conceive of a sorrier crowd of no-hopers than we see collected together here. With the possible exception of Dyer (who should be ashamed of himself for stooping to this level), the so-called 'new puritans' offer stories which are on the level of Little Red Riding Hood when it comes to depth and complexity. The thrust of the 'manifesto' - that literature needs to find some pure values in terms of storytelling and precision in use of language is not without value, though it is incredibly short-sighted and pretty banal in the way it's outlined. It's just a real shame that such a shower of second rate authors is the best the editors could come up with to illustrate it. The fact that they include their own work says a lot.

Like Chairman Mao's Little Red Book - Except White, 06 Nov 2000
These stories changed my life. I bought a Dreamcast after reading Scarlett Thomas's story, and bought a Formula One game for it after reading Alex Garland's. Then I read Matt Thorne's story and painted a semi-obscene painting of my girlfriend. I was arrested shortly after finishing Toby Litt's tale. But my favourite part was the manifesto at the beginning of the anthology - it is a real call to arms. I have taken to carrying a concealed weapon with me at all times.

As an international dope smuggler, David Ramsbottom is used to an eventful existence. We join him on the day of his wedding to debutante Annabella Babbage--chain-smoking reefers in a bid to forget his two tons of hashish trapped in Beirut, and the police cars encircling the church.

Fifteen years later, broke, world-weary and irredeemably dependent on weed, David rejoins his old smuggling partner, Tony Khouri, in Israel, on the promise of easy cash to be made from an illegal land deal. But, as David should have learnt, nothing in his life comes easy. Shadowy Mossad agents, murderous Russians, fanatical nuns and egg smugglers are strewn across his path, while David yearns for just one smoke to make sense of it all. When that smoke comes, he is catapulted into an apocalyptic end-game, where his own survival hangs in the balance.

Set against the chaotic backdrop of the late 90s Holy Land, The Dope Priest is an uncanny mix of humour and tension. It combines the relentless pace of the best thrillers with the jaded eye of a pot-smoking William Boyd. It is possible to have reservations over such a cocktail: sometimes the political detail, though thoroughly researched, is a little heavy. And the love interest never quite produces the goods--because the plot allows little opportunity for its characters to grow on us. That said, Blincoe has tackled an unfamiliar subject with enviable ease, and produced a gripping tale. Reading while under the influence is not advised. --Matthew Baylis

refreshing and entertaining stories - some even brilliant, 22 Jun 2005
i'm not interested in (re)viewing this book in a context of contemporary british fiction but recently i've burrowed through a dozen or so short story collections in search of a refreshing read and this one struck me as the most intelligent, witty and fun of them all. obviously, "your mileage may vary" but still i dread to imagine what the pompous critics of this book actually consider a good read.

the "dogme-like" manifesto is a fun idea, and i even tracked down other works by these authors (and found most of their lengthier novels disappointing). so - confirmed is my faith in the short story format and i'd like to recommend this collection even to those who don't necessarily rate these authors' other work.

Fiction for the Future, 10 Feb 2002
I bought this book mainly because I like Matt Thorne's novels, and wasn't sure about the hype and the strange rules. But the stories deliver, and are all really good. A cool collection.

Good stories; strange rules, 26 Nov 2000
I think I have to begin by review by arguing with the last review. [The]remarks are typical of many of the criticisms fired at this anthology - which all stem from literary snobbery... After all, ordinary readers like me and my friends love these stories. They are relevant to us and to our lives. These stories do have depth and complexity - just because they're not 'clever clever' and don't have Julian-Barnes-style references to Flaubert to show off how well-read the readers are, this doesn't mean to say they don't have depth. They are not cliche either - not just about relationships between twentysomethings - but wierd and wonderful subjects, like Matt Thorne's brilliantly erotic and bizarre story.

On the other hand - I don't think the New Puritans needed to be 'New Puritans.' They could have just put together a collection of short stories for charity, like Nick Hornby's fantastic 'Speaking with the Angel' or the slightly trashy 'Girls Night In'. I found the rules silly and pretentious; I can't help feeling they were just a publicity stunt, which has got everyone talking and arguing...Or me writing this review. Still, in age where the success of books depends as much on hype as quality, who can blame then?

What a shower, 07 Nov 2000
It's difficult to conceive of a sorrier crowd of no-hopers than we see collected together here. With the possible exception of Dyer (who should be ashamed of himself for stooping to this level), the so-called 'new puritans' offer stories which are on the level of Little Red Riding Hood when it comes to depth and complexity. The thrust of the 'manifesto' - that literature needs to find some pure values in terms of storytelling and precision in use of language is not without value, though it is incredibly short-sighted and pretty banal in the way it's outlined. It's just a real shame that such a shower of second rate authors is the best the editors could come up with to illustrate it. The fact that they include their own work says a lot.

Like Chairman Mao's Little Red Book - Except White, 06 Nov 2000
These stories changed my life. I bought a Dreamcast after reading Scarlett Thomas's story, and bought a Formula One game for it after reading Alex Garland's. Then I read Matt Thorne's story and painted a semi-obscene painting of my girlfriend. I was arrested shortly after finishing Toby Litt's tale. But my favourite part was the manifesto at the beginning of the anthology - it is a real call to arms. I have taken to carrying a concealed weapon with me at all times.

Holy land, holy Mayhem? I think not!, 21 Mar 2001
I read one of the reviews on the book jacket that stated this is a very funny, very scary and a very dark story... Well it certainly wasn't scary even when dealing with ever-present violence that exists in the west bank the story failed to convey this. Funny? I didn't laugh once, there are some amusing moments when the totally unconvincing on-the-run dope smuggler gets mistaken for a priest but this is not a funny book even if it is trying hard to be! A dark story? is it trying to be a modern film-noir type crime novel? Again I didn't get this from it. In the end what you can say is that it does convey the geographical setting well but it does little more than this. Blincoe tries to make the main character David in to a loveable rogue but he comes across as a rather inneffectual dope-head with few worthwhile attributes. The story dealing with the property scam at first seems to have potential but it soon runs out of steam and flounders to a rather inconsequential ending. In the end you feel it was a bit of a waste of time.

Safest way to visit Israel and Palestine, 08 Nov 2000
I have been to Israel a few times and even trekked round the tourist spots of Bethlehem but this book took me deeper than I ever expected. It is set in 1997 so it is pretty peaceful - there are no riots on the streets, no soldiers shooting teenagers with rocks. Instead it looks at different problems, every day life in the occupied territories and the Israeli efforts to dominate Jerusalem by all means possible, whether that means violence, or just buying up all the available property. The hero is a likeable British stoner who never quite realises how serious the situation is. It is a funny book, but it is also the most serious-thinking book I have read in a long long while.

cute short stories strung together badly, 01 Oct 2000
I read a great review of this book in the Guardian Weekly, but I will never trust them again. There are a few funny stories here, but stringing them together into a novel was a mistake. They are barely hooked together, hard to follow and generally silly, making all the characters seem stupid and laughable. Any attempts at sympathetic characters are two dimensional. Definitely not worth the price!

Full of insights and local knowledge; very, very funny, 16 Jun 2000
I loved it! Blincoe writes extremely well, making it all seem deceptively easy. Dialogue is rendered true to the idioms of the region and the characters are rendered vividly and efficiently. The episode with the nun on the Via Dolorosa still makes me laugh now - I have picked the book off the shelf a few times just to reread that passage. Great stuff.

refreshing and entertaining stories - some even brilliant, 22 Jun 2005
i'm not interested in (re)viewing this book in a context of contemporary british fiction but recently i've burrowed through a dozen or so short story collections in search of a refreshing read and this one struck me as the most intelligent, witty and fun of them all. obviously, "your mileage may vary" but still i dread to imagine what the pompous critics of this book actually consider a good read.

the "dogme-like" manifesto is a fun idea, and i even tracked down other works by these authors (and found most of their lengthier novels disappointing). so - confirmed is my faith in the short story format and i'd like to recommend this collection even to those who don't necessarily rate these authors' other work.

Fiction for the Future, 10 Feb 2002
I bought this book mainly because I like Matt Thorne's novels, and wasn't sure about the hype and the strange rules. But the stories deliver, and are all really good. A cool collection.

Good stories; strange rules, 26 Nov 2000
I think I have to begin by review by arguing with the last review. [The]remarks are typical of many of the criticisms fired at this anthology - which all stem from literary snobbery... After all, ordinary readers like me and my friends love these stories. They are relevant to us and to our lives. These stories do have depth and complexity - just because they're not 'clever clever' and don't have Julian-Barnes-style references to Flaubert to show off how well-read the readers are, this doesn't mean to say they don't have depth. They are not cliche either - not just about relationships between twentysomethings - but wierd and wonderful subjects, like Matt Thorne's brilliantly erotic and bizarre story.

On the other hand - I don't think the New Puritans needed to be 'New Puritans.' They could have just put together a collection of short stories for charity, like Nick Hornby's fantastic 'Speaking with the Angel' or the slightly trashy 'Girls Night In'. I found the rules silly and pretentious; I can't help feeling they were just a publicity stunt, which has got everyone talking and arguing...Or me writing this review. Still, in age where the success of books depends as much on hype as quality, who can blame then?

What a shower, 07 Nov 2000
It's difficult to conceive of a sorrier crowd of no-hopers than we see collected together here. With the possible exception of Dyer (who should be ashamed of himself for stooping to this level), the so-called 'new puritans' offer stories which are on the level of Little Red Riding Hood when it comes to depth and complexity. The thrust of the 'manifesto' - that literature needs to find some pure values in terms of storytelling and precision in use of language is not without value, though it is incredibly short-sighted and pretty banal in the way it's outlined. It's just a real shame that such a shower of second rate authors is the best the editors could come up with to illustrate it. The fact that they include their own work says a lot.

Like Chairman Mao's Little Red Book - Except White, 06 Nov 2000
These stories changed my life. I bought a Dreamcast after reading Scarlett Thomas's story, and bought a Formula One game for it after reading Alex Garland's. Then I read Matt Thorne's story and painted a semi-obscene painting of my girlfriend. I was arrested shortly after finishing Toby Litt's tale. But my favourite part was the manifesto at the beginning of the anthology - it is a real call to arms. I have taken to carrying a concealed weapon with me at all times.

Holy land, holy Mayhem? I think not!, 21 Mar 2001
I read one of the reviews on the book jacket that stated this is a very funny, very scary and a very dark story... Well it certainly wasn't scary even when dealing with ever-present violence that exists in the west bank the story failed to convey this. Funny? I didn't laugh once, there are some amusing moments when the totally unconvincing on-the-run dope smuggler gets mistaken for a priest but this is not a funny book even if it is trying hard to be! A dark story? is it trying to be a modern film-noir type crime novel? Again I didn't get this from it. In the end what you can say is that it does convey the geographical setting well but it does little more than this. Blincoe tries to make the main character David in to a loveable rogue but he comes across as a rather inneffectual dope-head with few worthwhile attributes. The story dealing with the property scam at first seems to have potential but it soon runs out of steam and flounders to a rather inconsequential ending. In the end you feel it was a bit of a waste of time.

Safest way to visit Israel and Palestine, 08 Nov 2000
I have been to Israel a few times and even trekked round the tourist spots of Bethlehem but this book took me deeper than I ever expected. It is set in 1997 so it is pretty peaceful - there are no riots on the streets, no soldiers shooting teenagers with rocks. Instead it looks at different problems, every day life in the occupied territories and the Israeli efforts to dominate Jerusalem by all means possible, whether that means violence, or just buying up all the available property. The hero is a likeable British stoner who never quite realises how serious the situation is. It is a funny book, but it is also the most serious-thinking book I have read in a long long while.

cute short stories strung together badly, 01 Oct 2000
I read a great review of this book in the Guardian Weekly, but I will never trust them again. There are a few funny stories here, but stringing them together into a novel was a mistake. They are barely hooked together, hard to follow and generally silly, making all the characters seem stupid and laughable. Any attempts at sympathetic characters are two dimensional. Definitely not worth the price!

Full of insights and local knowledge; very, very funny, 16 Jun 2000
I loved it! Blincoe writes extremely well, making it all seem deceptively easy. Dialogue is rendered true to the idioms of the region and the characters are rendered vividly and efficiently. The episode with the nun on the Via Dolorosa still makes me laugh now - I have picked the book off the shelf a few times just to reread that passage. Great stuff.

Some considerations on the below reviews - evidence for systematic bias, 06 Aug 2007
See how 3 out of 4 One Star reviews (ignoring the duplicate) were written on 9th August 2004? Isn't that a little odd, that all these reviewers should independently alight on the site on the same day? My hypothesis would be that the reviews are the result of an e-mail being sent round a list of pro-Occupation keyboard warriors who have made it their business to dissuade people from reading the book. A further consideration is that at the time of writing, unlike the positive reviewers, none of the One Star brigade have ever felt the need to review anything else on this site.

The fact that only one of the 4 One Star reviewers makes any sort of effort to pretend to have read the text further mitigates in favour of this view. They are transparently reviewing the ISM, and using Amazon as a forum to put across their views about the organisation (which, incidentally, are absolutely innacurate). While this isn't the place to have that debate in full, it is worth being sceptical of any impartiality or concern for evidence which might be imparted to their view point.

For some people perhaps, such a systematic attempt to prevent the book being read will be reason enough to check it out. In brief; it's a set of revealing and humane stories, varying hugely in the background of their author, the context in which they were written, and the aspect of life in Occupied Palestine which they describe.

I wouldn't generally give this book 5 stars. It's not *that* good - probably a 4 is accurate. It's an excellent documentary piece; showing how things really do seem to new eyes walking into Occupied Palestine. And showing some attempts of international citizens to intervene in those cirucmstances, with Palestinians. But simply as a collation of documents, it never elevates to history, nor to any detailed analysis of the movement as a whole. That's not a fault of the book as such, it's just a limitation of its form. On the other hand, for some people the directness of access to the voices of first hand experience will be a strength. In any case: it's getting Five Stars from me to counter balance the deliberate propagandising in some prior reviews.

The ISM, in years to come, will be seen as something new: bold, flawed, unique - a social movement organisation hardly with parrallel. This book captures the birth of the organisation, and its activity during its most intense early period; when a small group of committed activists grabbed headlines all over the world, and changed a few lives for the better.

Peace Under Fire: Israel, Palestine and the International So, 30 Mar 2006
I am not sure by what stretch of the imagination the International Solidarity Movement can be called a peaceful one. This book is a travesty. Far from believing in non-violent protest and "bearing witness" the ISM actively aids and abets terrorism and the smuggling of arms into the West Bank, for use against Israeli civilians.

The beatification of Rachel Corrie is at best misguided, at worst a cynical propaganda ploy

Breaking curfew . . ., 04 Oct 2004
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) differs from the many other organisations involved in relief work in the Palestinian territories through its belief in non-violent, direct action to bring about an end to Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Its work is also, however, to bear witness, revealing in the process the practical effect of Israeli government policies that seem to revel in the momentum of violence - a pretext for accelerating illegal appropriations of Palestinian land and natural assets. This book, then, is a narrative gripping in two senses - a compelling read; and an account of wrestling with the daily exigencies of survival under violent military occupation.

"Peace Under Fire" is arranged in three parts: the origins and aims of the Movement; volunteers' experiences in the field (simultaneously depicting the ISM at work and Palestinian communities' struggle for survival); and the Movement's response to the Israeli Defence Forces' (IDF) desperate attempts to suppress ISM activities.

A definition of what the ISM is about (p20-1) prefaces activists' communiqués, which are grouped by type of action: emergency responses to the IDF's assault on the occupied territories in April 2002; resisting curfews and restrictions on movement; mitigating the impact of army harassment of medical services; deterring settler attacks on villagers during the olive harvest; supporting families as their homes are demolished around them; campaigning against the construction of the separation barrier dividing the West Bank . . .

Despite its comparative youth, a strong case can be made for the ISM having worked harder for peace than any of the speculative proposals offered by Israeli politicians since the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accord (itself lacking robustness as a blueprint for a lasting cessation of conflict). In forcing the world's attention to focus on the humanitarian dimension of Palestinians' struggle for self-determination, the Movement obliges recognition that there are 3.5 million partners for peace - instead of victimisation - in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A reader who has not followed closely political developments in the region will be struck, in ISMers' reportage, by the insidiousness of the Israeli presence - both settler and military - as it impacts in sadistic fashion on the social and economic minutiae of Palestinian daily life. But a more powerful impression is left by evidence of the grace and resilience of Palestinians under such grinding persecution - qualities that this reviewer, as an ISM volunteer during the period covered by the book, found both awe-inspiring and life-changing.

The ISM is also about filling the void left by international politicians too cynical or too parochial to commit to implementing effective strategies for a just peace in the Middle East. The Movement is Palestinian-founded and -led, and self-financing, while geared by voluntary international participation in increasing numbers. The potential for ISM's strength is thus exponential, limitless . . .

"ISM is a threat [to the Israeli project of occupation, discrimination and apartheid-like rule] because we've created space for Internationals to see it, live it, and speak out about it. But Occupation is not going to be defeated by words alone; occupation, oppression and domination are going to be dismantled the same way they were erected, through the action of people - through civilian-based resistance." [Co-Founder Huwaida Arraf, 'Fighting the Conspiracy of Silence', p 292]

The book is the story of this struggle through to the summer of 2003, in volunteers' own words, giving a 'live-and-direct' feel to some harrowing accounts of confrontation and martial terrorisation, while avoiding the refractions and stereotyped distortions endemic to the news media industry. Once you've managed to put it down, consider lending your copy of the book to your elected government representative for a month or two . . . they should not be allowed to claim that they never knew.

Deception at best, 09 Aug 2004
When an organization like ISM sets out to create an image for itself, it wisely chooses to distance itself from its main source of inspiration, palestinian terrorism. But far from being an innocent peace activist organization, they have become 'one' with the radical elements within Palestinian terror organizations :

Illinois resident and ISM activist, Kevin Clark told the February 13, 2003 Palentine Countryside that "he stayed at the family home of Burak Khelfi, who carried out a Jan. 5 suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. Clark stayed in the home with other internationals to protect it from demolition by the Israeli Occupation Forces."

Clark, on the Web site "Stop US Tax-funded Aid to Israel Now!" (SUSTAIN), a group of which Clark is a member, glorified the suicide bomber as a "martyr." His article also highlights the type of irresponsible actions ISM activists engage in.

Last evening, I along with two young "internationals", stayed at the home of one of the Tel Aviv Martyrs' families to protect them should the IOF appear to demolish their home. This is the same home that I have stayed in several nights and have been honored by their warmth.

* The March 20, 2003 Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that ISM activist Susan Barclay told the paper "she knowingly worked with representatives from Hamas and Islamic Jihad." Hamas and Islamic Jihad are terrorist organizations.

* On April 30, 2003 Asif Muhammad Hanif murdered three people and wounded more than 50 in a suicide bombing at Mike's Place, a Tel Aviv tavern. Five days earlier, he and his collaborator, Omar Khan Sharif, were among a group hosted by ISM members at their Gaza apartment. According to the May 2, 2003 Guardian, "the Britons who mounted the suicide attacks in Israel attempted to join the peace movement as cover for their activities, the Guardian has learnt."

ISM claims they were unaware of the terrorists' intent. Either they were "useful idiots" who helped ease the terrorists' movements, or they intentionally aided them. Either choice does not speak well of them.

MISLEADING PROPAGANDA, 09 Aug 2004
The book gives the impression that ISM was set up and operates as a genuine international movement of peaceful activity. But it is the opposite. First, it works to raise awareness of the Palestinian cause, which in effect means the destruction of the Israeli state, which is a tenet of the Palestinian National Covenant and the Hamas and Islamic Jihad organisations. Secondly its concern is solely with the Palestinian issue. Thirdly it is Palestinian led and Palestinian organised.

While it professes to be committed to the principles of non-violent resistance it also approves of the use of what it terms "legitimate armed struggle." That is a euphemism for indiscriminate violence and murder as engaged in by Arafat's organisations and those associated with him. The aim being the destruction of the Jewish state as is well documented in "Arafat's War" by Efraim Karsh.

Neither the ISM nor most of its members support peace: they support one of the most corrupt ruthless violent inhuman and undemocratic leaders in the Middle East. The book is a 21st century application of Joseph Goebbels' Big Lie method of hate propaganda.

refreshing and entertaining stories - some even brilliant, 22 Jun 2005
i'm not interested in (re)viewing this book in a context of contemporary british fiction but recently i've burrowed through a dozen or so short story collections in search of a refreshing read and this one struck me as the most intelligent, witty and fun of them all. obviously, "your mileage may vary" but still i dread to imagine what the pompous critics of this book actually consider a good read.

the "dogme-like" manifesto is a fun idea, and i even tracked down other works by these authors (and found most of their lengthier novels disappointing). so - confirmed is my faith in the short story format and i'd like to recommend this collection even to those who don't necessarily rate these authors' other work.

Fiction for the Future, 10 Feb 2002
I bought this book mainly because I like Matt Thorne's novels, and wasn't sure about the hype and the strange rules. But the stories deliver, and are all really good. A cool collection.

Good stories; strange rules, 26 Nov 2000
I think I have to begin by review by arguing with the last review. [The]remarks are typical of many of the criticisms fired at this anthology - which all stem from literary snobbery... After all, ordinary readers like me and my friends love these stories. They are relevant to us and to our lives. These stories do have depth and complexity - just because they're not 'clever clever' and don't have Julian-Barnes-style references to Flaubert to show off how well-read the readers are, this doesn't mean to say they don't have depth. They are not cliche either - not just about relationships between twentysomethings - but wierd and wonderful subjects, like Matt Thorne's brilliantly erotic and bizarre story.

On the other hand - I don't think the New Puritans needed to be 'New Puritans.' They could have just put together a collection of short stories for charity, like Nick Hornby's fantastic 'Speaking with the Angel' or the slightly trashy 'Girls Night In'. I found the rules silly and pretentious; I can't help feeling they were just a publicity stunt, which has got everyone talking and arguing...Or me writing this review. Still, in age where the success of books depends as much on hype as quality, who can blame then?

What a shower, 07 Nov 2000
It's difficult to conceive of a sorrier crowd of no-hopers than we see collected together here. With the possible exception of Dyer (who should be ashamed of himself for stooping to this level), the so-called 'new puritans' offer stories which are on the level of Little Red Riding Hood when it comes to depth and complexity. The thrust of the 'manifesto' - that literature needs to find some pure values in terms of storytelling and precision in use of language is not without value, though it is incredibly short-sighted and pretty banal in the way it's outlined. It's just a real shame that such a shower of second rate authors is the best the editors could come up with to illustrate it. The fact that they include their own work says a lot.

Like Chairman Mao's Little Red Book - Except White, 06 Nov 2000
These stories changed my life. I bought a Dreamcast after reading Scarlett Thomas's story, and bought a Formula One game for it after reading Alex Garland's. Then I read Matt Thorne's story and painted a semi-obscene painting of my girlfriend. I was arrested shortly after finishing Toby Litt's tale. But my favourite part was the manifesto at the beginning of the anthology - it is a real call to arms. I have taken to carrying a concealed weapon with me at all times.

Holy land, holy Mayhem? I think not!, 21 Mar 2001
I read one of the reviews on the book jacket that stated this is a very funny, very scary and a very dark story... Well it certainly wasn't scary even when dealing with ever-present violence that exists in the west bank the story failed to convey this. Funny? I didn't laugh once, there are some amusing moments when the totally unconvincing on-the-run dope smuggler gets mistaken for a priest but this is not a funny book even if it is trying hard to be! A dark story? is it trying to be a modern film-noir type crime novel? Again I didn't get this from it. In the end what you can say is that it does convey the geographical setting well but it does little more than this. Blincoe tries to make the main character David in to a loveable rogue but he comes across as a rather inneffectual dope-head with few worthwhile attributes. The story dealing with the property scam at first seems to have potential but it soon runs out of steam and flounders to a rather inconsequential ending. In the end you feel it was a bit of a waste of time.

Safest way to visit Israel and Palestine, 08 Nov 2000
I have been to Israel a few times and even trekked round the tourist spots of Bethlehem but this book took me deeper than I ever expected. It is set in 1997 so it is pretty peaceful - there are no riots on the streets, no soldiers shooting teenagers with rocks. Instead it looks at different problems, every day life in the occupied territories and the Israeli efforts to dominate Jerusalem by all means possible, whether that means violence, or just buying up all the available property. The hero is a likeable British stoner who never quite realises how serious the situation is. It is a funny book, but it is also the most serious-thinking book I have read in a long long while.

cute short stories strung together badly, 01 Oct 2000
I read a great review of this book in the Guardian Weekly, but I will never trust them again. There are a few funny stories here, but stringing them together into a novel was a mistake. They are barely hooked together, hard to follow and generally silly, making all the characters seem stupid and laughable. Any attempts at sympathetic characters are two dimensional. Definitely not worth the price!

Full of insights and local knowledge; very, very funny, 16 Jun 2000
I loved it! Blincoe writes extremely well, making it all seem deceptively easy. Dialogue is rendered true to the idioms of the region and the characters are rendered vividly and efficiently. The episode with the nun on the Via Dolorosa still makes me laugh now - I have picked the book off the shelf a few times just to reread that passage. Great stuff.

Some considerations on the below reviews - evidence for systematic bias, 06 Aug 2007
See how 3 out of 4 One Star reviews (ignoring the duplicate) were written on 9th August 2004? Isn't that a little odd, that all these reviewers should independently alight on the site on the same day? My hypothesis would be that the reviews are the result of an e-mail being sent round a list of pro-Occupation keyboard warriors who have made it their business to dissuade people from reading the book. A further consideration is that at the time of writing, unlike the positive reviewers, none of the One Star brigade have ever felt the need to review anything else on this site.

The fact that only one of the 4 One Star reviewers makes any sort of effort to pretend to have read the text further mitigates in favour of this view. They are transparently reviewing the ISM, and using Amazon as a forum to put across their views about the organisation (which, incidentally, are absolutely innacurate). While this isn't the place to have that debate in full, it is worth being sceptical of any impartiality or concern for evidence which might be imparted to their view point.

For some people perhaps, such a systematic attempt to prevent the book being read will be reason enough to check it out. In brief; it's a set of revealing and humane stories, varying hugely in the background of their author, the context in which they were written, and the aspect of life in Occupied Palestine which they describe.

I wouldn't generally give this book 5 stars. It's not *that* good - probably a 4 is accurate. It's an excellent documentary piece; showing how things really do seem to new eyes walking into Occupied Palestine. And showing some attempts of international citizens to intervene in those cirucmstances, with Palestinians. But simply as a collation of documents, it never elevates to history, nor to any detailed analysis of the movement as a whole. That's not a fault of the book as such, it's just a limitation of its form. On the other hand, for some people the directness of access to the voices of first hand experience will be a strength. In any case: it's getting Five Stars from me to counter balance the deliberate propagandising in some prior reviews.

The ISM, in years to come, will be seen as something new: bold, flawed, unique - a social movement organisation hardly with parrallel. This book captures the birth of the organisation, and its activity during its most intense early period; when a small group of committed activists grabbed headlines all over the world, and changed a few lives for the better.

Peace Under Fire: Israel, Palestine and the International So, 30 Mar 2006
I am not sure by what stretch of the imagination the International Solidarity Movement can be called a peaceful one. This book is a travesty. Far from believing in non-violent protest and "bearing witness" the ISM actively aids and abets terrorism and the smuggling of arms into the West Bank, for use against Israeli civilians.

The beatification of Rachel Corrie is at best misguided, at worst a cynical propaganda ploy

Breaking curfew . . ., 04 Oct 2004
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) differs from the many other organisations involved in relief work in the Palestinian territories through its belief in non-violent, direct action to bring about an end to Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Its work is also, however, to bear witness, revealing in the process the practical effect of Israeli government policies that seem to revel in the momentum of violence - a pretext for accelerating illegal appropriations of Palestinian land and natural assets. This book, then, is a narrative gripping in two senses - a compelling read; and an account of wrestling with the daily exigencies of survival under violent military occupation.

"Peace Under Fire" is arranged in three parts: the origins and aims of the Movement; volunteers' experiences in the field (simultaneously depicting the ISM at work and Palestinian communities' struggle for survival); and the Movement's response to the Israeli Defence Forces' (IDF) desperate attempts to suppress ISM activities.

A definition of what the ISM is about (p20-1) prefaces activists' communiqués, which are grouped by type of action: emergency responses to the IDF's assault on the occupied territories in April 2002; resisting curfews and restrictions on movement; mitigating the impact of army harassment of medical services; deterring settler attacks on villagers during the olive harvest; supporting families as their homes are demolished around them; campaigning against the construction of the separation barrier dividing the West Bank . . .

Despite its comparative youth, a strong case can be made for the ISM having worked harder for peace than any of the speculative proposals offered by Israeli politicians since the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accord (itself lacking robustness as a blueprint for a lasting cessation of conflict). In forcing the world's attention to focus on the humanitarian dimension of Palestinians' struggle for self-determination, the Movement obliges recognition that there are 3.5 million partners for peace - instead of victimisation - in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A reader who has not followed closely political developments in the region will be struck, in ISMers' reportage, by the insidiousness of the Israeli presence - both settler and military - as it impacts in sadistic fashion on the social and economic minutiae of Palestinian daily life. But a more powerful impression is left by evidence of the grace and resilience of Palestinians under such grinding persecution - qualities that this reviewer, as an ISM volunteer during the period covered by the book, found both awe-inspiring and life-changing.

The ISM is also about filling the void left by international politicians too cynical or too parochial to commit to implementing effective strategies for a just peace in the Middle East. The Movement is Palestinian-founded and -led, and self-financing, while geared by voluntary international participation in increasing numbers. The potential for ISM's strength is thus exponential, limitless . . .

"ISM is a threat [to the Israeli project of occupation, discrimination and apartheid-like rule] because we've created space for Internationals to see it, live it, and speak out about it. But Occupation is not going to be defeated by words alone; occupation, oppression and domination are going to be dismantled the same way they were erected, through the action of people - through civilian-based resistance." [Co-Founder Huwaida Arraf, 'Fighting the Conspiracy of Silence', p 292]

The book is the story of this struggle through to the summer of 2003, in volunteers' own words, giving a 'live-and-direct' feel to some harrowing accounts of confrontation and martial terrorisation, while avoiding the refractions and stereotyped distortions endemic to the news media industry. Once you've managed to put it down, consider lending your copy of the book to your elected government representative for a month or two . . . they should not be allowed to claim that they never knew.

Deception at best, 09 Aug 2004
When an organization like ISM sets out to create an image for itself, it wisely chooses to distance itself from its main source of inspiration, palestinian terrorism. But far from being an innocent peace activist organization, they have become 'one' with the radical elements within Palestinian terror organizations :

Illinois resident and ISM activist, Kevin Clark told the February 13, 2003 Palentine Countryside that "he stayed at the family home of Burak Khelfi, who carried out a Jan. 5 suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. Clark stayed in the home with other internationals to protect it from demolition by the Israeli Occupation Forces."

Clark, on the Web site "Stop US Tax-funded Aid to Israel Now!" (SUSTAIN), a group of which Clark is a member, glorified the suicide bomber as a "martyr." His article also highlights the type of irresponsible actions ISM activists engage in.

Last evening, I along with two young "internationals", stayed at the home of one of the Tel Aviv Martyrs' families to protect them should the IOF appear to demolish their home. This is the same home that I have stayed in several nights and have been honored by their warmth.

* The March 20, 2003 Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that ISM activist Susan Barclay told the paper "she knowingly worked with representatives from Hamas and Islamic Jihad." Hamas and Islamic Jihad are terrorist organizations.

* On April 30, 2003 Asif Muhammad Hanif murdered three people and wounded more than 50 in a suicide bombing at Mike's Place, a Tel Aviv tavern. Five days earlier, he and his collaborator, Omar Khan Sharif, were among a group hosted by ISM members at their Gaza apartment. According to the May 2, 2003 Guardian, "the Britons who mounted the suicide attacks in Israel attempted to join the peace movement as cover for their activities, the Guardian has learnt."

ISM claims they were unaware of the terrorists' intent. Either they were "useful idiots" who helped ease the terrorists' movements, or they intentionally aided them. Either choice does not speak well of them.

MISLEADING PROPAGANDA, 09 Aug 2004
The book gives the impression that ISM was set up and operates as a genuine international movement of peaceful activity. But it is the opposite. First, it works to raise awareness of the Palestinian cause, which in effect means the destruction of the Israeli state, which is a tenet of the Palestinian National Covenant and the Hamas and Islamic Jihad organisations. Secondly its concern is solely with the Palestinian issue. Thirdly it is Palestinian led and Palestinian organised.

While it professes to be committed to the principles of non-violent resistance it also approves of the use of what it terms "legitimate armed struggle." That is a euphemism for indiscriminate violence and murder as engaged in by Arafat's organisations and those associated with him. The aim being the destruction of the Jewish state as is well documented in "Arafat's War" by Efraim Karsh.

Neither the ISM nor most of its members support peace: they support one of the most corrupt ruthless violent inhuman and undemocratic leaders in the Middle East. The book is a 21st century application of Joseph Goebbels' Big Lie method of hate propaganda.

Some considerations on the below reviews - evidence for systematic bias, 06 Aug 2007
See how 3 out of 4 One Star reviews (ignoring the duplicate) were written on 9th August 2004? Isn't that a little odd, that all these reviewers should independently alight on the site on the same day? My hypothesis would be that the reviews are the result of an e-mail being sent round a list of pro-Occupation keyboard warriors who have made it their business to dissuade people from reading the book. A further consideration is that at the time of writing, unlike the positive reviewers, none of the One Star brigade have ever felt the need to review anything else on this site.

The fact that only one of the 4 One Star reviewers makes any sort of effort to pretend to have read the text further mitigates in favour of this view. They are transparently reviewing the ISM, and using Amazon as a forum to put across their views about the organisation (which, incidentally, are absolutely innacurate). While this isn't the place to have that debate in full, it is worth being sceptical of any impartiality or concern for evidence which might be imparted to their view point.

For some people perhaps, such a systematic attempt to prevent the book being read will be reason enough to check it out. In brief; it's a set of revealing and humane stories, varying hugely in the background of their author, the context in which they were written, and the aspect of life in Occupied Palestine which they describe.

I wouldn't generally give this book 5 stars. It's not *that* good - probably a 4 is accurate. It's an excellent documentary piece; showing how things really do seem to new eyes walking into Occupied Palestine. And showing some attempts of international citizens to intervene in those cirucmstances, with Palestinians. But simply as a collation of documents, it never elevates to history, nor to any detailed analysis of the movement as a whole. That's not a fault of the book as such, it's just a limitation of its form. On the other hand, for some people the directness of access to the voices of first hand experience will be a strength. In any case: it's getting Five Stars from me to counter balance the deliberate propagandising in some prior reviews.

The ISM, in years to come, will be seen as something new: bold, flawed, unique - a social movement organisation hardly with parrallel. This book captures the birth of the organisation, and its activity during its most intense early period; when a small group of committed activists grabbed headlines all over the world, and changed a few lives for the better.

Peace Under Fire: Israel, Palestine and the International So, 30 Mar 2006
I am not sure by what stretch of the imagination the International Solidarity Movement can be called a peaceful one. This book is a travesty. Far from believing in non-violent protest and "bearing witness" the ISM actively aids and abets terrorism and the smuggling of arms into the West Bank, for use against Israeli civilians.

The beatification of Rachel Corrie is at best misguided, at worst a cynical propaganda ploy

Breaking curfew . . ., 04 Oct 2004
The International Solidarity Movement (ISM) differs from the many other organisations involved in relief work in the Palestinian territories through its belief in non-violent, direct action to bring about an end to Israeli occupation of the West Bank and Gaza Strip. Its work is also, however, to bear witness, revealing in the process the practical effect of Israeli government policies that seem to revel in the momentum of violence - a pretext for accelerating illegal appropriations of Palestinian land and natural assets. This book, then, is a narrative gripping in two senses - a compelling read; and an account of wrestling with the daily exigencies of survival under violent military occupation.

"Peace Under Fire" is arranged in three parts: the origins and aims of the Movement; volunteers' experiences in the field (simultaneously depicting the ISM at work and Palestinian communities' struggle for survival); and the Movement's response to the Israeli Defence Forces' (IDF) desperate attempts to suppress ISM activities.

A definition of what the ISM is about (p20-1) prefaces activists' communiqués, which are grouped by type of action: emergency responses to the IDF's assault on the occupied territories in April 2002; resisting curfews and restrictions on movement; mitigating the impact of army harassment of medical services; deterring settler attacks on villagers during the olive harvest; supporting families as their homes are demolished around them; campaigning against the construction of the separation barrier dividing the West Bank . . .

Despite its comparative youth, a strong case can be made for the ISM having worked harder for peace than any of the speculative proposals offered by Israeli politicians since the signing of the 1993 Oslo Accord (itself lacking robustness as a blueprint for a lasting cessation of conflict). In forcing the world's attention to focus on the humanitarian dimension of Palestinians' struggle for self-determination, the Movement obliges recognition that there are 3.5 million partners for peace - instead of victimisation - in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. A reader who has not followed closely political developments in the region will be struck, in ISMers' reportage, by the insidiousness of the Israeli presence - both settler and military - as it impacts in sadistic fashion on the social and economic minutiae of Palestinian daily life. But a more powerful impression is left by evidence of the grace and resilience of Palestinians under such grinding persecution - qualities that this reviewer, as an ISM volunteer during the period covered by the book, found both awe-inspiring and life-changing.

The ISM is also about filling the void left by international politicians too cynical or too parochial to commit to implementing effective strategies for a just peace in the Middle East. The Movement is Palestinian-founded and -led, and self-financing, while geared by voluntary international participation in increasing numbers. The potential for ISM's strength is thus exponential, limitless . . .

"ISM is a threat [to the Israeli project of occupation, discrimination and apartheid-like rule] because we've created space for Internationals to see it, live it, and speak out about it. But Occupation is not going to be defeated by words alone; occupation, oppression and domination are going to be dismantled the same way they were erected, through the action of people - through civilian-based resistance." [Co-Founder Huwaida Arraf, 'Fighting the Conspiracy of Silence', p 292]

The book is the story of this struggle through to the summer of 2003, in volunteers' own words, giving a 'live-and-direct' feel to some harrowing accounts of confrontation and martial terrorisation, while avoiding the refractions and stereotyped distortions endemic to the news media industry. Once you've managed to put it down, consider lending your copy of the book to your elected government representative for a month or two . . . they should not be allowed to claim that they never knew.

Deception at best, 09 Aug 2004
When an organization like ISM sets out to create an image for itself, it wisely chooses to distance itself from its main source of inspiration, palestinian terrorism. But far from being an innocent peace activist organization, they have become 'one' with the radical elements within Palestinian terror organizations :

Illinois resident and ISM activist, Kevin Clark told the February 13, 2003 Palentine Countryside that "he stayed at the family home of Burak Khelfi, who carried out a Jan. 5 suicide bombing in Tel Aviv. Clark stayed in the home with other internationals to protect it from demolition by the Israeli Occupation Forces."

Clark, on the Web site "Stop US Tax-funded Aid to Israel Now!" (SUSTAIN), a group of which Clark is a member, glorified the suicide bomber as a "martyr." His article also highlights the type of irresponsible actions ISM activists engage in.

Last evening, I along with two young "internationals", stayed at the home of one of the Tel Aviv Martyrs' families to protect them should the IOF appear to demolish their home. This is the same home that I have stayed in several nights and have been honored by their warmth.

* The March 20, 2003 Seattle Post-Intelligencer reported that ISM activist Susan Barclay told the paper "she knowingly worked with representatives from Hamas and Islamic Jihad." Hamas and Islamic Jihad are terrorist organizations.

* On April 30, 2003 Asif Muhammad Hanif murdered three people and wounded more than 50 in a suicide bombing at Mike's Place, a Tel Aviv tavern. Five days earlier, he and his collaborator, Omar Khan Sharif, were among a group hosted by ISM members at their Gaza apartment. According to the May 2, 2003 Guardian, "the Britons who mounted the suicide attacks in Israel attempted to join the peace movement as cover for their activities, the Guardian has learnt."

ISM claims they were unaware of the terrorists' intent. Either they were "useful idiots" who helped ease the terrorists' movements, or they intentionally aided them. Either choice does not speak well of them.

MISLEADING PROPAGANDA, 09 Aug 2004
The book gives the impression that ISM was set up and operates as a genuine international movement of peaceful activity. But it is the opposite. First, it works to raise awareness of the Palestinian cause, which in effect means the destruction of the Israeli state, which is a tenet of the Palestinian National Covenant and the Hamas and Islamic Jihad organisations. Secondly its concern is solely with the Palestinian issue. Thirdly it is Palestinian led and Palestinian organised.

While it professes to be committed to the principles of non-violent resistance it also approves of the use of what it terms "legitimate armed struggle." That is a euphemism for indiscriminate violence and murder as engaged in by Arafat's organisations and those associated with him. The aim being the destruction of the Jewish state as is well documented in "Arafat's War" by Efraim Karsh.

Neither the ISM nor most of its members support peace: they support one of the most corrupt ruthless violent inhuman and undemocratic leaders in the Middle East. The book is a 21st century application of Joseph Goebbels' Big Lie method of hate propaganda.