Why Do People Fight Wars? (Exploring Tough Issues)

From School Library Journal Grade 5-8 These volumes share an ambitious goal: to provide an overview of the causes, history, effects, current status of, and potential solutions to a complex human issue. Brownlie and Mason succeed fairly well, in part because they offer a limited number of supporting examples for each general point. They range worldwide to answer questions such as "Why Do Children Fight?" but concentrate on conflicts from the mid-20th century and later. War crimes, international law, and refugees are among the topics presented in two-page overviews. Books such as Paul Bennett's War (Smart Apple, 1999) and Sybella Wilkes's One Day We Had to Run! (Millbrook, 1995) concentrate on one facet of the problem such as relief efforts or refugees. Senker also ranges broadly to discuss aspects of prejudice, but often she provides so many examples in two pages that the effect is disjointed and overwhelming. Lack of definition leads to problems. For example, she includes statistics on the number of murders committed by "U.S. fascists" but neither names the group(s) nor supplies a source. She falls into other traps such as decrying those who generalize that African Americans are "naturally" good at sports but then suggests athletics as a route to eliminating racism, noting that "black athletes have dominated" sports in the U.S. Each book has full-color photographs or illustrations on almost every spread. Many of the Internet suggestions are disappointing, and one related to war includes a disclaimer that it should not be considered a research source. Wars could serve as a starting point for report writers; Senker's title has too many flaws to merit purchase consideration. -Kathy Piehl, Minnesota State University, Mankato Copyright 2002 Reed Business Information, Inc. Review '...could be used as a useful resource to help children express themselves and voice their opinions.' -- Learning Support Service Autumn 2002 '...the clear factual explanations may help to develop a questioning, critical attitude to what they hear and see in the media.' -- Learning Support Service Autumn 2002 '...very accessible with relevant supporting photos and captions, and sourced quotes from a variety of points of view.' -- Booktrusted December 2002 'Clearly these will be useful sources for Citizenship and PSHE for students and teachers alike.' -- Booktrusted December 2002 --This text refers to an out of print or unavailable edition of this title.