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A review by rachhenderson
Emergency Sex (And Other Desperate Measures): True Stories from a War Zone by Kenneth Cain
4.0
Emergency Sex is the real life story of Americans Andrew, Heidi and Ken, who met in Cambodia in the early 1990s while working for the UN. Andrew was a young doctor who'd had enough of chronic overwork in the US hospital system so started working in a Cambodian hospital before being recruited by the UN. Heidi divorced her husband and was struggling to pay the bills alone when she found out about the financial rewards for taking a remote posting with the UN. Ken graduated from Harvard Law and wanted to do something other than corporate law.
From Cambodia, the UN took them to Haiti, Bosnia, Somalia and Rwanda, including being in Somalia for the events immortalised in Black Hawk Down. Their stories look at how events in one country impacted UN and US foreign policy and their willingness to intervene in subsequent world events. There was also a fair chunk of their personal lives, including a fair bit of sex for Heidi!
Being in my teens in the 90s, and therefore fairly self absorbed, there was a lot of history in here that I didn't know a great deal about, and I found it hugely interesting. I also found Heidi's personal life entertaining, even if I did often find myself wanted to give her a good shake over some of the risks she took.
4.5 stars rounded down
From Cambodia, the UN took them to Haiti, Bosnia, Somalia and Rwanda, including being in Somalia for the events immortalised in Black Hawk Down. Their stories look at how events in one country impacted UN and US foreign policy and their willingness to intervene in subsequent world events. There was also a fair chunk of their personal lives, including a fair bit of sex for Heidi!
Being in my teens in the 90s, and therefore fairly self absorbed, there was a lot of history in here that I didn't know a great deal about, and I found it hugely interesting. I also found Heidi's personal life entertaining, even if I did often find myself wanted to give her a good shake over some of the risks she took.
4.5 stars rounded down