Middle East Books

For a photo journal the print quality is not great with pixels visual in some of the photos. Also some are disrupted by the spinal crease as the photo is spread over 2 pages.

IN A WORD,OUTSTANDING! I DONT KNOW HOW THE AUTHOR GOT THE TITLE BY THE CENSORS. VERY CLEVER USE OF THE PHONETIC ALPHABET.TO THOSE WHO ARE FAMILIAR WITH THE MILITARY VERNACULAR IT SHOULD RAISE AN EYE. THE TITLE MADE ME TAKE A DOUBLE-TAKE ON THE SHELF AND I HAD TO BUY IT.THE CONTENT IS OUTSTANDING, AND THE PHOTOS BRING BACK VERY VIVID IMAGES OF THE SANDBOX.

What a breathtakingly vivid reflection of what we'd all sooner forget. This is an exquisite, painfully detailed collection of photos and text. Capa-worthy certainly. I can't wait to see what will come of such intense and exciting talent.

"Whiskey Tango Foxtrot: A Photographer's Chronicle Of The Iraq War" is a compilation of photojournalist Ashley Gilbertson's photographic record of the occupation of Iraq with special emphasis on the battle of Falluja in 2004. Providing the reader with a photographic album chronicling America's early battles in Iraq, the initial occupation of Baghdad, the insurgency that subsequently erupted, Falluja, and the first national elections following the fall of Saddam, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" provides captioned snapshots of conflict, celebration, grief, and other iconic moments. As a war-time photo documented history of special interest to anyone interested in America's involvement in the Iraq war, "Whiskey Tango Foxtrot" is an impressive body of work and a recommended addition to personal, professional, academic, and community library Photography collections.

This is one of the most beautiful photography books I've seen -- the work is fantastic and the design of the lay-out makes it even more engaging. The writing is also extremely well done and fleshes out the story to make the book even more moving. Excellent work.

A considerable amount of history during the early Middle Ages was written by Middle Easterners, and their scholarship should be taken seriously, as shown in this book. There is a lot of information appropriate to the issues in the region even now. See other reviews in the resource library at civilsociety dot seedwiki

As other reviewers have noted, this book is an engrossing, highly informative text, that is (generally) quite an easy read. It can be gory and propagandistic at times, as some have noted. Overall, it's a very good digest of Muslim narratives of several key events.

The main drawback is that I would not consider this a stand-alone book, particularly on a lot of the convoluted political arrangements - I'd suggest Wasserman's "Templars & the Assassins: The Militia of Heaven" for that - and I really don't think one can get the full understanding of the Muslim mentality in fighting the Crusaders from it. For that I'd suggest al-Sulami's "Way of Sufi Chivalry" (for those on a budget) or preferably Sabzawari's "Royal Book of Spiritual Chivalry" (for those who aren't) to get into the mindset of the Muslim warriors. For while "Arab Historians" includes a lot personal commentary from the authors, these last two books were written as guides for the emirs and warriors, and once reading them one gets the feeling that "Arab Historians" was written by some military public relations officer.

Still a highly recommended, enjoyable read, though.

Once you've read the popular histories of the Crusades, and your appetite for the original source materials has been whetted by the excerpts in Payne, Runciman, etc., you will want this book. It's THE source reader for the Arab perspectives, better in many ways than The Crusades Through Arab Eyes (Maalouf). You get the flavor of the culture as well as their particular slant on the events and personalities. And the snarky footnotes can be delicious!

A very good source, especially for those who have read about the Crusades and understand the context of the writings. This book is not an overview of the crusades or of a single crusade; it is selections from the writings of Arabic historians placed in a chronological order. Easy to read, detailed and engrossing; both useful and enjoyable.

A good book. It has many parallels with accounts of the original Muslim invasions and subsequent 700 year occupation of most of the Iberian (Spain/Portugal) Penninsula. Due to this initial Muslim invasion and occupation of Christian Europe, the Christian Crusades were launched into Spain and the Holy Land. Same story in the Balkans and Anatolia with the Seljuk and Ottoman Turk invasions of those Christian lands. First hand accounts of events always make for good reading. A good book, unfortunately I lost it.

Bazaar Stories tells the odyssey of one woman's journey to her past which paves the way to her future. Told in short stories, it is a joy to read and a very fast read as well!

Beautiful, uplifting & heartfelt are just a few words to describe the experience you will have reading this wonderful book.

Although these wonderful stories take place in Iran, they are reminders to all of us to find the true miracles in life by taking the time to connect with people, whether strangers or family members.

Do yourself a favor and buy this book. Buy one for yourself and one or more as a gift (which is truly what this book is).

Hemila Pedram's Bazaar Stories is more than a travel diary through the soul of Iran, but a journey of physical and spiritual healing--an adventure into the resplendent generosity of the human heart. Hemila takes her reader with her on walks through the winding streets of Persian bazaars to encounter delightful characters of profound kindness or subtle insight. Artists and craftspeople, shopkeepers, and people of all walks of life tell their stories and offer their visions of happiness on the streets of this often misrepresented country.

Hemila presents a universal spiritual vision, not of one religion or another, but from a grounded foundation of human generosity that will always surprise us around every corner. This is a timely book of subtle beauty and quiet power. I highly recommend it!

A breath of fresh air. The Author has an insight to human character.This book has compassion, love, and humor. This kind of literature about Iran is rare. Some characters are unforgettable. I liked the Taxi Driver's story, very funny.It was refreshing to read a book on Iran outside of the sensationalized headline news.I have a much better idea of these people now.
I recommend it.

In this book Hemila does a wonderful job showing the beauty and pain of being human. She show us that if we are open, there are wonderful possibilities in the everyday world around us. Reading these stories brought back many beautiful moments in time from my own travels. I would recommend this book to everyone!

This book was a delight. It was easy to read, interesting, informative and insightful. I got to see the ordinary everyday life of Iran and as a bonus got the authors "spiritual" insights on each of the stories. I wish everyong would read this book. It is so important for all of us in the world to see our similarities. I think this book promotes peace.

This book is wonderful! I am currently in the process of designing my own costume and this book was exactly what I needed to help me move from just thinking about making it myself to actually starting the process!

Bedlah, Baubles, and Beads guides you through concept, design and execution. Davina writes in a simple easy to follow manner making this book great for those with basic sewing knowledge and a great tool for the advanced too. I would recommend if you have basic sewing skills to also read through a book about sewing or costume making. I'm finding that brushing up on my skills is going to help me use this great book more effectively and help my costume design and construction go more smoothly.

Overall an excellent tool! I would recommend this book to all lovers of middle eastern dance... especially those who want a fab costume and the pride of making it themselves!

It covers everything from body shape to how to make a bra from scratch. Excellent reference book.

I'm an experienced sewer and found this book very useful and informative. The instructions are clear and simple. The information highly valuable and practical. Fantastic resource!

As someone that is new to belly dancing I was surprised at the prices of the costumes. Being an avid do-it-yourselfer, I decided to figure out how to make my own. Unless you count 7th grade home economics I have never made a garment in my life, nor have I had any sewing training. This is not to say that I don't sew at all, because I do. I have made lined Roman blinds, pillow covers, duvets, and slipcovers for the v-berth of a boat. Garment sewing has been something that I avoided because it seemed far too complex. This book has given me the confidence to give costume making a whirl.

This book is extremely well written and very easy to follow. The directions are very clear, even for a novice sewer like myself. The book covers the following information:

PART - DESIGN
1. History
2. Contemporary Styles of Costume
3. Principles of Design
4. Designer's Toolbox
5. An Analytic Approach to Designing Bedlah
6. Designing for Every Body
PART II - BEDLAH CONSTRUCTION AND EMBELLISHMENT
7. Bra Construction
8. Belt Construction
9. Surface Embellishments
10. Beading Techniques
11. Developing Beaded Designs
PART III - COMPLETING THE LOOK
12. Skirts and Pants
13. Accent Garments
14. Dresses and Gowns
15. Accessories and Embellishments

The section on the contemporary styles of dancewear is very enlightening. The costumes that the author identifies go way beyond what a new belly dancer is aware exists. The author's drawings have opening up a new world of possibilities to me.

The principles of design outlined by the author are extremely helpful. The author managed to answer questions that I didn't know that I had. Once I read about the right and wrong way to proportion things, and emphasis different areas it all made complete sense.

Everyone can learn from the section on how to design for your specific body. We all have areas that we want to emphasize or de-emphasize and the author explains exactly how to go about it.

The author covers Bra construction in this book. However, I recommend her book "Embellished Bras" for a more complete dissertation on the subject. Embellishment of the Bra and Belt are the most difficult parts of the costume. If you can get those done you are home free.

Overall, I thought I knew what I wanted to make until I picked up this book. Now I am thinking my first costume will be an Indian costume from Sari fabric. The options are endless once you have this book for inspiration and instruction. I highly recommend this book to any dancer.

Inspiring! It has great notes on different styles and ways to flatter your figure, and clear directions on making your own costume for the moderately crafty. The beading section is highly recommended. I hear her website is good, too.

An evocative memoir of the author's stay [1953-6] in what's now Northern Cyprus. Much of the landscape was still as he described it when we visited Belle Pais, Famagusta, Kyrenia, and Nicosia, the Tree of Idleness and other sites on our hiking trip to Cyprus in 2001. His adventures in buying and maintaining a house rival those of Peter Mayle's "A Year in Provence"written many years later. The peaceful interludes in the hills are marred by foreshadowing of the political turmoil and tragedies that would engulf Cyprus in the following decades, leading to the departure of Durrell and other foreign nationals. Some of those towns and even cities remain ghost towns to this day

I visited Mr. Durrell's house in 1991 while visiting my relatives in the American Embassy (it has a little sign that says Bitter Lemons). I didn't want to go to Cypress; it was just something to do to kill time one summer with my family. I read the book on the way there and finished it a day before the trip to the Turkish side of the island. It was like a light had been turned on and it has never been out since. I plan and I go everywhere now and as often as I can. Good enough to purchase another copy after 15 years of use.

I read this book because I'm planning a trip to Cyprus next year. My only previous exposure to Lawrence Durrell's work was PROSPERO'S CELL, his evocative memoir of Corfu. In that book, he tells of having to leave the beautiful island because of the impending World War II. In BITTER LEMONS, Durrell once again finds an island paradise that he has to leave because of political violence. The early chapters of the book are mostly humorous sketches about the lazy life of beautiful Cyprus and the colorful local characters. His happy island home becomes a kind of salon for globetrotting artists and intellectuals. Then about halfway through the book, political trouble starts brewing and terrorism becomes a fact of daily life, destroying Durrell's friendships with the people he had come to love. During this crisis, Durrell, a schoolmaster, is enlisted to serve as an administrator in the British government. There, he finds himself in the frustrating position of watching the crisis escalating all around him and being powerless to do anything about it. Durrell documents the events leading up to a standoff between the British and the Cypriots, primarily the result of British bureaucratic indifference. The book is beautifully written. Durrell was a poet and novelist and his descriptive prose evokes the colors, tastes and smells of the island in a way that is very moving. I enjoyed the early part of the book more than the parts dealing with politics. Durrell could easily have written this as two books and, in a way, I wish he had. The book left me with a terrible sense of loss, but that is perhaps what Durrell intended. This is a sad book.

_Bitter Lemons_ begins as you would expect a piece of travel writing to do-- with Durrell's impressions about Cyprus, some history, the stories of his first days there and the way in which he comes to make himself a home on the island.

Where it ultimately goes, however, is somewhere far different than most travel writing. Durrell is drawn into the conflict around Cypriot independence and is forced to examine his position as expatriot in a troubled environment.

The initial chapters of the book are so lovely and the scenes sketched so charming, that something in the reader rebels when the book turns its attention to the problem of terrorism and the echos of violence. That very quality, of course, is what lifts the book above the average travel book as it creates a Cyprus for the reader than is far more real-- not just a utopian garden existing somewhere far, far away for the weary reader to someday visit.

This book, along with a couple by Henry Miller and a few others of Durrell's, was responsible for causing my husband and me to leave life and jobs in LA and move to Greece for nearly a year. Bitter Lemons is part memoir, part political commentary, part travel writing, and part philosophy. It's the story of Durrell's fairly brief stay on the island of Cyprus, conflict between Greeks and Turks, impending world war, buying a house and trying to settle into a unique niche of the world. It's a book about Life and all its myriad difficulties.
Tip-top - and wonderful writing. It's one of those books whose memory will stay with me always.

This is a fascinating first-hand account of the Holy Land as seen by the author-journalist. While much of the writing deals with the disappearance of Christians in the Holy Land and the causes of their emigration,the author presents a balanced view of the three Abrahamic faiths and the difficulties encountered in their living together in this country. Although written in 2000, the information presented is still current as the struggles continue. If anything, the situation is even worse now that when the book was written. The suthor interviewed many individuals as he traveled throughout the Holy Land, and I found their stories very interesting.

This is one of the best books I have read about the Middle East. The set up of the book that follows Jesus' path 2000 years later and the fact that the author looks at the Christian life in these places makes the book so interesting. The writer defenitly has a great perspective because he is right in the middle of the events and talks to real people. He wasn't an outsider.
At the end I want to say that it was heratbreaking to read about the vanishing Christian population. I dont see a way to change the tide which makes it even more sad.
The book also gives good examples of the daily Paletinian life and how Israel make is impossible.
Great book if you are interested in the region.

An excellent book detailing the lives of Chrisitians within the Israeli/Arab world and how they are confront predjudice from both sides. Very well wriiten account of a very complex subject matter.

I picked up this book because of my interest in the subject. I am not so much interested in the religious aspects (although Jerusalem and it's basis in three faiths is always fascinating), as I was in how the conflict between the Arabs and Israelis has poisoned an entire region. After all Christianity was born in this area. As the author points out, many people don't understand how Christians can be challenged by the ongoing situation in the Middle East. The dwindling Christian population of Jerusalem is just one example. I had not really thought of this tertiary effect of the Arab-Israeli conflict because US news tends to be "very "go-go" with the hurly-burly of idiots parading around, making explosives of the real or imaginary, detonating them with the passion of their idiocy, and yet, ignoring the gentle, thoughtful people who are the true makers of society"
As the author points out, Christians and Jews alike lived in the region for a millenia without (largely) rancor. Today, with radical Muslim cleric and their talk of the Crusaders and Jews in the mosques, young radicalized and sometine hopeless Arabs believe the mind poison and feel rage even against their Arab neighbors who have a different religious background. The author also points out the growing radicalization of Orthodox Israelis combining nationalism and religion in a mirror of the Muslims around them. It is an explosive mix (pun intended). The fate of Lebanon with the Maronite Christian population dwindling is telling in of itself. Prior to 1975, many thought Lebanon to be the model of a cosmopolitan Arab state. It was once thought Lebanon would become the pathfinder for the recognition of Israel. This book makes clear just how much Lebanese society has changed.

The author discusses the takeover of the Bethelehem Church of the Manger (where Jesus was believed to have been born). This event was shocking because it seemed to indicate that the Arab-Israeli conflict had spilled over into Christianity's most revered spots.

The book is well-written. Like a book of another generation still worth reading (Thomas Friedman's From Beirut to Jerusalem) this book will give the reader a spot on report from the region regarding not just Christians in peril, but in the larger sense the current situation of the Middle East. To me the Christians in the book are the prism of innocence, if you will, who have no stake in the political battle and yet are overwhelemed by the entire scene of madness. From this prism, you are allowed to glimpse the Arab-Israeli conflict in all its madness.

It is too bad the author could not go to Iraq and visit with the Chaldean Christians who are being terroized by the unstable situation in Iraq. Generations ago, the Iraqi Jews were sacked, and now the Chaldeans are being run out as well.

If you have any interest in the Middle East, whether from the purely political perspective, or you have an interest in Christianity in a time of conflict, or you wish an interesting perspective of what is going on in the Middle East from a different and unique perspective, this is a good book to read. I won't say it is 'fair and balanced,' but in my book your job as reader is to decipher for yourself where you stand on issues as part of good critical reading.

All in all, worth reading.

_The Body and the Blood_ by Charles M. Sennott is an excellent, important, and timely book, one of the best I have ever read on the modern Middle East. In this work he sought to do three things; one, tour the lands that Jesus visited as chronicled in the New Testament, describing what these locales are like today, two, report the problems of the indigenous Christians of the Middle East, and three, to discuss their role in the region.

The Christian presence in the lands Jesus lived in is unfortunately a diminishing one and Sennott was keen to document the historical, economic, political, and religious reasons for this ongoing exodus. In some ways the history of Christians in the Holy Land has always been one of emigration; nearly all of the apostles emigrated, fearing reprisals not only from Rome but also from such Jewish groups as the Sadducees. In the intervening centuries Christians have generally been a minority in the region, except perhaps during a brief period under the Byzantine Empire (in the fifth and sixth centuries).

While small, the Christian presence has endured until the 20th century, where particularly in the latter part of the century (and the early years so far of this century) it has been running the real risk of dying out completely in many areas. According to the census data kept by the Ottoman Empire, the Christian population in 1914 was 24% of what we could call today Israel/Palestine, Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Syria, Iraq, and Turkey; today it is no more than 5%. In British ruled Palestine it was as much as 20% of the population (though some put the figure at 13%), while today in Israel/Palestine it is less than 2%. About 35% of the total Christian population of Israel/Palestine (about 60,000 out of 700,000 total) were among those refugees who fled the fighting in 1948 and were not permitted by Israel to return. The Coptic Church in Egypt - one of the oldest in Christendom, tracing its roots back to Saint Mark the Evangelist, said to have arrived in Egypt in A.D. 60 - is steadily declining as well. The Copts number in 2000 about 5 million, or 6% of Egypt's population of 70 million; in the early 1970s there were 4 million but a bigger percentage of the population at around 12%. In early 20th century Jordanian Christians were 13% of the population; in 2000 they are only 2%. Lebanon has gone from in 1932 a 51.2% Christian population to a 25% one today.

Why have Christians emigrated in such large numbers or otherwise declined as a percentage of the overall population? There are many factors and the author was quick to point out that the reasons for leaving were not always religious in nature. Generally Christian communities have a lower birthrate, while in many areas Muslims have soaring birthrates. In some areas there has been a steady rate of conversion to Islam, generally among young women and as a result of marriage to Muslims.

War has played a big factor in emigration, with in particular Palestinian Christians leaving in waves with each major Arab-Israeli conflict and many thousands of Maronite Christians leaving Lebanon in the fifteen years of civil war (from 1975 to 1990 850,000 Christians fled the country).

The Christians, whether Copts in Egypt, Palestinian Christians, or Maronite Christians in Lebanon, generally had higher levels of education and were wealthier and were therefore better able to move, had more to lose in regional conflicts (such as the many Israeli crackdowns on Palestinian travel and trade with Israel, economically crippling to many Christian-owned businesses), and had to face resentment and jealousy from less well-off Muslim neighbors. Further, they generally had much stronger ties to the West, with Western churches in Europe, North America, and Australia (along with already resident immigrant communities in those nations) often times actively encouraging their emigration. In addition, as more and more of a particularly Christian family immigrated to a particular locale, the pressure mounted on those that remained to join their relations overseas.

However, religion can and does play a role in Christian emigration, and the very fact that Christians are leaving only serves to exacerbate the situation in the Middle East. Christians in Palestine, Egypt, and Lebanon were an important secular and moderating influence in those areas. A minority, the Christians as leaders and as individuals did not emphasis religious differences or indeed religion at all, but instead often promoted unifying traits, whether bloodline among individual families or simply by being Arab. Their very existence and role in the economic and in particular the political life of the nations they inhabited served to promote a sense of pluralism and secular government, a factor working against (particularly in recent years) an increasing "climate of intolerance," whether radical Islamic (particularly in Lebanon with Hezbollah, Egypt, and among the Palestinians) or religiously Zionist. With Christian emigration pluralism and secular governments face an uncertain future.

The increasing role of radical, highly religious Islam has sundered many once mixed Christian-Muslim communities everywhere from Upper Egypt to the West Bank, with Christians futilely pointing out common ties and interests, pleas unheard by angry youths stirred up by radical Muslim clerics, their hatred whipped up against "infidels" and "Crusaders" despite the fact that the indigenous Christians had in general been in the region for millennia and that often tribes and families had both Christian and Muslim branches; suddenly a neighbor your knew all your life was "the enemy." Sometimes this growing divide was encouraged by Israel, whether accidentally by giving preferential treatment to the often better educated, wealthier, and less combative Christians or deliberately by seeking to fracture Palestinians in a divide and rule strategy among Christians and Muslims. Other times the Christians did this to themselves, as the Maronite Christians of Lebanon, eager and greedy to stay in power, would ally with one outside group after another (such as France or Israel) against Muslim factions in their own country.

This is a fascinating book. It starts out a little detailed and slow but once you get into the debt of the story you cannot put it down. It is horrifying and graphic and tears at your insides as you read the passages. It takes you into the debts of his despair and suffering. You begin to realize how his remembering details such as he did actually helped him make it through the ordeal. You also realize it could happen to anyone.

This book will make you think about countries that pretend to be allies of the United States and Britain. Do we play into their politics only to save face with the world?

This book is uncomfortable to read yet offers hope for the human spirit.
I highly recommend it.

What a horrifying story. Thank you very much, William Sampson, for telling about the terrible things that you experienced. I'm amazed at the incredible detail, dates, names, etc. I wonder how I would have done in a similar situation. The Canadian and British governments should be ashamed. The officials involved probably are.

This book about one man's torture at the hands of Saudi Arabian officials is a must-read. To cover up internal problems, Saudis blamed bombings of Westerners on other Westerners. They then tortured the arrested into confessing. It's hard not to be irate reading this book - Saudi Arabia strikes one as the most dangerous and vile country on Earth. Sampson's survival is testament to the human spirit, and his horrific tale makes for gripping and worrying reading.

Not often you pick up a book and have serious trouble putting it down. William Sampson's narrative of the circumstances and events that overtook him in that xenophobic wasteland of Saudi Arabia will send chills up your spine. A true hero, Sampson describes, in alarming detail, the torture and backward, self-serving mentality of his captors. His ordeal exposes the Canadian and British government's incrediable ignorance and willful lack of concern for one of it's citizens when in crisis in a foreign land. Even when faced with a death sentance (beheading), Sampson showed courage and resolve to not let his captors have the satisfaction of breaking his will.

This is a 'must read' book for anyone concerned with 'human rights', 'international relations' and 'politics.

Like the book Night, by Elie Weisel, this book shows how even a man imprisoned can fight his captors with the strength of his mind (and body). Samson is challenged in ways many of us "soft" Americans cannot dream of; yet he rises to the challenges and finds ways to stay sane in an insane situation. He learns how he can live without even basic necessities (giving up books is harder than giving up food) so that his torturers cannot use these privileges against him. Samson shows us when he "fails" himself and when he triumphs.
To think that a citizen of a Western country can be abandoned by his country in order to keep good relations is an outrage that needs to be corrected. Samson shared with us his trial so that we might see the truth and perhaps others would be spared.
Thanks so much for this well written, eye-opening book. You are a true hero.

Makiya is not a Zionist or a Neo-Con, so it's hard for the Manichean anti-Americans to demonize his evidence and arguments against the totalitarian-drooling status quo in the Middle East. In the first half off the book, he relays heart-breaking anecdotes about sons unable to kiss their dying mothers after a chemical attack, children raped in front of their parents, prisoners forced to drink gasoline and shot so that they would explode, children surviving mass grave shooting, all in that "noble" Arab Gov't known as Saddam Hussein's Iraq.

The second half of the book is a scathing indictment of the Edward Saids and Noam Chomskys of the world who rationalize the inhumanity all too prevalent in the Mid-East, specifically in Iraq, "Saddam was a victim, The U.S. is worse, Saddam's strong!" and all that junk. Because Makiya isn't a GOP Zionist, these criticisms are particularly strong and persuasive. The book is a much needed call on the part of Arabs and Muslims to adopt a Liberty-based morality instead of a relativistic, ethnic allegience based morality. A good book for all to read.

As an arab-american familiar with the brutal insanity of Saddam Hussein's regime, I've always been puzzled by the Arab talking heads who routinely criticize the U.S. for it's targetting of Iraq. Makiya's writing was instrumental in helping me understand this in somewhat deeper terms than simple anti-americanism, though his insightful and revealing writing has only heightened my frustration.

Regarding the current political climate: You can certainly question the U.S.'s motives, but if you find yourself struggling to find "smoking guns" vis-a-vis terrorism and WMDs to ethically support replacing Saddam's regime, look no further than this book.

Beautifully written; there are points at which you will literally be moved to tears.

Now that the American government is controlling Saddam's infamous Abu Ghraib/Ghurayb prison, the site of many atrocities like those described in Cruelty and Silence, we owe it to ourselves to study the crimes against humanity that were perpetrated there. Arguments about whether the old death chamber should be destroyed or maintained for future generations go without much notice in the United States, as do the reports of ongoing investigations to insure we follow legal guidelines in handling the prisoners we now hold at Abu Ghraib. We owe it to ourselves to operate this facility in a manner which testifies to our philosophy and way of life. And when we question ourselves, the cause in Iraq, the price we pay, the chances of success, we should understand the nature of the vicious regime which created the dysfunctional and factionalized Iraqi society we see today. Cruelty and Silence helps us develop a long-term perspective to the challenges ahead.

This is one of the best books I have read all year. Ten years old, it is still agonisingly relevant. In its bearing witness to human cruelty, human indifference but also human courage, it is as unflinching, as passionate and as magnificent as the works of Primo Levi. Beautifully written, meticulously observed, focussed on people, not abstractions, it is a book that haunts me and will continue to do so for a long time to come. If you have any doubts at all about the rightness of invading Iraq, read this book. There will be no doubts left, only a terrible regret that the ousting of the Saddam regime was not done long, long ago.

Makiya achieves two goals in this 1993 book: he details the "rising curve of cruetly" in Iraq under the rule of Saddam Husein and more broadly throughout the Arab world, and he castigates Arab intellectuals for their silence on this topic.

Even though it is 13 years old, this book is highly relevant today for people trying to understand the middle east. Makiya warns that "Sunni-Shi'i hatred is today [in 1993] the most virulent potential source of new violence," thus accurately predicting Iraq's current quandry. Iraq's Sunni minority will "fight to the bitter end before allowing anything that so much as smells of an Islamic reupblic to be established in Iraq. They see in such a state -- whether rightly or wrongly is irrelevant -- their own annihilation." I wonder if the Bush administration was aware of this viewpoint as it planned the invasion of Iraq.

The book tackles the topic of cruetly through several first-person accounts, including a survivor of the Iraqi occupation of Kuwait, an Iraqi arrested and interrogated by the secret police, and Kurdish witnesses to chemical attacks and mass deportations and shootings. The reader learns about the anarchy of the intifada, the brief and unsuccessful uprising against Saddam in the aftermath of the 1991 Gulf War, where rebels resorted to wanton vengence-killing, and the returning security forces were paid cash bonuses for killing Shi'i males. Based on documents captured by Kurdish fighters, Makiya analyzes the efforts of the Iraqi regime to eliminate the Kurdish independence movement as a threat to B'athist hegemony, an operation code-named "Al-Anfal," a reference from the Koran to parceling out the spoils of war, which appears to have involved the razing of thousands of villages, as well as the killing of 100,000 non-combatants. The author also touches on violence against women, a widespread problem in the mid-east, and apparently a tactic that the Iraqi regime institutionalized as a strategy for dishonoring entire families.

On their own, these stories are chilling, just like other historical accounts of terror and genocide. They are even more disturbing when one stops to consider the implications for peace and prosperity in the middle east today. Makiya notes that the "terrible force of memory...tends always to sow dragons' teeth in the shape of the children and survivors of the dead," and he warns that the legacy of Saddam Husain for Iraq may be a continuation of violence, terror, cruelty, and silence.

In the second part of the book, Makiya takes Arab intellectuals to task for their support of Saddam during the Gulf War and for their wilful ignoring of the violence and terror that characterized his regime and that are all too prevalent throughout the middle east. Ideologies based on cultural nationalism, which ignore the importance of human rights, are "morally bankrupt," in Makiya's view. I found his arguments persuasive, although to be fair I have not read the writings of those he criticizes.

Mr. Anderson's book is a lesson on how to maintain sainity in the most horrible situations you could every be in; kidnapped and the lose of personal freedom.

This book is not a pleasant read. It is very important though in that it allows the reader, who is probably very comfortable while reading, to feel the sense of dispair that Mr. Anderson went through.

The political reasons as well as the climate in the Middle East in the 1980's is very interesting and this account allows us to see it from a totally different perspective.

Plus it has a happy ending, I highly recommend it.

Terry Anderson's Den of Lions is a den of insights into the radical bi-polar terrorist mentality in which he was trapped for over seven years. His descriptions of the bombings, shootings and random daily violence that permeated around the non-citizens and the citizens of Lebanon, make this a classic Middle East hostage survivor's story. Anderson's poems of his cruel incarceration are filled with searing depth that transport you to the various scummy basement cells which he shared with other Westerners. Den of Lions and Hostage by David Jacobson go hand in hand and are important contributions in the collection of Middle East books that help those of us citizens who were not there or too young to remember, the horror that Beirut was during the eighties and early ninties. Very highly recommended!

Den of Lions: Memoirs of Seven Years by Terry Anderson is one of my favorite books. The book grabbed my attention and kept it. I read the book in one day. Learning of Terry Anderson's ordeal through his eyes and in his words was amazing. Having been only 4 when he was taken hostage, I did not really know much about him until he was released from Lebanon in 1991, when I was 10. I grew up watching the news with my parents and I can remember seeing his return on television.
When I decided to study journalism in college, I chose the E.W. Scripps School of Journalism at Ohio University. When I heard that Terry Anderson was going to be joining the faculty at Scripps, I was truly excited. I read his memoirs and then had the opportunity to hear him speak about his ordeal. Having him as a professor at Scripps was a wonderful experience for all journalism students. I have the great privilege of saying that I met one of my role models and I am grateful for that.
Den of Lions: Memoirs of Seven Years is one of the best books I have ever read. It is touching and wonderfully written. It tells Terry Anderson's story in a way that only he could.

I do not want this to sound insensitive, but the one thing I kept thinking as I was reading this book is why was he there? The U.S. government was telling U.S. citizens to leave, the Lebanese government did not care, his employer wanted him to leave, and there were increasing hostage incidents. The book his the story of his capture and the seven years he spent as a captive of this militant group. He does a good job in describing the locations he was in, the people that were his captors, and the other persons that he was with. I thought the most interesting parts of the book detailed his conversations with some of his captors and their views on the situation.

The book is a very interesting view of what happened to the author. The details are rich and he does a good job of painting the scenes for us. He also did a good job of explaining the depression of being a captive and what it is like to loss seven years of your life, although I do not think any author could truly express the emotional pain that he must have gone through. If you are interested in this part of the world or this story, this is a great book. It is also interesting given the current climate in the Middle East to read about what was happening 20 years ago.

I am a Westerner who has lived in Lebanon for many years and yet I gleaned new knowledge of the Middle East from reading "Den of Lions". Terry Anderson is a wonderful writer, and the addition of his fiancee's thoughts and feelings adds depth of insight into the agony of hostage-taking. There are interesting looks into the interaction between hostages and into the daily frustrations of the waste, and yet somehow the not-waste, of almost seven years away from freedom of choice. This is a book that has stayed on my mind.

I found this book to be very interesting, albeit only the first half. The historical accounts in the book are all footnoted to the original sources, and the author lets the events and laws speak for themselves.

The Dhimmi: Jews & Christians Under Islam is required reading for any American.

The author writes, in detail, in a marvelously researched manner. The mistake that many people make is that Islam is only anti-Israel and anti-Jewish. For from it. Islam is anti-American, anti-Christian, anti-Protestant, anti-Catholic, and anti-Buddhist, anti just about everything.

Even if there was no Israel, or the US was not an ally of Israel, radical Islam would still despise the USA.

When Islam despises you, your live is in danger.

This is a horrifying book. What is most horrifying is that it is non-fiction.

Why do Arabs attack Zionism? In this book, Bat Ye'or gives a surprisingly simple answer. I think she's absolutely nailed the cause of the problem:

"It is well known that the successful revolt of the colonized frequently traumatizes the colonizer. Vengefulness and hatred express the distress of the oppressor confronted by his victim's rebellion. An equality of rights with the inferior party humiliates the dominating group which, deprived of its superiority, seeks compensation in phantasms. Such reactions have been exhaustively analyzed in books dealing with the phenomenon of racism."

The author shows these attitudes in action, as various Arabs complain that the presence of Jews in Israel defiles the land, or that the land is all Arab, with Jews being mere "dhimmis." The liberation of the Jews is sometimes considered a crime against Nature, as we see Egyptian President Nasser call it "the greatest international crime that has been committed in the entire history of mankind."

The terms applied by Arab racists to Jewish dhimmis who sought freedom are now applied to Israel itself: insolent, arrogant, and needing punishment.

I think this book is one of the best at explaining why Arabs and Jews are at odds in the Middle East. And why they'll continue to be at odds until Arabs renounce such racism and until international applause for this racism quiets down.

Bat Ye'or explains the problems of being a dhimmi. A dhimmi lacks rights and is thus dependent on the good will of, um, real people. A dhimmi has no history; actually a dhimmi has no right to have a history, and real people write any history they please regarding dhimmis. And the author shows that although Zionism is more an Oriental phenomenon than a European one, the refusal to acknowledge Zionist history tends to lead to claims that Zionism is exclusively a European movement. In addition, she implies that the refusal of many Arabs to refer to Israel or to allow it to be on Arab maps is another symptom of the tendency to refuse dhimmis the right to a historical existence.

The author contrasts the outrage of many antizionist Arabs with the relative silence of some genuine victims: Jews who were expelled from Arab nations. She attributes some of this to a tendency of dhimmis, with their history of having been exploited, servile, and silent, to think in terms of gratitude and toleration rather than in terms of rights.

In this book, Bat Ye'or does a superb job of explaining the dhimmi condition. And I think we all ought to heed her warning that those who forget history are indeed condemned to repeat it.

This is the classic study of dhimmitude - the condition of non-Muslims who are permitted to live as permanent tributaries under the dhimma, a pact of submission to Islamic conquest. A profoundly moving human document, The Dhimmi is deeply challenging to the 'Andalusian myth', that Muslim relations with those of other faiths have been the epitome of peaceful coexistence. In The Dhimmi, Bat Ye'or provides her classical definition of the psychology of dhimmitude, which is of fundamental importance for understanding the current role of Islam in its full global context.

Dhimmi history is hard to study, in part because the conquerors have written their own version, and promulgated it with supreme moral self-confidence. It is also hard to access dhimmi documents, which are written in Greek, Latin, Farsi, Coptic, Ethiopian, Hebrew, Armenian, Serbian, English, French, Hindi etc etc. A great strength of this book is it's very rich collection of translations from dhimmi and Arab documents.

A must read in these times.

This is a disturbing book which reveals what is described as a socially acceptable Islamic conduct against peoples who were classed as "inferior".

For the most part the book describes these peoples as Jews and Christians who were classed as "dhimmi". "Dhimmitude" being further elaborated as the religious, cultural, and political fate of non-Muslims living under Islamic rule, usually when their lands have been subject to Islamic conquest.

Where the politicisation/allegations of racial prejudice, segregation, apartheid and indeed genocide have become quite common-place in the Middle East against the Jewish state, a book such as this is very timely in showing another side to the story. A book that reveals the painful, disturbing policy of prejudice, racial hatred and segregation of countless people who the book describes were classed as "inferior"on the basis of their religion alone.

Many examples are referred to in this study and many issues are discussed. The book draws a number of distinctions drawn and prejudices applied upon Jews and Christians who refused to accept and bow to Islam. Just by way of a single example, page 56 of this study deals with the "Invalidity of the Dhimmi's Oath".

With legal cases being dealt with under Quranic law, every case involving a Muslim and a dhimmi received a "peculiar" treatment in that a dhimmi was forbidden to give evidence against a Muslim. The Dhimmi's oath being deemed unacceptable in an Islamic court, which made it virtually impossible for any Muslim opponent to be condemned. To further any defence, the book describes that the dhimmi would be obliged to "purchase" Muslim witnesses, often at great expense.

This refusal of Muslim religious courts to accept such testimony of the dhimmi being based on hadiths which maintained that the infidels were of a "perverse and mendacious character because they deliberately persisted in denying the superiority of Islam". The same law preventing any Muslim from being put to death on account of an infidel.

This principle alone is further elaborated in this book with the example of the frequent accusations directed at Jews and Christians of having "blasphemed" the Prophet or Islam, an offence punishable by death. In such a case, the dhimmi was clearly in no position to contradict the testimony of a Muslim making the accusation and could therefore only save his life by conversion to Islam. (Although some exceptions have been recorded, this was the abiding principle nearly always adhered to.)

This is a classic study of this subject and it is not a "light" read, but a subject which demands attention. Thank you.