Guantanamo: Diez anos
Emma Reverter. Barcelona, Spain: Roca Editorial de Libros, 2012. 158pp. ISBN: 9788499183947
Friday, July 20, 2012
by: Stephen Jackson

Section: Adult Book Reviews




Reviewed by Stephen Jackson, Henry A. Guerra Branch, San Antonio Public Library, TX

This book  is a review of the last ten years of Guantanamo being used to house Al Qaida/Taliban prisoners.  As a journalist with a special interest in the treatment of those prisoners, Emma Reverter has traveled several times to visit prisoners there as well as a few ex-prisoners who have been returned to civilian life but have not been allowed to return to the Pakistan/Afghanistan area or to their homelands if elsewhere. Her report examines both the facts of the internment and the changing conditions of this internment through the years.  She shows special interest in interviewing both authorities, the jailors and the prisoners. She describes their different points of view as well as the politics behind the internment policies.

Emma Reverter's analysis is fairly balanced.  As one reads the book her descriptions of the prisoners cause one to sympathize for the prisoners. However, she was not able to speak to those whom authorities consider the most recalcitrant terroists.

The book is easy to read. Her vocabulary is simple and concise. Her chapters are logically organized and she includes a chapter on conclusions in which she forecasts the future of the prisons at Guantanamo. An additional outline of events helps readers to futher grasp the time line of events covered in this book.

RECOMMENDED for public and academic libraries and bookstores

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