Scott Holstad’s Reviews > Witness to War: An American Doctor in El Salvador > Status Update

Is this good? Have you read “What you have heard is true” by Carolyn Forché? That was excellent.

Hi Jill. It's nice to hear from you. Second question first. No, I haven't read Forche's book, but since you recommend, I'll try to find it & read it so thanks for mentioning it. As for this book, this wasn't what I was looking for in my personal research, but so little info is (legally) available on some of the stuff I'm trying to dig into, that I went to this out of desperation simply because it's related indirectly to what I'm researching. Good topic, necessary topic, but not the location I'm looking for. As to whether it's "good," I have found that definitions of that term can vary wildly so I'm often reluctant to make a short yes or no to anyone because too often I've found people disagree with me (which is fine), but have actually had some friends/colleagues get ticked with me, yet it was not my intention to give them bad info. It's subjective, you know? I know I don't need to tell you that because you're smarter than most I interact with but if I were to venture an assessment at only 1/3 of the way through, I'd say it probably is, yes, but at the same time, some people aren't necessarily prepared for books that can be a little ... tough, unpleasant, etc. Real life atrocities tend to be more difficult for many to handle than what they see in the movies or their video games. I don't know your personal experience with or involvement with such subjects, so I don't wish to insult you in any way. You may be far more battle hardened than me, for all I know, and this may be a non-issue. I've just occasionally recommended a book or two, like on 1970s-80s Cambodia, and a couple of people weren't happy with my recommendation. I'd love to know where you are on such things, because if you have the experience/stomach/interest, etc., I can recommended some intriguing, but occasionally difficult, books that might interest you. Also is your interest more geographic (C/S America), political, geopolitical or universal in researching atrocities often buried by whomever (one of my personal motives)? Example: I've been trying to research the FALN movement, yet so little remains unknown about them & so few in the gov who may know are willing to go there, that it's driving me nuts to try to get stuff. I found two documents in German libraries I may try to get, but I've been obsessed with America's lack of knowledge about how Hawaii became a state, for instance, or how Cuba was "freed" by Roosevelt & became a US "protectorate" or how Puerto Rico became a US territory (where ever since 1898, groups like FALN & those before them have fought for their "freedom" ever since -- buried by those who don't wish that to be public knowledge). Also how the Philippines became a US territory & the wars fought there against the US &/or leaders who were US-approved (HUK rebellion in 1950s just one example). One new one for me I really want to dig into is virtually no "regular" American knows about the Indonesian government's genocide of over a million of their citizens in 1965, just when the US "officially" began sending troops to Vietnam, the obvious focus for Americans for years to come. Yet the allegations/assertions are the US government, in its anti-communist zeal, prodded & helped the Indonesian army to slaughter those civilians to eliminate a much larger group of "communists" than any in southeast Asia. Yet we've never heard of that, have we? Nor of the details of how Hawaii became a state, etc. These are among the many things I've been researching for some years because these are all factually documented, written about by historians & scholars, largely undenied by those willing to respond to these subjects, yet we all remain in the dark. I would ask Why but I know. And these are just some examples of a few historical issues I know less about than, say, the question of Marxism vs nationalism is SE Asia during the 20th century, the Phoenix program, etc. If ANY of that stuff is remotely interesting to you, a couple of intriguing books I'm trying to dive in to at the present include "Taking Hawaii: How 13 Honolulu Businessmen Overthrew the Queen of Hawaii in 1893 with a Bluff" by Stephen Dando-Collins, "The Jakarta Method" by Vincent Bevins, "War Against All Puerto Ricans: Revolutions & Terror in America's Colony" by Nelson A Denis & I'll stop there with apologies for the length of this response. If I'm far off base, my apologies. If you're interested in some of the things I mentioned, let me know because I have a lot more for anyone legitimately interested. I don't see or check messages often, but I will try to look for you in the event you do comment or send a message. Have a good day. - SCH