It is interesting to note that he is also off the radar screens of the right-wing gang-bangers. Otherwise they would be here saying nothing and pulling the rating down.
A stirring page turner with simple unawashed straight-talk about politics, religion, world order, even the vagaries of corporatization. Really, I hesitate to make this into a long intellectual review but you will find themes ranging from the opportunism of Gandhi, to the seeds of discord that US itself sowed in the middle east and south east asia (and what the future holds), to the after-effects of blatant commercialization on our social lives, to.... Wait, what am I doing. There is no way you will regret the 11 dollars that go into this incredibly eye-opening insight, so stop wasting your time reading these reviews and just buy it!
Quite simply as close to an intelligent thriller as a work of non-fiction can come. Required reading.
"Dawn of Freedom" by Faiz Ahmed FaizMap of South AsiaBiographical Sketch of Eqbal AhmadIntroduction by David BarsamianForeword by Edward W. SaidChapter 1 Think Critically and Take RisksChapter 2 Distorted HistoriesNotesChapter 3 Do Not Accept the Safe HavenSelected Bibliography of Eqbal Ahmad's WritingIndex
Reviews
"Eqbal Ahmad, perhaps the shrewdest and most original anti-imperialist analyst of Asia and Africa[was] a man of enormous charisma and incorruptible ideals. He had an almost instinctive attraction to movements of the oppressed and the persecuted[and] a formidable knowledge of history. Arabs, for example, learned more from him about the failures of Arab nationalism than from anyone else. Ahmad was that rare thing, an intellectual unintimidated by power or authority."-Edward W. Said, author of Culture and Imperialism, eulogizing Ahmad in The Nation and The Guardian
"[Eqbal Ahmad] was a shining example of what a true internationalist should be. Eqbal was at home in the history of all the world's great civilizations. He had an encyclopedic knowledge of states past and present, and he knew that states had a rightful role to play. But he also knew that states existed to serve peoplenot the other way aroundand he had little to do with governments, except as a thorn in their side. To friends, colleagues, and students, however, he gave unstintingly of himself and his time. His example and his memory will inspire many to carry on his work."-Kofi Annan, Secretary-General of the United Nations
"A very dedicated and honorable activist, Eqbal was right in the middle of everything. He was a student of revolution and imperialism and a very good one."-Noam Chomsky, MIT
"Eqbal Ahmad was unique in combining compassion for the dispossessed-en masse and one by one; the intellectual capacity to analyze cultural, political, and economic issues on a transnational level; and an ability to raise his always eloquent voice on behalf of constructive and original solutions."-Victory Navasky, Publisher and Editorial Director, The Nation
"Fighting words, wise words, from one of the most powerful activist intellectuals of ou