Darfur Diaries: Stories of Survival

"Darfur Diaries" not only provides a clear, accurate, and understandable roadmap to the conflict in Darfur, it introduces the reader to an engaging group of Darfurians. As individual characters, they are likeable, idiosyncratic, and even humorous, despite the tragic circumstances in which they are caught. Because the authors care about the Darfurians they meet as individuals, their portrayal of the broader crisis in Darfur is all the more urgent and compelling.

This book presents an insightful, firsthand account of the experience of three Westerners seeking to document the atrocities in Darfur. The ease with which the story is told--the tragic, the devastating, the joyous, and the amusing moments of a journey most of us would not even consider undertaking--makes it a "good read" as well as very informative about war, loss, and a geopolitical context that will haunt us for years to come and has probably changed a region forever. The authors are candid in sharing their observations of a complex war, human suffering, and the people who choose to put themselves in the middle of it, themselves included. Most of all, Darfur's losses are conveyed far beyond the numbers dead or missing: this book shows us the losses of livelihood, culture and tradition, education, and family ties. It also shows glimmers of what has been left behind: kids smile, their parents do their best to see they get an education, and, somehow, people manage to continue to hope for a better future.

I found "Darfur Diaries" to be both a compelling and easy to read chronicle of the genocide occurring in Darfur. I highly recommend it to teachers and students alike. Written by three courageous filmmakers who put their own lives at risk to share this story with the world, "Darfur Dairies" gives readers and viewers a personal glimpse into the everyday tragedies and suffering of the Darfurian people. Through this book (and film), the authors have given voice to a people who have for so long have had no voice, calling for the world to intercede on their behalf. It is up to us, as fellow human beings, to respond and demand action. We have seen the result of complacency in the South of Sudan where Civil War raged for over two decades killing approximately 2.5 million people and yet for the most part, the world remained silent. Let us not make the same mistake. My deepest thanks go out to Jen Marlowe, Aisha Bain and Adam Shapiro for this heartfelt and inspiring story. Joan Hecht, author of- The Journey of the Lost Boys: A Story of Courage, Faith and the Sheer Determination to Survive by a Group of Young Boys Called "The Lost Boys of Sudan"

I reccomend this book to readers who are looking for a gripping traevlogue or an overview of the history and contemporary situation in Darfur. It's funny, heart-wrenching, witty and highly readable. I couldn't put it down. Five family members have received it for Christmas!

Darfur Diaries offers a sensitive glimpse into the lives of Darfurians struggling at the brink of survival. It tells the story of three independent filmmakers who traveled into Chad and Darfur in November 2004. At one level it is a book about the making of their film by the same name, which is available on DVD. But a another level it is a deeply human book in its own right, not only for its interviews with refugees, IDPs, and rebel fighters, but because Jem Marlowe and the other two videographers Aisha Bain and Adam Shapiro, show their own vulnerabilities in their quest to understand what is happening in Darfur. Other books portray the history of the Darfur conflict with more authority. (Visit my web-site for reviews of Alex de Waal and Julie Flint's Darfur: a short history of a long war, and Gerard Prunier's Darfur: the Ambiguous Genocide. [...]But Darfur Diaries is no less authentic and no less ambitious. It is also timely, written after the failure of the Darfur Peace Agreement signed in May 2006, and conveying today's urgency as Sudan government planes bomb their own people, and as the violence spreads into neighboring Chad. The writers are keen observers who care passionately about their subjects, and they are also willing to raise critical questions and to laugh at themselves. This is clearly a work of great love, and despite the tragic nature of their subject, there is something healing in getting to know the survivors. If you are going to read just one book about Darfur, read this one. David Morse (independent journalist/Darfur activist)