THE LAND OF LOST CONTENT: A HISTORY OF CUSO. Smillie, Ian. Toronto, Deneau, c1985. 408pp, cloth, $29.95, ISBN 0-88879-125-9.
Volume 14 Number 4
Ian Smillie joined Canadian University Service Overseas (CUSO) in 1967, following graduation from McGill University. He taught in Sierra Leone and during the Biafran war he managed the CUSO program in Nigeria. In 1972, he went to Bangladesh to manage a large CARE reconstruction project after that country's bloody war of independence. In 1975, he founded Inter Pares, a Canadian development organization. In 1979, he returned to CUSO as executive director, and since 1983 he has worked as an international development consultant on assignments in Africa and Asia. CUSO was founded in 1961 out of the idealism of internationally-minded Canadians and the need to co-ordinate the pioneer initiatives of volunteer aid groups. Today, twenty-five years after its founding, CUSO remains one of the most durable and successful of the myriad of aid organizations to have emerged since the Second World War. The story of those first wenty-five years is told in The Land Of Lost Content. The book is not a memoir, although a number of volunteers and thsir achievements are described. The author tells the story through the events in which CUSO has participated. It is organized chronologically and by country or individual portrait. It is footnoted, and abundant resources are listed at the end. A glossary is available for the numerous acronyms and an ample index is included. Eight pages of black-and-white photos are found in the middle of the book. The layout facilitates use, and the type is easy to read. The Land of Lost Content will interest both the student of international affairs and those who seek a better appreciation of the history and character of the developing Third World.
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1971-1979 | 1980-1985 | 1986-1990 | 1991-1995
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