Calcutta: The Human Face of Poverty

I just finished a book called "Calcutta: The Human Face of Poverty" by Frederic C. Thomas. This is an illuminated expose on the different levels of slums and poverty in Calcutta. It goes through a recent history of Calcutta with in the last 200 years or so, and explains how and why slums were started and why they continue to thrive. Actually the slum population is growing faster than the population of Calcutta as a whole. It was interesting because Thomas explains what different organizations are doing to help the slums and bustees and what does and doesn't work. Also there are good sections on slum politics and organization. I was actually quite surprised to learn that alot of people living in the slums are not their permanently, and quite a few people in the slums are not actually poor but choose to live in these conditions for various reasons. I recommend this book to anyone interested in slum life and possible ways to make life for people living at this level of poverty a little better.