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lian_tanner's review against another edition
5.0
Funny, poignant and occasionally desperately horrible. Andrew Mueller takes the reader through a tour of the 21st century's trouble spots, with a sharp eye for the ridiculous and a strong smattering of commonsense. He seldom takes sides, but manages to pinpoint the idiocy of violence as a solution for world problems. And every now and again he stumbles across a small enclave of hope. This author clearly LIKES people, and has a big heart, despite his cynicism. A wildly entertaining read that incorporates the frequent desire to smack one's head against the wall.
booksbecreads's review against another edition
4.0
A good snapshot of how the 21st century isn't any better than the 20th century. Raised more questions for me than answers, and I'm now eagerly waiting for [b:Belfast Diary: War as a Way of Life|91947|Belfast Diary War as a Way of Life|John Conroy|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1320548067s/91947.jpg|88687]
relf's review against another edition
4.0
Hilarious plus informative, a nice combo. The author started out as a rock journalist and--I'm not sure he makes it absolutely clear how this happened--morphed into a travel journalist covering recent and current conflict zones. Each chapter tackles a visit to some dangerous or otherwise forbidding place in the early to mid first decade of this century, with amusing insight into the machinations needed to visit and do any kind of journalism in such places. It took me a while to get used to the tone, which tends to the snarky, and sometimes slightly overwritten comedically, in that British/Aussie way; and at first some of the author's breezy putdowns of issues I've been sympathetic with made me a little mad; but once I realized that the cynicism was doled out equally to all parties, I highly enjoyed it. Thanks for a lovely (and imported, might I point out!) gift, Kovacs!
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