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Beloved Land
Beloved Land: stories, struggles, and secrets from Timor-Leste | Gordon Peake
2 posts | 1 read | 1 to read
WINNER OF THE 2014 ACT BOOK OF THE YEAR AWARD At the stroke of midnight on 20 May 2002, the Democratic Republic of Timor-Leste became the first new nation of the 21st century. From that moment, those who fought for independence have faced a challenge even bigger than shaking off Indonesian occupation: running a country of their own. Beloved Land picks up the story where world attention left off. Blending narrative history, travelogue, and personal reminiscences based on four years of living in the country, Gordon Peake shows the daunting hurdles that the people of Timor-Leste must overcome to build a nation from scratch, and how much the international community has to learn if it is to help rather than hinder the process. Family politics, squabbles, power struggles, old romances, and even older grudges are woven into life in this land of intrigue and rumours in the most remarkable ways. Yet above all, Beloved Land is a story about the one million East Timorese who speak nearly 20 different languages, and who are exuberantly building their nation. Written with verve and deep affection, the book introduces a set of colourful Timorese and international characters, and brings them to life unforgettably. PRAISE FOR GORDON PEAKE Besides being a political diagnosis, its an absorbing piece of travel writing, vivid and full of well-turned character sketches The mixture of forthrightness and warmth, and knowledge, makes this book not simply informative but in a quiet way exemplary. The Saturday Age Peakes book is a poignant and invariably deadpan mix of anecdote and analysis, and in my view is the best thing written in English about the country in many a long year. The Edge Review
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DGRachel
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I‘m struggling with In Extremis and questioning whether it really fits for Timor-Leste, so I tried to find something else. The only thing that I can find available in any format, is a digital copy of the tagged book. Over my dead body am I paying that much for Kindle, especially one that I know based on genre I will most likely hate. 😩 I don‘t have Scribd - do I want to spend $10 for one month to read this? My library & hoopla don‘t have it.

Bookwormjillk I was able to get a free month of scribd a few months ago. Maybe they have a deal? 3y
DGRachel @Bookwormjillk I tried the free month a while back. I know Audible makes you wait a year. I‘m not sure about Scribd. I may try though. 3y
squirrelbrain Ugh, I struggled a bit with this one. I read it on Scribd, but I‘m UK-based so I‘m not sure if it will be on US Scribd, sometimes it‘s a bit random. I wouldn‘t even pay Qb to read it, knowing what I know! I‘m sure I had another option for this country…I‘ll go check my spreadsheet and get back to you! 3y
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squirrelbrain Here it is ➡️ The Litsy blurb says Uganda, but both Goodreads and Amazon mention Timor-Leste. In the UK it‘s Qb.99 on Kindle or Qe for a used hard-copy so you never know…. 3y
DGRachel @squirrelbrain Thanks! It has been more than a year since I tried Scribd so I can use the first month free. I have an hour left of the audio of In Extremis. They did discuss the war in East Timor for 15 minutes…I‘ll check for the other book as well! 3y
squirrelbrain An hour‘s not too bad - put it on double speed! 🤣 3y
DGRachel @squirrelbrain That‘s an hour left at 1.4 speed. Any faster and the narrator sounds like a chipmunk 😂 3y
Librarybelle I would not want to spend that much on a Kindle book, either. 3y
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squirrelbrain
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Mehso-so

There aren‘t many books set in #timorleste but I found this on Scribd. It was just OK really - a lot of history and politics with only one or two really interesting parts. (I enjoyed the chapter on language).

I do wonder if it was me though, rather than the book,so maybe give it a go if you need this country for #readingasia2021 - don‘t let me put you off.

BarbaraBB I just found a book for Timor Leste too! 3y
squirrelbrain What did you find @BarbaraBB ? 3y
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BarbaraBB By the way, did the Bhutan book arrive yet? It takes a long time!! 3y
squirrelbrain Not yet @BarbaraBB - I will let you know as soon as it does! 😘 3y
Librarybelle Stacking this one, to keep in mind for #TimorLeste ! 3y
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