Gives an interesting methodology - using fixed effects - in order to remove possible endogeniety inherit within evaluating the impact of microfianance institutions. It goes into a great deal of detail on the topics of building the model and the econometric approach... however it attempts to run too many equations and therefore lacks a detailed discussion of the results and theory for each estimation. The dependent variables include: household expenditure, child health indicators, fertility and contraception use, and child education levels.
Overall it is fairly easy to read, even as an undergrad, and goes into pretty good detail about the innovative methods used.

i think this is a book, which should be kept by every indigenous people in Bangladesh, who are suffering everyday.

The reader who wondered why Hindus didn't just convert to Islam or relocate to India obviously failed to understand the message of the book. The tearing apart of the ideals and optimism of a family very much in love with Bangladesh make this book essential reading for all readers remotely interested in the struggles of minority groups anywhere in the world.

This book deals with genocide and not persecution. Genocide of a minority and eliminating thier existence completely.Just as the Nazis went about systematically eliminating jews , so have the govts and religious bigots gone about systematically eliminating hindus in both Pakistan and Bangladesh. These countries which had quite a significant hindu population at the beginning of the 19th century have next to none now because of well planned genocide , rape and systematic conversion. Taslima Nasrin is a Humanist. It doesnt matter if she will not be a literate giant. She will always be remembered in the hearts of those who have suffered at the hands of islamic fundamentalism.

In 1992, some Hindus in India destroyed the Babri mosque. In retaliation, violence against Hindus spread across Bangladesh. Thug violence is not uncommon in Bangladesh (particularly around election time), and Bangladesh is not a high-profile country, and so little comment was made about these events internationally.
Naslim - originally a muslim herself (although now she claims to be an athiest) - wrote Shame in protest. It took her 7 days, and it shows by being a raw, occasionally awkward book. It follows the activities of the hindu anti-hero Suranjan, and his family, during the period of violence. This is not a particularly extreme book. In no way does it suggest that hindus are good and muslims are bad. Instead, it explores the effect of violence and oppression on the psychology and relationships of people. It feels very real. It reminds me of David Grossman's writing on Israel: that the oppression contaminates both sides. Grossman describes the situation there as two apples pressed together and rot spreading on both.
Nasrin does not lie or exaggerate what happened in Bangladesh. True, she does not include the full politics of India, Pakistan, British rule, partition etc., but that's because this is a novel about a family in Bangladesh. Its scale is intimate.
While Nasrin's novel is not extreme, the reaction to it is. Islamic fundamentalists have offered a large cash reward to anybody who murders her. She now lives outside Bangladesh.
I like Nasrin. I like her honesty, intense intelligence and courage, all of which come through in this book. Elsewhere, she has made comments about abolishing Quranic law because of its discrimination of women. I like that too.
Bangladesh is a forgotten country. Inside it, controversial, informed voices (especially women's) are rarely heard. The country needs people like Nasrin. People should read books like hers, whether or not their views are the same. It's intelligent to do so.

Ignore the fact that the writer is a Muslim hater and clearly knows nothing about the religion. Many writers are. More importantly, the book is full of childish drivel of a primary school standard. There is great Bengali poetry out there by both Muslim and Hindu writers. This is not one of them. It is simply too poor to be worthy of anyones time or money. I suspect that she appeals to a feminist, Muslim hater crowd. Look out for the quality: Tagore and Nazrul Islam!

If you don't have tough skin, if the truth hurts you, don't pick up this book or you'll feel the same way that "a reader from UK" felt. I personally enjoyed her poems and am glad that a Bangladeshi woman finally came out with something like this because it is long overdue. People who expect the timid, self-sacrificial, submissive attitude from women will not be happy with these poems. Nasrin spoke about many issues that Bangladeshi women face but are afraid to or have been prohibited to talk about. Some people don't like reading things that don't conform with the backwards traditions that they grew up with, and if you are one of them, this book isn't for you.

I have never been much into poetry, but this book really changed my mind. Nasrin's style is very easy to read. She is straight-forward, but tells exactly what she thinks. She talks about social injustice in an ironic and satirical manner. She is one of the most interesting poets around!

The first half of this book reads as if the author spent most of his time hunkered down in a guest house in the more affluent part of Dhaka, reporting stories he read in the local English language press and what he ate for dinner. Later on, the book becomes more interesting as the reader experiences the author's growing realization that all in Bangladesh is not as it may seem to a visiting expatriate. The best parts are those describing the author's experiences travelling around Bangladesh giving courses for journalism students. The title seems overly incendiary given that the author, having spent only some months in Bangladesh, would not seem to be in a position to make such a dramatic prediction about political events there.

As a political memoir, Bangladesh 2000: on the Brink of Civil War is a good read. This is a part of the world that Americans have only limited access to. While it is common knowledge that Bangladesh is prone to natural disasters, the political situation in the country is less well known. The author, Paul Ryder Ryan, an experienced journalist, makes a good case for his conclusion that the poverty-stricken country is on the brink of civil war. Just the arrest of more than 50,000 "outlaws and terrorists" in the cause of law and order is a mindboggling fact. The number of diverse political forces in the country all pulling in opposite directions is also aptly demonstrated by Mr. Ryan, as is the increasingly volatile situation in general in South Asia, which includes India and Palistan their disputed territory of Kashmir.

This is quite an interesting book, though, not quite recommendable. I do find author's account of military conflicts quite accurate. In my view it is important to give out details of military formations - divisions, corp.'s etc, which some people have objected to. The numbers give you a feel of the strenght of the troops and the structure of forces.

Author's contemptuous attitude towards politicians in general and Indian politicians in particular was quite irksome. His fondness of Pakistani Generals in spite of their flaws also begs reason. In authors view sending of regular and irregular troops in 1999 over to Indian side was an aberration. I would like to point out that it is the third time it has happened in a short span of 50 years. It seems more like a pattern.

Mr. Cloughley recommendations on structure of armed forces were interesting and though provoking.

The 2 reviews with a severely critical but uninformed view of this book are blatantly obvious in their indian propagandist approach. The persons who have written them have not even read the said book.

in its scope, the book is more than a history of an army. the author set out to describe the role of the pakistan army in the first 50 years of the country's history; a difficult task anywhere, but a momentous undertaking in pakistan's case. I believe he has aquited himself very well. you can never do these things without a feel for the place. Brian did it.

the author could have come out of cantonment sentiment and describe - what he has - in more detail that why bengalis felt the way they had and then it would have been complete.

the author could have come out of cantonment sentiment and describe - what he has - in more detail that why bengalis felt the way they had and then it would have been complete.

An excellent account, artfully pieced together. A good description of the East Pakistan crisis, unusually objective

The book puts forward some informative data about the small picturesque green Bangladesh, nestled between the vast India and Myanmar. It is informative in the sense that it provides the reader with an accumulation of various data accumulated over the years, but I would not recommend it to a tourist who would want to visit Bangladesh, using this book as a guide. Provides good insight, but could be improved much, much more by giving more interesting material to read about and a lot of pictures. Overall, a mediocre book.

I am a Pakistani who loves his country and I have studied the history of my country at greater depths.

Gen Niazi, Bhutto, Yahya and lots of others were greatly involved in the separation of East Pakistan and responsible for what happened.

Pakistani army killed and raped millions in East Pakistan of their own country men and women (mostly muslim) quite shamelessly and put the two-nation theory in serious trouble that is the very reason for Pakistan's existence. The feudal lords in government of the west Pakistan did always treat East Pakistan as third class citizens.

Gen Niazi was as involved in the whole mess as any one else and has made a very cowardly attempt to gain some dignity by writing this book.

Shame on Niazi, Bhutto and Yahya and shame on Pakistani army who killed and raped Pakistani citizens.

May your ashes burn in hell if there is such a thing.

From the heart of a Pakistani

Interesting if not a very well written book. I was hoping for an analysis of the reasons for Pakistan's debacle in 1971. Instead, the book focuses on a narration of events as seen through (mostly colored) eyes of Gen Niazi. The focus of the book is on defending and explaining Niazi's actions rather than what led to the debacle. Interestingly, in the whole narration he refuses to give a single credit to anyone else other than himself or people that he liked. The Indian defense forces are shown to be losing every battle they fight but then he never explains why he had to pull back his forces from all the places and how the Indian forces got to Dacca. Similarily he pays no attention to all the atrocities that were commited by Pakistani Soldiers that led to the whole debacle. Overall an interesting insight into the people who run the Pakistan Army and of course, now the country

Betrayal of East Pakistan by Gen. Niazi is a narrative book that sheds some light on the subsequent events that led to the shameful surrender of Pakistani troops. There is no doubt that the fall of Dhaka was a conspiracy by leaders like "Bhutto Shaheed", and "Gen. Yayah Khan" etc. These are the leaders who have raped this great country over and over again and for some reason we Pakistani still celebrates their birthdays. Generals in Pakistan are "King Makers," and Gen. Niazi, being a senior officer, was surely in a position to influence the thought process of GHQ. He was also in the position, from his own narration, to prolong the war or even conduct guerrilla warfare til "the last man, last bullet". However, he chose to obey the very same people those were drunkards and corrupts. Niazi quotes Erwin Romell and other great generals but forgot the motto of a soldier, i.e. "Death before disgrace". We not only lost East Pakistan but also lost the dignity and pride as a nation. In conclusion, I agree with Niazi that he was made a scapegoat and a persona of disgrace, but to some degree he was liable for what had transpired in East Pakistan and is inexcusable by any account.

I usually enjoy reading books by women writers from the Indian subcontinent. This was one book that could not hold my attention - badly written, repetitive, and unnecessarily lengthy: a tedious read. Ms. Nasrin sounds like a manipulative child - she knows what the West wants to hear and makes too much of an effort to please.

My husband is Bangladeshi, so I was interested in reading this book. The book is interesting in providing an insight into a dysfunctional, abusive home and childhood. It makes clear the critical need for third world countries to seriously address the issue of abuse and oppression of women. However, the book gets repetitive and tiresome after a while.

The reason I am giving the book only two stars is because it treats all of Bangladesh and all of Islam as one-dimensional. We are left assuming everyone is like that. Both of my husband's sisters have graduate degrees and his mother was head of the household, even though his father had spent a decade studying religion in an Islamic school. There wasn't any abuse and no prohibition against his sister's playing outdoors. They didn't wear head coverings either.

The subtitle A Memoir of Growing Up Female in a Muslim world is misleading. Her story unfortunately is common for females all over the third world including India, China, South America, Africa, and to a lesser extent the US and Europe. Domination and abuse of women knows no borders and is practiced by members of all faiths. Nasrin is not objective and makes a lot of generalizations about Islam being the problem. I am Christian but I also grew up with a domineering father. Nasrin, unfortunately, has alienated her countrymen instead of engaging them.

A very interesting book, not always fun to read and maybe like the first reviewer says not always really well, or at least tightly, written. However, the account of this girlhood was shocking to me. I think now I understand feminism much better then before. And even though I've spent some time in Bangladesh, I now feel like I understand life in Bangladesh much better than before as well. I feel it was extremely worthwhile reading this book. It taught me a lot about how most of the world lives.