"Few new nations have endured a birth as traumatic as that of the world's youngest country, East Timor." "Born amid the flames, pillage and mayhem that surrounded Indonesia's reluctant withdrawal in 1999, it will for years be coping with the effects of that destruction. Irena Cristalis, one of a handful of journalists to refuse to be evacuated during the nightmare, stayed on to report East Timor to the world, and to keep faith with the Timorese friends whose story she wanted to tell.".

"Her book is a first-hand account of the lives of individual Timorese during the long decades of Indonesia's repressive occupation, their often heroic struggle for freedom, and their efforts to cope with the dramatic historic shifts engulfing them." "Based on years of research, and lengthy interviews with East Timor's leaders, this book is also an exploration of the country's internal politics."--BOOK JACKET.