To mark World Book Day on April 23, we've scanned the AlertNet bookshelf for interesting reading material that has come our way in recent months. Below are a few choice picks from the AlertNet team.

Now we'd like to hear from you. Have you read a humanitarian-themed book recently that you feel others should know about? Perhaps you've read something you strongly disagreed with. Have your say at the bottom of this page.

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A Long Way Gone: Memoirs of a Boy Soldier
By Ishmael Beah

This moving memoir takes us to Sierra Leone's brutal civil war. When Beah got caught up in the conflict he was a bright 12-year-old boy obsessed by rap music. Within a year, he was a drugged-up killing machine.

The book is his account of the time he spent fighting as a child soldier with the army against the Revolutionary United Front. He was fed drugs to make him kill and drugs to suppress the horror of what he saw and did. He has no idea how many people he shot. One striking aspect of Beah's account is his ability to find humour amid the darkness. Even more surprising is his lack of bitterness at those who robbed him of his childhood. A memorable read.

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The Lord's Resistance Army rebel group has abducted thousands of children in northern Uganda and committed hideous atrocities, slicing off victims' ears and noses and padlocking their lips together. At its helm is Joseph Kony, popularly portrayed as a deranged, dreadlocked mystic who talks to the Holy Spirit and lives deep in the jungle surrounded by battalions of gun-toting children.

In Wizard of the Nile, British journalist Matthew Green recounts his search for the reclusive rebel leader. En route he meets the LRA's victims, government soldiers, aid workers, political leaders and would-be peacemakers. The result is a page-turner that does a great job at demystifying a much misunderstood conflict.

(Emma Batha)

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Crimes of War 2.0: What the Public Should Know
Edited by Roy Gutman, David Rieff and Anthony Dworkin

First published in 1999 to mark the 50th anniversary of the Geneva Conventions, this updated A-Z guidebook of wartime atrocities has never been more relevant. Foreign correspondents, historians and legal experts pitch in to make international humanitarian law accessible to general readers in an age of Darfur atrocities, Abu Graib prison allegations and war crimes trials by the International Criminal Court.

Bursting with case studies, explainers and reader-friendly definitions, the book tries to reconcile one of the great paradoxes of our time - that even as laws of war become more developed there have never been so many innocent victims of conflict. From refugee rights and rules on prisoners of war to the legal meaning of genocide, "Crimes of War" takes on key themes behind the daily headlines. This revised version brings on board developments of the past decade, including 9/11 and wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The result is a thoroughly readable and useful reference work.

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China in Africa
By Chris Alden

China's role in Sudan has come under scrutiny in the run-up to the 2008 Summer Olympics, with critics accusing Beijing of failing to use its influence in Khartoum to seek peace in Darfur. But just how much influence does China have? The answer suggested by Chris Alden's sleek volume is a great deal indeed. "China in Africa" puts the relationship between China and Africa under the microscope to reveal a continent increasingly in thrall to Chinese economic and political interests.

From Beijing's multi-billion dollar oil and mineral investments to a flood of Chinese workers and cheap goods, China's influence is growing at an astonishing rate - and challenging Africa's traditional ties with the international community. Alden surveys the changing landscape and explores the rationales behind Chinese decision-making. His analysis goes a long way towards explaining Beijing's "no-strings" engagement with pariah regimes like Sudan and Zimbabwe, and gives a much-needed framework for asking tough questions about China's role in helping or hurting human rights in Africa.

(Tim Large)

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Endless war? Hidden functions of the 'War on terror'
By David Keen

In David Keen's reckoning, wars are systems within themselves in which the aim is not always military victory. While some military and political tactics can be interpreted as blunders because they seem counterproductive to winning a war, they can in fact be purposeful. For key actors in a war "system" there are important financial and psychological benefits to a war's continuation, and these benefits and motivations need to be understood if a conflict is ever to be ended.

In this book Keen focuses on the United States' "war on terror" but draws heavily from his past work on civil wars, specifically in Sierra Leone. A particularly interesting part is Keen's discussion on defining the "enemy", in which he points out how arbitrary distinctions can be. He also has an intriguing theory about U.S. President George Bush's tendency to use "the language of a mid-life crisis" when discussing the "war on terror". The response to 9/11 is an assertion of America's masculine values and virility.

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Half of a Yellow Sun
By Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie

Alluding to the flag of the breakaway province of Biafra in its title, this novel takes place during the Nigerian civil war in the late 1960s. The book, beginning some years before the start of the war, follows a group of connected characters in Biafra and their experience of the conflict. It centres on a British would-be writer and two Nigerians, one a "Big man's" daughter and the other her servant. The reader follows these people through their displacement within Biafra, the splintering of families, forced conscription and in the end the testing and loss of their revolutionary ideals for the new country. The book sheds a harsh light on the failure of the aid operation in Biafra and the international community's support of Nigeria, and it does not spare foreign journalists in its critique.

In this beautifully written book, Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie, a Nigerian woman born after the war, recounts the experiences of her countrymen and likely that of her parents and grandparents, two of whom died during the war. It's both a touching personal story as well as an important telling of this piece of Nigerian history.

Visit the official website of the book, which includes an interesting blog section where people can share their own personal story about Biafra.

(Rebecka Rosenquist)

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Safe Area Gorazde: The War in Eastern Bosnia 1992-1995
By Joe Sacco

Joe Sacco is a journalist and comic book artist whose "Safe Area Gorazde" tells the story of ordinary people struggling to survive during the 1992-1995 Bosnian conflict. Through the lives of those trapped in the besieged "safe area" in eastern Bosnia, Sacco explores the roots of the Balkans war.

The compelling black and white illustrations tell of the terrible bombardment of Gorazde in 1994, of the three and a half years that the town held out while the rest of eastern Bosnia was cleansed of its Muslim population, and of the town's despair at being neglected by international peacekeepers.

At times his book is humorous and surreal too, as Sacco recounts time spent in war-damaged houses watching American movies like "The Bodyguard" or "American Ninja 2" with the friends he makes in Gorazde.

Above all, this is a book about the human longing for freedom, peace, and stability - and the tragedy that happens when conflict takes these things away.

(Joanne Tomkinson)

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I Didn't Do It for You: How the World Betrayed a Small African Nation
By Michela Wrong

Tensions have been simmering along the Ethiopian-Eritrean border in recent months - a reminder that a conflict that killed 70,000 people is far from resolved. But what lies behind the 1998-2000 war? Why is this dusty border area such a flashpoint?

Michela Wrong's book traces Eritrea's current instability back to its tumultuous history - especially its occupation by several colonial powers, each of which had its own agenda. Eritrea not only served as a showcase for Italian imperial ambitions, but also as one of the most important spy bases for the United States. It was caught up in the Cold War, and after 30 years of armed struggle, finally gained independence in 1993.

What makes this book so illuminating is the author's ability to interweave a wealth of interesting historical facts with the human struggle behind Eritrea's continuous aspiration to be recognised as constitutional nation, as summarised by one former fighter: "It is true we make mistakes, and we will make many more... The West must stay with us now, it has to be patient, our history makes us close. We have an affinity. Do not push us away."

(Liesbeth Renders)

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AIDS is a serious problem in Uganda. From 1986 to today, more than 900,000 people have died from it and more than 2 million people have been infected. "Irene's Eyes" tells the stories of people like Elly and Irene, Ugandans from Kitgum, who were isolated by their communities after it was discovered they were HIV-positive.

The book describes the positive effects that groups offering friendship to people suffering from HIV/AIDS can have. It explores many facets of the disease through the experiences of doctors, journalists and humanitarian aid workers from Uganda, Nigeria, Rwanda and Romania. A worthwhile read, particularly for aid professionals.

(Valentina Frigerio)

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