psst Hey, you. Yeah, you! Interested in Latin America? Are there any kick-ass books written by Latin American authors which for X or Y reason have yet to be translated into English? Do you think they not only should be, but that the books would be relevant to the public? Great news!

The University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill and Duke University are working together to, among other things, translate and publish some of those very books!

Here is the webpage where you can nominate books.

Speaking just in terms of Cuba, a ton come to mind. Who knows, the book you nominate might win!

Finished reading Russian Azerbaijan, 1905-1920: The Shaping of a National Identity in a Muslim Community by Tadeusz Swietochowki (1985).

This is a short concise book on, as Swietochowski states, the evolution of Azerbaijan from being a simple geographic term in 1905 to a national identity in 1920 when the country was invaded and annexed by the Bolsheviks. His main argument was that as Azerbaijan had been annexed by Russia initially, it was allowed to develop a unique identity that while closely related to the Turks and (to a lesser extent) the Muslim world, it was definitely unique. However it was also only really developed amongst the Azerbaijani intelligentsia, which was small and only existed because of the conditions put in place by the Russians.

This is one of the foundation texts on nationality policy of the Caucasus in the twentieth century, and Swietochowski was a leading scholar on Azerbaijan in this era. There are also two major selling points for this book: one is that it covers Azerbaijan at all, especially the earlier era like this. Most books, especially nowadays, look at Azerbaijan through the prism of the Nagorno-Karabakh dispute, which is not the only thing relevant for the country. And two, that it was written by a scholar who isn't from the region or related ethnically to it. This is something that impacts nearly every book on Armenia (I struggle to think of a book not written by someone who's ethnically Armenian), and while Georgia is less biased this way, there are still some Georgians who have books as well. Azerbaijan is less published for a couple factors, so its refreshing to see a rather even account of the topic, and one that doesn't explicitly attack Armenia. It has certainly lived up to its reputation as a major work on the region.

White Over Black is a hell of a thing. Lots of academic books are dense or theory-heavy. Many are written by people who don't work too hard to be understood. Some are written by people who work hard not to be understood. Jordan manages to be an able writer, handling complex material with a lot of theory and thorough consideration...and still human-readable. It's delightful even as it makes me slow down to almost a crawl. I've mostly sustained a chapter a day, but I feel it.

About halfway through it's also interesting how he keeps changing his mind. Some sections and chapters stress just how contingent the development of white supremacy was. Others stress that cultural ideas about "blackness" and various other un-English and un-Christian characteristics go way back and seem essentially fixed in the English mind before sustained encounters with West Africans. It's a complicated mess, but it's an interesting complicated mess.

Initially I was a bit adverse to the unthinking decision idea Jordan advances: No one really sat down and said "let's be white supremacists and black people are our inferiors." On the surface it scans more than a little like a way of saying things just happen and no one is to blame, but Jordan is good at emphasizing that even in the absence of a general plan people still made these decisions and largely did so cognizant of the realities they entailed on others.

Really not looking forward to the 60 page chapter on Jefferson, though. Will probably give it the hard skim.

1. A common setting in WW2 FPS games are small French communes and/or towns where you fight in skirmishes and/or small battles. For example, in the first Call of Duty game, you take part in the engagement at Sainte-Mère-Église What are some good books or articles that talk about WW2 engagements (such as Sainte-Mère-Église) which took place in small communes or towns?

2. What are some good books about the Angkor/Khmer Empire?

Edit: Grammar

I recall reading, perhaps on this sub even, about a declaration during WW2 from the US/USSR/UK regarding how to handle Germany. It essentially stated to the world that germany will no longer be a nation and diplomatic relations will be ended for all countries with Germany.

I am having trouble finding this declaration or perhaps I may be remembering it wrong. It was prior to the surrender of Germany, so I don't think it was Potsdam Agreement. Any assistance finding this document would be great. I believe it was mostly an American declaration, if it exists at all.

It is not this document, after reading through it.

I've been studying cold war arms control and found the Adelphi Papers series to be an excellent source on theories and commentary from experts of the day. It's great reading opinions from the middle of the cold war, really brings it into perspective.

Question, does anyone have a good modern source on cold war arms control and disarmament? Something introductory preferably and not too technical.