The Cuban Revolution was an earth-shattering event with huge consequences internationally, not just in Latin America, but further afield. I felt the impact myself whilst travelling across Scandinavia in 2005. I’d run out of clean underwear and, while scanning the aisles of a Göteborg department store, I came face to…
I’ve read three of Che Guevara’s other books, the theory on guerrilla warfare and the diaries of his campaigning in the revolutions of Cuba and Bolivia. The Motorcycle Diaries precede these other critical works and document Che’s travels across Latin America as a young man, accompanied by his close Argentinian…
View More Review: The Motorcycle Diaries – by Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara
David Kilcullen has had a few books included on my shelf recently. As a military expert on Guerrilla Warfare, I was thrilled to find this new book on the Colombian Civil War which he coauthors with a group of specialists who went on extensive field research around Colombia, with a…
View More Review: A Great Perhaps? Colombia: Conflict and Convergence – by Dickie Davis, David Kilcullen, Greg Mills and David Spencer
David Kilcullen is an experienced Australian military professional. He is a senior advisor to the US Military. In this book, Kilcullen describes the recent Western conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq as relative anomalies in the progress of future wars and conflict. He focus on the Urban, networked littoral. Giant coastal…
View More Review: Out of the Mountains – The Coming Age of the Urban Guerrilla – by David Kilcullen
Joey is a teacher of mine at MLANG in Cardiff University. This is his first book. It explores prison writing in Latin America and looks at abolitionism of the penal system and draws on some really rather delicate themes that expose the dark brutality of prisons in a developing continent…
View More Review: Prison Writing of Latin America by Joey Whitfield
Ingrid Betancourt was one of the most high profile political prisoners in the world during her captivity in the Colombian Jungle at the hands of the FARC-EP, Colombia’s left wing communist guerrillas. A brutal civil war has raged for the best part of 60 years in this Southern hemisphere country.…
View More Review: Even Silence has an End – My six years of Captivity in the Colombian Jungle – by Ingrid Betancourt
Author, Norman Parker served a 24 year jail sentence for murder. On his release, wanting to experience life to the fullest, he took advantage of his writing skills to become a journalist for lads mags and the Daily Express and set about tackling the niche market of visiting dangerous places…
View More Review: Dangerous People, Dangerous Places – by Norman ParkerHaving covered Che Guevara’s thoughts on Guerrilla Warfare I was keen to visit those of Chairman Mao. After guiding the Communist Party on its 6000 mile Long March across China, Mao Tse-tung united with Chiang Kai-shek’s Nationalist forces in order to repel the Imperial Japanese invader that had set up…
View More Review: Mao Tse-tung on Guerrilla Warfare
Chris and Anthony Donnelly are two likely lads from Wythenshawe, Manchester. Growing up to a backdrop of crime, allegedly part of the the notorious Quality Street Gang, these entrepreneurs became leading figures in the birth of Manchester’s Acid House scene, initiating illegal raves and forging bonds and networks across music…
View More Review: Still Breathing: The True Adventures of the Donnelly Brothers – by Anthony and Christopher Donnelly (and Simon Spence)
The FARC: The Longest Insurgency by Garry Leech My rating: 4 of 5 stars This book covers a very interesting subject for what in general there is a dearth of information and that which does exist tends to be fundamentally skewed with bias. The left wing of Colombia’s forty year…
View More Review: The FARC: The Longest Insurgency
Beautiful Stranger is about that random woman you cross paths with in the street. The casual glance, the seductive smile, a breath of fresh air in an otherwise dull day. Soundtrack to your mystery encounter, ‘Beautiful stranger’ is melodic, progressive, has some lovely vocals, and finishes with some far out,…
View More Wez G – Beautiful Stranger (DJ Set 19)
In February 1958, Che Guevara, a leading revolutionary in Cuba, set up Radio Rebelde, to help the cause of the July 26th movement. Led by Fidel Castro, this movement had been encamped in the hills of east Cuba, the Sierra Maestra, fighting a guerrilla war against the Cuban army forces…
View More Radio Rebelde
About 18 months ago I was walking along the street in my local village in South Wales when I felt a large snake’s skull on the back of my head. I have occasional Shamanic experiences. I couldn’t get the thing off me and went on a bit of a mad…
View More Wez G – Snake In My Head (DJ Set 05)
This January 2008 DJ mix, titled “Renaissance Dawn,” anticipates a revival in house music. It features a diverse tracklist with artists like Sasha, Hybrid, and Depeche Mode, blending various remixes and styles. The mix reflects a creative exploration of sound, aiming to resonate with house music enthusiasts.
View More Wez G – Renaissance Dawn (DJ Set 01)