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William Henry Blum was born in Brooklyn, New York on March 6, 1933. He received a bachelor's degree in accounting from Baruch College of the City University of New York. He was hired as a programmer by I.B.M. and then by the State Department. After becoming disillusioned over the Vietnam War, he vis mere helped inaugurate a biweekly underground newspaper called The Washington Free Press and joined in antiwar protests. In 1967, he was pressured to quit his government job. He wrote numerous articles, columns, and books raging against United States foreign policy. His books included The CIA: A Forgotten History, Rogue State: A Guide to the World's Only Superpower, and Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire. He died of kidney failure on December 9, 2018 at the age of 85. (Bowker Author Biography) vis mindre

Omfatter også følgende navne: William Blum, By (author) William Blum

Værker af William Blum

Associated Works

One Hundred Red Hot Years (2003) — Bidragyder — 32 eksemplarer

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Juridisk navn
Blum, William Henry
Fødselsdato
1933-03-06
Dødsdag
2018-12-09
Køn
male
Nationalitet
USA
Fødested
Brooklyn, New York, USA
Dødssted
Arlington, Virginia, USA
Uddannelse
City University of New York, Baruch College
Erasmus Hall High School
Erhverv
author
journalist
computer programmer
Organisationer
United States State Department
Kort biografi
William Blum left the State Department in 1967, abandoning his aspiration of becoming a Foreign Service Officer, because of his opposition to what the United States was doing in Vietnam.

He then became one of the founders and editors of the Washington Free Press, the first “alternative” newspaper in the capital.

Mr. Blum has been a freelance journalist in the United States, Europe and South America. His stay in Chile in 1972-3, writing about the Allende government’s “socialist experiment” and its tragic overthrow in a CIA-designed coup, instilled in him a personal involvement and an even more heightened interest in what his government was doing in various parts of the world.

In the mid-1970’s, he worked in London with former CIA officer Philip Agee and his associates on their project of exposing CIA personnel and their misdeeds.

His book on U.S. foreign policy, Killing Hope: U.S. Military and CIA Interventions Since World War II, first published in 1995 and updated since, has received international acclaim. Noam Chomsky called it “far and away the best book on the topic.”

In 1999, he was one of the recipients of Project Censored’s awards for “exemplary journalism” for writing one of the top ten censored stories of 1998, an article on how, in the 1980s, the United States gave Iraq the material to develop a chemical and biological warfare capability.

Blum is also the author of America’s Deadliest Export: Democracy – The Truth About U.S. Foreign Policy and Everything Else (2013), Rogue State: A Guide to the World’s Only Superpower (updated edition 2005), West-Bloc Dissident: A Cold War Memoir (2002), and Freeing the World to Death: Essays on the American Empire (2004). His books have been translated into more than 15 languages.

During 2002-2003, Blum was a regular columnist for the magazine The Ecologist, which is published in London and distributed globally.

In January 2006, a tape from Osama bin Laden stated that “it would be useful” for Americans to read Rogue State, apparently to gain a better understanding of their enemy.

http://williamblum.org/about

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Anmeldelser

A fast-paced documentary of, well, exactly what the title says. To say the book is motivated would be an understatement. Blum was a State Department employee who became disillusioned by the atrocities of Vietnam, and took to journalism as a critic of American foreign policy thereafter. Expectedly, his published writings are lauded amongst anti-Americans seeking ideological-political ammunition: Osama bin Laden himself endorsed his 'Rogue State' book on Israel, and the present volume is frequently recommended (speaking from experience) amongst online leftist - particularly Stalinist and Maoist - communities. The edition I got is covered with endorsements from the likes of Noam Chomsky, Gore Vidal, some assumedly reputable journalists, and a former CIA officer - though it is also about 20 years out of date, with an updated edition having been published in 2015.

The book strives to be an exhaustive account of all the evils wrought by the US and its foreign policy organs. Dozens of nations have instances of intervention against them recorded, many of them multiple times. If you're seeking, as I said, ammunition, you'll find it in ready supply here. Moreover, you'll be more able to dispute the notion that US foreign policy is rooted in any moral considerations - after all, look at the wicked subversions it undertakes in its cynical self-interest. You will not be satisfied academically, however. The author fails to situate his case studies in a historical narrative, that is, in a properly contextualised study of the Cold War and beyond. This would have at least helped to provide an understanding of *why* these foreign policy decisions were made. As a more serious alternative to this subject matter, one reviewer has recommended William Keylor’s A World of Nations: The International Order Since 1945.
… (mere)
 
Markeret
woj2000 | 3 andre anmeldelser | May 19, 2022 |
This book is a detailed and heart wrenching history of the USA's involvement in torture and murder in dozens of different countries in the last 60 years. It is as rigorous as it is shocking, including citations for every factual statement. The citations are generally mainstream sources like the NYT, so the reader can be confident in presenting the content to the uninitiated without coming off as a crackpot. Even after reading the whole book, I keep it on my shelf as a reference. Any time I see a foreign country referenced in the news, I can look in this book and get an idea of how my country has interacted with it and how they may view us.… (mere)
 
Markeret
rs4 | 3 andre anmeldelser | Sep 6, 2020 |
Although a little dated now, there's some great info and clearly a lot of research here. Its presented in a terrible, borderline unreadable fashion though - fine for the first 70 pages or so, then becomes monotonous list after list. Wasn't sure about his tone either. Interesting facts trapped in a poorly written book
 
Markeret
arewenotben | 3 andre anmeldelser | Jul 31, 2020 |

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Værker
12
Also by
2
Medlemmer
1,191
Popularitet
#21,589
Vurdering
½ 3.7
Anmeldelser
9
ISBN
60
Sprog
7
Udvalgt
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