Bitter dawn : East Timor, a people's story / Irena Cristalis.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Cristalis, Irena, 1959-

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Timor-Leste--Politics and government.

Timor-Leste.

Politics and government.

Physical Description:

xii, 306 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

London ; New York : Zed Books ; New York : Distributed in the USA exclusively by Palgrave, 2002.

Summary:

This book is a vivid first-hand account of the birth of the world's youngest county, East Timor, of the lives of individual Timorese during the long decades of Indonesia's repressive occupation, of their often heroic struggle for freedom, and of their efforts to cope with and make sense of the dramatic historic shifts engulfing them. Based on years of research, and lengthy interviews with East Timor's past, present, and future leaders, the book explores the complexities of East Timor's internal politics.

Contents:

Map of East Timor xiii

1 The View from the Ditch 5

2 Distant Glimmers 16

3 The Past Casts its Shadow 29

4 Requiems 43

5 Underground 53

6 The Bishop on the Mountain 59

7 Timor's Joan of Arc 71

8 The Crocodile Bares its Teeth 84

9 The Dam Breaks 97

10 Big Brother Xanana 103

11 A Difficult Time Never to be Forgotten 112

12 No Sanctuary 126

13 'Fear is the Parent of Cruelty' 136

14 Blood Rites 151

15 Asking the Fox to Guard the Chickens 159

16 Dancing with Falintil 169

17 Life in Uaimori 182

18 Party in the Jungle 192

19 Kings of Cassa 202

20 The Price of Freedom 213

21 A Sea of Flames 227

22 Under Siege 236

23 Counting Bodies 249

24 Valley of Tears 259

Epilogue: The Crocodile Returns 272.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [297]-299) and index.

ISBN:

1842771442

1842771450

OCLC:

49375239