Robert B. Edgerton

"The Companion offers an in-depth exploration of the concepts and topics that have emerged through contemporary ethnographic work and the processes of global change. Key issues range from studies of consciousness and time, emotion, cognition, dreaming, and memory, to the lingering effects of racism and ethnocentrism, violence identity, and subjectivity. An essential resource for teachers and students alike, A Companion to Psychological Anthropology also serves as a valuable tool for scholars, policy makers, and social service providers who want to understand and anticipate changing relations among individuals and cultures."--Jacket.

"The Troubled Heart of Africa is the first book to give a complete history of the Congo, filling in the blanks before the advent of Henry Stanley, David Livingstone, King Leopold, and other figures, and carrying us straight into today's headlines. The Congo continues to be the subject of intense speculation and concern, and with good reason: upon it hangs the fate of sub-Sahara Africa as a whole. Here is a book that helps us face the stark truths of the Congo's past and appreciate both the enormous potential and uncertainty of its future."--BOOK JACKET.

"In this chronicle of Africa's military history, Robert Edgerton starts in pre-colonial times, when armed forces or militias were essential to the maintenance and prosperity of their societies. Then, during the colonial era, African soldiers fought with death-defying courage, earning such respect as warriors that they were often recruited into the colonial armies to not only enforce colonial rule in Africa, but to fight for the European homelands as well. After independence swept through Africa, African military seized political power in country after country, ruling dictatorially for their own benefit and for that of their kinsmen and cronies. The author describes the post-colonial civil wars that have devastated much of sub-Saharan Africa - catastrophes marked by genocide, famine, disease, economic collapse, and steadily declining life expectancy. He ends by describing the role that Africa's military forces can and must play if the future is to bring better times to the continent's many peoples and states."--BOOK JACKET.

In Hidden Heroism, Robert B. Edgerton chronicles the history of African-American participation in American wars, from the French and Indian War to the present. He argues that blacks in America have long endured a "natural coward" stereotype that stemmed from racial prejudice and intensified as blacks gradually received freedom in American society. It was common for black soldiers who served admirably in combat to return home to little recognition of their achievements and deeply entrenched racism from whites who perceived them as a threat. Although this situation was somewhat rectified by the time of the Civil Rights movement and the Vietnam War, the stereotypes have not been fully eradicated. This book provides an accessible and well-informed study of this little-known but significant aspect of race relations in American military history. - Publisher.

Warriors of the Rising Sun chronicles the Japanese military's transformation from honorable "knights of Bushido" into men who massacred thousands during the Pacific War. Crucial in bringing about this change was Western rejection of Japan as an aspiring colonial power, as well as the West's racist, anti-Japanese immigration policies. Japan's leaders chose military brutality as a necessary means to achieve a rightful place in the world. Today, Japan has the second largest military budget in the world. What lessons have her leaders learned from the past wars?

A documented account of the Mau Mau rebellion and the legacy of continuing class tension stemming from the Kenyan fight for independence.