Love in a Torn Land: Joanna of Kurdistan: The True Story of a Freedom Fighter's Escape from Iraqi Vengeance

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Eye Opening

Engaging

THIS IS A GREAT STORY BY AN EXCELLENT AUTHOR.

Love in a Torn Land: Joanna of Kurdistan: The True Story of a Freedom Fighter's Escape from Iraqi Vengeance
Jean Sasson
Manufacturer: Wiley
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0470067292

Book Description

In this incredible true love story, bestselling author Jean Sasson shares Joanna al-Askari's personal journey of fear and fortitude through a Baghdad childhood and life as a Kurdish freedom fighter during the Iran-Iraq War. Inspiring and unforgettable, Love in a Torn Land shares Joanna's passionate and unflagging determination to survive and fight—for love, life, and the freedom of her beloved Kurdistan.

Customer Reviews:

Eye Opening.......2007-05-14

As usual, Jean Sasson opened my eyes to a harsh culture where survival is your minute by minute goal. She has provided women with a voice and others of us a reason to be thankful to be Americans.

Engaging.......2007-05-12

I love all of Jean Sasson's books. Like all the others, this is written to keep you interested in the story and wondering what could possibly happen next to this poor young woman, her husband and all Kurds, even though you eventually know about the general outcome. The fact that the story is true, makes it hair raising. The only unfavorable thing I could say about the book, is that in telling the story, Jean Sasson looses herself a bit by going into too many details of places, people, every day occurrances, and the constant back and forth conversations between the protagonists. Sometimes it is best to leave details to your imagination. Other than that, I enjoyed it thoroughly and can't wait for the next!

THIS IS A GREAT STORY BY AN EXCELLENT AUTHOR........2007-03-03

JEAN SASSON IS AN EXCELLENT AUTHOR, THIS IS A GREAT BOOK!!

Average customer rating:

Great!
It was very boring
Somehow Disappointed...
Worth sharing
CHRISTINA LEWIS'S BOOK REVEIW On KISS THE DUST.

Kiss the Dust
Elizabeth Laird
Manufacturer: Puffin
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0140368558

Customer Reviews:

Great!.......2006-03-01

This book is very exciting. If you are looking for a action packed book, this is a good book for you. There is a bombing scene in it, which is very exciting. I hope you read it!

It was very boring.......2004-01-06

It never had a climax to it they were just always moving around to different places and no action every happend they would just here stories about the outside world from were they were living. The book just sucked and i don't think it should have made it to the publishing company.
Thank you

Somehow Disappointed..........2002-08-18

Tara Hawrami is a thirteen-year-old girl living in Iraq in the 1980's. She has what we would call a normal life-living in a nice house, going shopping with her best friend, and having the mistaken feeling that nothing particularly bad is going to happen to her. But then the inevitable comes. Tara has always known that she was a Kurd, and has maybe even faintly known that Kurds are hated by the Iraqi goverment...but one day, when walking home from school, she sees a teenaged Kurdish boy die for his beliefs.

Things all happen in short order after that, and the Hawramis, who find themselves dodging the Iraqi government, find themselves living in a remote Kurdish village that is unlike anything they have ever known. The journey continues when the village becomes the target of brutal bombing raids, and it seems that the family must become refugees in order to escape danger. Experiences in two refugee camps follow, and Tara and her family wonder if their life will ever be what it was before.

As I said before, I was disappointed with this book. It seems as if the author had a very promising topic and a character that could potentially make the story seem real to readers. But something seems flawed in this book. Laird's writing style is somehow "detached" and it doesn't really feel like you are "right there" (which is how it should in a good book). In what should have been some of the most exciting parts of the book, I felt kind of bored and ready to "get on with it." Character development seems a little weak, too. We never seemed to really get to know Tara-there was too much time spent telling what she did, not enough time spent telling what she thought.

The one great thing about this book is that it lets us know about a conflict, a people, and a time in the not-so-distant past that many of us probably don't know about. I think it's good to read books like this that open our eyes to what's happening around us; it's just too bad that the quality of writing and character development in this book was far from 5-star.

Worth sharing.......2002-04-06

I read this book to my students in a sole-charge school when the setting was still hot in the news, back in the early 90s. The story had us all gasping with identification as these blessed children in rural New Zealand imagined a life in turmoil. We still remember the pleasant life and then the flight over the mountains in the night.
This books sits with Ann Holm's "I Am David", or Ian Seraillier's "The Silver Sword", as a novel that will help children understand the human suffering behind world politics and the nightly news. History is being made every day and World War Two is not the only history that gets a break in literature.
Our discussions, our map work, our search for photographs of the region and the culture made this a rich reading experience indeed and I whole heartedly recommend it.

CHRISTINA LEWIS'S BOOK REVEIW On KISS THE DUST........2001-10-25

I thought KISS THE DUST was a very good book. It's about a girl
named TARA and her family. One afternoon a soldier comes to their house. TARA's father was sick. The solier tells BABA the police are looking for him.SO they have to move away from their home.Most of the book is about them moving around the world and their problems.

The Kurds: A Concise History And Fact Book

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The Ultimate Reference!
The Kurds: A Concise Handbook
An excellent introduction to a world unknown in the West.

The Kurds: A Concise History And Fact Book
Mehrdad Izady
Manufacturer: Taylor & Francis
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0844817279

Customer Reviews:

The Ultimate Reference!.......2007-01-03

This book is the ultimate reference when it comes to the Kurds and all aspects of their life. The analysis is deep, academic, and far from biased. Although some of the historical facts Professor Izady provides need to be prooved, the historical research seems very miticulous. Although this book serves its purpose perfectly, such a small handbook isn't enough to eliminate the numerous common misconceptions and fallacies about the Kurds and their history. We need a far more detailed book with more proofs about what it states, and I hope that Izady's next book will be like that. Anyway, despite being a bit outdated, this is the finest refernce on the Kurds available so far. Highly Recommended!!

The Kurds: A Concise Handbook.......2000-02-20

Although 8 years old, this still remains the best book I have ever read about the Kurds. We Armenians know very little, and that also so biased, when it comes to our neighbors the Kurds. I think this book should be made a mandatory reading in all the Armenian schools.

The book is like an encyclopedia and the author is successful in not taking any political side. He is also respectful to the Armenians and their Genocide in which as Izady writes, the Kurdish tribal leaders took part with the Turks. His treatment of the Kurdish culture, art and history is as fascinating as his coverage of politics, religion, langauge and demography. It is an excellent resource.

It is a pitty that this book is not more widely known or available in the Armenian language. I wished the publishers of the book would consider translating and publishing this into other languages too and not just English.

An excellent introduction to a world unknown in the West........1998-10-08

The author covers every aspect of Kurdish life, especially religion quite well. The book is a good approximation of the country studies available from the library of congress on the various recognized independent states.

Since Kurdistan is not recognized as an independent state, it does not have a library of congress handbook. As a replacement, Izady's book is a good substitute.

There are a few difficulties and inaccuracies in the book, but given its size and its attempt to cover such a long span of history, these mistakes can be forgiven. For example, the claim that Armenian King Tigranes II The Great was of Kurdish origin is at best very debatable. The King is a central figure in Armenian history, and Izady's initial words seemed to be aimed at attacking Armenian history. But he quickly repairs this potential point of contention and clearly points out that the King probably regarded himself as an Armenian whatever his origins may have been.

In addition to bringing to life history that is treated as a taboo subject in Turkey, Iraq and other Middle Eastern and even some Western states. Izady does a great deal to shatter the image of religious conformity in the region. We learn of the Yazidis, the Cult of angels, the Alevis, the Syrian Arab Alawites (Nusayris), and other groups including Kurdish Christians.

Amazon.com

Dismantled in the aftermath of World War I, Kurdistan is little more than a lingering memory among millions of living Kurds, against whom are pitted the governments of Syria, Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. Susan Meiselas gathers historical documents, maps, charts, and photographs that document the changing fortunes of the Kurdish people in the 20th century; anthropologist Martin Van Bruinessen provides ethnographic commentary on this mountain tribe's way of life. Kurdistan: In the Shadow of History helps bring the memory of Kurdistan and the reality of the present situation to the attention of readers unfamiliar with the region.

Customer Reviews:

A "Must Own" Book.......2007-05-12

I can't put this book down, it's by far the most cherished book in my entire collection. The pictures, although heart-wrenching, are fascinating, the text is well researched and passionate. This is definitely a "must own" book, and I believe it should be required reading for all students. It captures the plight of the Kurdish population perfectly, and chronicles concisely the abuse and atrocities they have endured over the centuries. At the same time showing in explicit detail the pride and beauty of the Kurds. Anyone with even the slightest interest in history, justice, politics, or the cultures and traditions of the Kurdish and Middle Eastern regions, should own this book. Five stars is not nearly enough to rate this book, it deserves 5000 stars.

Save your pennies, it's worth it!.......2006-05-26

I don't own this book and can't afford it...but I'm saving to buy it. In the mean time I have access to one of the largest Middle Eastern libraries in the United States with unended renewal policies, so I do have a copy in my posession.

The pictures alone are absolutely amazing and well worth the book price. It has photos of original documents and papers that other books only mention in brief, transcripts from radio programs, diary entries, newspaper clippings, government papers...it is truely an amazing Kurdish documentary.
However because it does cover so much, it is not as in depth into specific subjects as other works. This does not make it any less valuable a resource though, for it contains a LOT of information that I have yet to find in any other source.

If you are a Kurdish scholar you MUST buy this book. If you are a Kurd and want to know your history, you should read this book. If you are curious about the Kurdish people, or have an interest in the regions history I highly recommend this book.

Even if you despise the Kurdish people and couldn't care less about their struggles, I still encourage you to read this book. For, if what you've been taught is true, it should certainly stand up in the face of all evidence. If it is not true, it is never too late to learn...and perhaps, just maybe, when your own country no longer discriminates against people who are different, other countries will no longer discriminate against yours for being different as well....just a little food for thought.

Would rather read a single personal account.......2005-03-20

Although this is a quality book, it is so overpriced that few people would ever buy it or get a chance to read it. I believe that the world is in great need of a readable volume about a Kurd who suffered through and survived the chemical attacks. I hope that an author famous for bringing to life the experiences of individuals will tackle this much needed project. Most people need to be educated on the Kurdish issue and on the Armenian issue. Such a book on either subject that targets ONE LIFE, I will buy and pass along to my Kurdish and Armenian relatives. This one is too convoluted and out of price range.

AMAZING BOOK!!.......2004-10-18

It is an absolutely well-written book, with great information about the history of the Kurds. It is definitely worth more than how much it's listed for because of the information and the pictures it has. I just can't wait to read more books of the writer! She has done a beautiful job.

Not your average coffee table book..........2002-02-03

For those with an interest in Kurdish studies, this volume is a must. Recording the history of this nation-less state, Meisalis has done an extraordinary job of compiling not only the traditional linear history, but has added a caleidoscope of supporting documentation, to include rare pictures,maps, letters, etc.... I value this book as a cornerstone of my collection of books dealing with the history of this region (Turkey, Iran, Iraq, Syria). As mentioned in other reviews, this is a weighty tome (literally). Well worth the look for the pictures alone!

The Kurds: A People in Search of Their Homeland

Average customer rating:

The Kurds: A People in Search of Their Homeland.
Decent, but not great
the truth and the courage to talk about it
It was for real

The Kurds: A People in Search of Their Homeland
Kevin Mckiernan
Manufacturer: St. Martin's Press
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

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ASIN: 0312325460
Release Date: 2006-03-07

Book Description

Kevin McKiernan has reported on the Kurds of Iraq, Iran, Turkey, and Syria since 1991, but he began his career as a journalist in the 1970s covering armed confrontations by Native Americans. In The Kurds: A People in Search of Their Homeland he draws parallels---using examples of culture, language, and genocide---between Native American history and the experience of the Kurds. With a population of more than twenty-five million, the Kurds are the largest ethnic group in the world without their own state, but until recently their long struggle for autonomy has received relatively little attention. Following World War I, the Kurds were promised a homeland, but the dream collapsed amid pressures of Turkish nationalism and the Allied realignment of the Middle East. For the remainder of the century, the story of the Kurds was one of almost constant conflict, as Middle East governments repressed Kurdish culture, language, and politics, destroyed thousands of Kurdish villages, 'disappeared' and even gassed the Kurds---often as the West provided military assistance or simply looked away. The Kurds are politically and ideologically diverse and were never a 'nation' in the modern sense, but their struggles for self-determination have been repeatedly betrayed by outside powers. Yet in 1996, a Syrian Kurd would boldly inform the author that the Kurds 'were a key to the stability of the Middle East'---prophetic words today, McKiernan writes, as the fallout from the U.S.-led invasion of Iraq and other developments join to make Kurdish independence a likely, if not imminent, prospect.McKiernan mixes Middle East history with personal narrative, as he comes face-to-face with Kurdish refugees in the mountains of Iraq and Iran, a hidden war in Turkey, guerrilla safe houses in Syria and Lebanon, backpacking trips behind army lines, scrapes with hostile soldiers, and, finally, the discovery that his personal translator during the Iraq war was also a spy for Saddam Hussein. His complex portrait of the Kurds includes interviews with Jalal Talabani, the first Kurdish president of Iraq, members of the legendary Barzani family, and Abdullah Ocalan, the now-imprisoned leader of the lengthy Kurdish uprising in Turkey. Interwoven throughout is the story of the author's charming and resilient driver who survived a terrorist attack in Iraq, and the American doctors who nursed him back to health. McKiernan's coverage of the war in Iraq includes a visit to the camp of militants linked to al-Qaeda who were responsible for a series of suicide bombings in the Kurdish region, and he examines how U.S. preoccupation with toppling Saddam Hussein allowed many of these insurgents to escape to Iran, regroup, and later turn their jihad against the American occupation. McKiernan also examines the role of journalists in the run-up to the war as he tells how his Kurd-provided 'scoop' about Iraqi scientists came to be used in U.S. claims that Iraq possessed weapons of mass destruction.

Customer Reviews:

The Kurds: A People in Search of Their Homeland. .......2007-05-07

In The Kurds, journalist and filmmaker McKiernan offers a gripping tale of travel among the Kurds of northern Iraq, Turkey, and, briefly, Iran. Based on trips taken over fifteen years, his anecdotes give depth and perspective to Kurdish society. He augments his narrative with historical background. In describing the origins of the Kurds, for example, he relays not only the local Kurdish explanation that they are descended from the Medean Empire (seventh century B.C.E.) but also the scholarly debate which pours cold water on that myth.

McKiernan's tale begins in Iran where he headed at the behest of a nongovernmental organization to assist Iraqi Kurdish refugees fleeing the 1991 uprising. He relates a midnight interrogation by the Iranian Revolutionary Guards while the hotel manager, "a Kurd in a police state," looked on, "a look of embarrassment on his face." Over the next chapters and years, McKiernan shuttles between Iraq and Turkey where he meets local Kurds, as well as officials and others. Importantly, he traces the evolution of the Kurdish issue in Washington, recalling how in 1992, Kurdish officials such as Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) leader Jalal Talabani--Iraq's current president--had difficulty getting meetings at the State Department.

It is easy to romanticize the Kurds - the perennial underdogs who have overcome great odds - and too many journalists do so. But McKiernan does not, nor does he whitewash Kurdish history in Iraq. He addresses the 1994-97 internecine civil war in which Talabani and his rival, Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) president Masoud Barzani, sent each other's supporters to mass graves. He also describes the KDP obsession with spying upon and controlling foreign press and visitors.

Such balance, however, does not extend to the Turkish Kurds. McKiernan's account oozes with antipathy toward Turkey. He wrongly calls Kurds "second class citizens" in Turkey, ignoring that presidents, foreign ministers, and scores of parliamentarians have been Kurdish. Lack of education and urban-rural divide better explain the social differences in Turkey than ethnicity. Too often McKiernan uncritically accepts the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) narrative, though many Kurds consider it a terrorist group.
The second half of The Kurds discusses the 2003 Iraq war. McKiernan captures the atmosphere of anxiety that [...] might again launch chemical weapons against the Iraqi Kurds. His provides a gripping account of the [...] attempt on PUK prime minister Barham Salih. He describes how Iraqi Kurds would sell stories about weapons of mass destruction (WMD) to U.S. reporters willing to pay for them. This raises an important but unaddressed question: how much of what entered U.S. news accounts originated with Kurdish political parties?

McKiernan's writing is eloquent, but uneven analysis weakens his narrative. That U.S. government officials cite the open press in speeches should not lead to the conclusion that they derive their information from newspaper stories. Conspiracy theories lace his account, such as the silly idea that the Pentagon hid the death of U.S. servicemen during the 2003 war. While a frequent theme of Baathist propaganda, such cover-ups are impossible given soldiers' parents, wives, and children, as well as the U.S. government's pension system. It is unclear how representative McKiernan's encounters are, or whether he reinterprets or revises observations in order to appear more astute. He appears to exaggerate Kurdish-Shi'ite distrust. Analogies to American Indians and false predictions of civil war cheapen what is ultimately a good read but an uneven account of an important time and region.

Michael Rubin
Middle East Quarterly
Summer 2007

Decent, but not great.......2006-08-28

Kevin McKiernan's "the Kurds: A People in Search of Their Homeland" was decent but not great. McKiernan had spent many months in Iraq and Turkey with the Kurds and definitely has good political connections among the Kurds. He had interviewed Ocalan as well as other prominent Iraqi Kurd politicians.

Unfortunately even with his good sources and experience the book fails to deliver according to its title. The book brushes over the history of the Kurds in about one and a half pages and then abruptly arrives to recent happenings. McKiernan draws almost no conclusions and doesn't make a case for anything or present the history of the Kurds or who they are as a people. The book is almost entirely about his own experiences in Iraqi Kurdistan and Turkey. While this is interesting and relevant, it does not seem to fit a book about the Kurds and their homeland. Maybe it should be titled something along the lines of "Experiences of a News Journalist in Kurdistan."

His writing style was also very boring. There were many words that became repetitive and his lack of variety of verb tenses made interesting topics and events boring.

If you are looking for a book about the history of the Kurds as well as modern political insights this is not a good book for you. If you are looking for casual reading about the Middle East this book will suffice- but you can find much better.

the truth and the courage to talk about it.......2006-04-04

this book deserves kudos and nothing else. the fact is, mckiernan has spent several decades researching the kurds' story "in the field" inside turkey and he has had the courage to write about the truth, an unsettling truth for those of us who honor human and cultural rights. do not believe the turkish government and military forces, and what is said for example in the review by oki oki on this book. that is all sheer propaganda, exactly what the usa and turkey want the world to believe. i encourage all to read this book and think about it profoundly. it speaks the truth.

It was for real.......2006-03-27

I always wondered if the Turkish Army really burned Kurdish villages and killed innocent Kurdish people. Many of my friends in college told me that it was for real and that they "heard" a "real" story from one of their friends. Then I joined the Turkish Army and became a team commander leading an infantry commando team in the heart of the region. I visited more than 100 Kurdish villages only to help the Kurdish people there giving them clothes, trees, and food. I took injured Kurdish men and women to a Military Hospital after they got shot by the PKK militants. Then I always wondered why in the US people say that the Turkish Army kills Kurdish people and burns Kurdish villages. The answer I came up with was they "heard" it from one of their friends and it was for "real".

Even though Kevin spent a lot of time with the terrorist organization PKK, his observations in my opinion were made based on what some of his terrorist friends told him - not based on what he actually saw there. It is very unfortunate that Kevin misrepresented the situation in Turkey in his book and blamed the Turkish Army relentlessy. If you read the book and if you have any doubts about what you read, please go to the region and see what is happening with your own eyes. I would highly recommend that you go to these Kurdish villages and talk to the people there. Talking to people that belong to the PKK or any other terrorist organization won't reveal the reality.

I wish that Kevin actually spent some time with the Turkish Army (instead of a terrorist organization that has killed both Turkish and Kurdish people) to see the truth. I am sure that he couldn't write this book and make any of his money. Who knows, maybe his primary reasons for telling unreal stories were to make people buy this book.

Read the book, but also do some research and read more reliable articles (on US and Turkish government websites) to find out what the truth is. As far as I saw (with my own eyes), the Turkish Army does not harm any innocent Kurdish civilians.

Here is the truth:
http://pkk.ataturk.org/whatispkk.shtml
http://pkk.ataturk.org/pictures.shtml (Viewer discretion is advised) Please be aware that some pictures are extremely graphic. These pictures show how barbaric this (or any) terrorist organization can be. They were all Kurdish people.

The PKK has killed more than 5,000 innocent Kurdish civilians in the region. They killed more than 100 teachers, 120 goveners, thousands of soldiers, imams, nurses, doctors, and even animals (sheep and cows) just to prevent the region from becoming stable both economically as well as socially. They burned down schools, destroyed bridges, construction equipment, and threathened government employees that they would be killed if they kept working for the government. They killed two high ranking soldiers just today and bombed a religous school. This is not fighting for your rights. This is called terrorism and it is very real.

I hope that the readers of this book will find out what the truth really is by doing some more research.

Regards,

A Modern History of the Kurds: Third Edition

Average customer rating:

An illuminating side of Near Eastern history
What a dismal reality!
Comprehensive and compelling history of the Kurds
details every Turkish,Persian,and Arab should read

A Modern History of the Kurds: Third Edition
David McDowall
Manufacturer: I. B. Tauris
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

Eastern | Europe | History | Subjects | Books

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ASIN: 1850434166

Book Description

The division of the Kurdish people among four modern nation states--Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Iran--and their struggle for national rights have been constant themes of recent Middle East history. The Kurdish lands have been contested territory for many centuries. In this detailed history of the Kurds from the 19th century to the present day, McDowall examines the interplay of old and new aspects of the struggle, the importance of local rivalries within Kurdish society, the enduring authority of certain forms of leadership and the failure of modern states to respond to the challenge of Kurdish nationalism. Drawing extensively on primary sources McDowall's book is useful for all who want a better understanding of the underlying dynamics of the Kurdish question.

Customer Reviews:

An illuminating side of Near Eastern history.......2006-03-02

The book is fair and illuminating in giving us a Kurdish side of Turkish, Iraqi and Iranian history. It's an important story, full of significant sub-plots. For just one example, McDowall explains that after Saddam nationalized Iraq's oil in 1972, Kurdish rebels like Mulla Mustafa feared that "Kurdish oil would be turned into Arab oil". They still wanted 2/3rds of all oil revenue reserved for the Kurdish community, and now they sought support from the United States. As the Pike Papers revealed in 1976, Henry Kissinger argued that "a new regime might let us back into the oilfields". In 1973 Mulla Mustafa threw secrecy to the winds by announcing in the Washington Post,

"We are ready to act according to US policy if the US will protect us from the wolves. In the event of sufficient support we should be able to control the Kirkuk oilfields and confer exploitation rights on an American company."

What a dismal reality!.......2003-01-30

Very detailed description of the modern history of kurds. I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in the history of the kurds.

The only shortcoming of the book is that it stops in the year 1996. And thus does not account for the capture of Abdullah Ocalan, the leader PPK, and other major new incidents. Nevertheless, you will learn a lot!

Comprehensive and compelling history of the Kurds.......2002-02-10

The tragic history of the Kurds, with regards to their internecine politics vis-a-vis the various tribes, and more importantly their use as a pawn by larger states in the harsh realpolitik of the region has been captured in this extraordinary book. From the Treaty of Sevres, which offered a glimmer of hope to the Kurds for statehood, to the Treaty of Lausanne, which ultimately marked the end of any Great Power support for statehood aspirations, the book creates a remarkable story.
Following WWI, and with the subsequent jockeying for power in the region following the collapse of the Ottoman Empire, McDowall presents a clear pattern of failure by the Kurds to coalesce and create a common front to articulate their views. Also presented is the similarly clear pattern by the states, which currently have Kurdish populations, to disenfranchise the Kurds and marginalize their political aspirations.
This history covers the fallout from the Coalition war against Iraq (Operation DESERT STORM). I would love to see a more current version of the book which discusses how the current status quo has refueled Kurdish aspirations for autonomy...likewise I would like to see how recent events in Turkey have affected the Kurdish population of SE Turkey.
A great book for both the casual reader of the history of this volatile region of the world, and for the scholar alike...Highly recommended. McDowall has penned the authoratitive modern history.

details every Turkish,Persian,and Arab should read.......1998-09-01

Although the authorhas cut some of the subjects very short such as Kurdish language and excluded Yezidi and LUR from Kurdish nationality,he is very detailed in the history of the last century of Kurdistan in amanner i have never seen.I truly encourage every Kurd,Turk,Persian, and Arab to read this Treasure.I also would like to get in touch with Mr Mcdowall to discuss the possibility of translating it into either Kurdish or Arabic.

A Thousand Sighs, A Thousand Revolts: Journeys in Kurdistan

Average customer rating:

Too scholarly for the average reader
A THOUSAND SIGHS, A THOUSAND REVOLTS

A Thousand Sighs, A Thousand Revolts: Journeys in Kurdistan
Christiane Bird
Manufacturer: Random House Trade Paperbacks
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Paperback

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ASIN: 0345469399
Release Date: 2005-06-14

Book Description

Though the Kurds played a major military and tactical role in the United States’ recent war with Iraq, most of us know little about this fiercely independent, long-marginalized people. Now acclaimed journalist Christiane Bird, who riveted readers with her tour of Islamic Iran in Neither East Nor West, travels through this volatile part of the world to tell the Kurds’ story, using personal observations and in-depth research to illuminate an astonishing history and vibrant culture.

For the twenty-five to thirty million Kurds, Kurdistan is both an actual and a mythical place: an isolated, largely mountainous homeland that has historically offered sanctuary from the treacherous outside world and yet does not exist on modern maps. Parceled out among the four nation-states of Iraq, Turkey, Syria, and Iran after World War I, Kurdistan is a divided land with a tragic history, where the indomitable Kurds both celebrate their ancient culture and fight to control their own destiny. Occupying some of the Middle East’s most strategic and richest terrain, the Kurds are the fourth-largest ethnic group in the region and the largest ethnic group in the world without a state to call their own.

Whether dancing at a Kurdish wedding in Iran, bearing witness to the destroyed Kurdish countryside in southeast Turkey, having lunch with a powerful exiled agha in Syria, or visiting the sites of Saddam Hussein’s horrific chemical attacks in Iraq, the intrepid, insightful Bird sheds light on a violently stunning world seen by few Westerners. Part mesmerizing travelogue, part action-packed history, part reportage, and part cultural study, this critical book offers timely insight into an unknown but increasingly influential part of the world. Bird paints a moving and unforgettable portrait of a people uneasily poised between a stubborn past and an impatient future.

From the Hardcover edition.

Customer Reviews:

Too scholarly for the average reader.......2005-03-20

I read this book when it first came out and it is very well researched, yet there are so many different characters in the book that the reader loses his or her way and it is very confusing. I would have enjoyed the book more if the author had stuck with two or three characters to tell the story. The average book lover will not finish this book but will set it aside after a few chapters. What a pity. Still, it is a worthwhile project.

A THOUSAND SIGHS, A THOUSAND REVOLTS.......2004-05-26

Reviewed by
Robert A. Lincoln
"Once again, just business as usual in the wild and woolly world of Kurdish politics."
So writes Christiane Bird two-thirds of the way through A Thousand Sighs, A Thousand Revolts as she describes an event in the relationship among Iranians, Iraqis, and Kurds in the early 1970s. In a sense she was denying what she announced at the start: "This is a not a book about Kurdish politics. This is a book about the Kurdish people."
Like any good travel book, however, A Thousand Sighs is also a political study, which is especially important today when the Kurds are suddenly in the forefront of the news. Ms. Bird is a reactor, not an analyst. As she states early on, the Kurds are the world's largest ethnic group without a state of their own, despite their longstanding claim of a country called Kurdistan. Several times, they have almost but not quite made it and at least once held the senior position in someone else's empire (the Seljuk, for Saladin was a Kurd), but have never been truly absorbed into or taken control of another political culture.
Today, the Kurds are a sizeable percentage of the populations of Turkey, Iraq, Syria, and Iran. On unofficial maps, Kurdistan extends from the middle of the Anatolian plain to the mountains of Iran. The Kurds probably number between 25 and 30 million.
Ms. Bird found them today extremely sympathetic, perhaps dangerously so in the long run, toward the United States. They hope at least to hold a federated piece of real estate, rich in oil, in Iraq. Centuries ago the Kurds converted to Islam, and she does not mention much about the conventional saying in the Middle East that the enemy of my enemy is my friend.
Kurds Ms. Bird contacted rate Turks as their most fearsome enemy. Her personal interactions were mainly in English. It was Ataturk after World War I, when the French, British, and Greeks threatened to take over Turkey from Izmir in the west across Lake Van in the east, who held off the threatening troops and somehow kept Turkey together; the Kurds considered Diyarbakir in the east the traditional capital of Kurdistan and continue to resist integration. Here, again, politics strongly enters in. Turkey, the only Muslim member of NATO, hopes for European Union membership and EU powers rate her treatment of the Kurds as an important issue.
At one point toward the end of A Thousand Sighs, Ms. Bird likens mainstream Turkish attitudes toward Kurds to white mainstream attitudes toward black Americans, but it is impossible to agree. Kurds have an entirely different cultural and political tradition. The Kurdish question, colorful as the Kurds may be, demands a healthy dose of but more than the cultural-personal study A Thousand Sighs is able to provide.

Book Description

A timely book that analyzes the formation of Kurdish national identity from the late Imperial period to the present.

In tracing the evolution of Kurdish nationalism, Denise Natali shows that, contrary to popular theories, there is nothing natural or fixed about Kurdish identity or the configuration that Kurdish nationalism assumes. Rather, Kurdish nationalism has been shaped by the development of nation-states in the region. Although Kurdish communities have maintained some shared sense of Kurdishness, Kurdayeti (the mobilization of Kurdish identity) is interwoven with a much larger series of identities within the "political space" of each Kurdish group. Different notions of inclusion and exclusion have modified the political and cultural opportunities of Kurds to express their ethnic identities, and opening the possibility of assuming alternative identities over time.

With this book Natali makes a significant contribution to theoretical, empirical, and policy-based scholarship on the Middle East, the plight of the Kurds, ethnonationalism, and ethnopolitical conflict. Hers is the first comparative work to examine Kurdish nationalism as a function of diverse political spaces. As a vital addition to the literature in the field, this book will supplant a number of standard texts on the Kurds.

Customer Reviews:

A People without a State inspire an Author with Scholarly Insight.......2006-12-09

The Kurds and the State is a scholarly book about the development of Kurdish national identity in three states in which the majority of the Kurdish population is located; Iraq, Turkey, and Iran. Its main contribution is to the theory of ethnonationalism, taking a middle ground between primordialist and constructive approaches and showing that ethnonational identity is shaped and reshaped by political processes in different contexts over time. It is a major contribution to the literature on Kurdish politics and society, and the bibliography reveals the author's mastery of the subject matter. It is no surprise therefore, that the Kurds and the State has been recently awarded the 2007 Choice Magazine Award for Outstanding Academic Titles.

It is also not surprising that this book would antagonize. While Natali refuses the typical victimization of the Kurds argument, she argues through comparative histories that policies, particularly the radical and violent ones by the Turkish state, have created violent and reactionary Kurdish nationalism in Turkey.

It is necessary in this context to consider Michael Rubin's critique of Natali's book. Rubin claims that The Kurds and the State ignores the fact many Kurds attained high level posts in the Turkish government and throws in Turkey's second president Ismet Inönü as an example. There are two problems with this issue. First, the claim that Inönü was an ethnic Kurd is a highly controversial one. There are many claims pointing to the opposite direction - that he came from a Balkan family who had been converted to Islam to serve the Ottoman State. Rubin needs to be more careful in consulting his undisclosed sources, which probably are unaware that not everyone born in Malatya (Inönü's hometown) or Bitlis (Inönü's genealogical hometown according to some controversial sources) is a Kurd. Secondly, if it were true that Inönü was an ethnic Kurd, this would not weaken but on the contrary fortify Natali's argument. It has been a systematic policy of the Turkish State to force the Kurds to deny their ethnic identity, not only in attaining high-level posts but even for their survival during most of modern history. If he was an ethnic Kurd, Inönü is a good example of how a Kurd overacts his compulsory role of denial. There is not sufficient space to quote Inönü's rich repertoire of insults with violent implications against the Kurds; however, I have chosen a few among them to give an idea about the man we are talking about here.

Inönü was a passionate advocate of inappropriate violence during the quelling of the Sheikh Said rebellion of 1925. In the aftermath of the rebellion he had following to say: "We must Turkify the inhabitants of our country at any price and we will annihilate those who oppose the Turks or le turquisme". The implication of this statement was not only an immense bloodbath in Kurdistan but it also marked the beginning of the Turkish State's policy of systematic denial and assimilation. Inönü was also the architect of the 1938 Dersim operation. His 1935 `East' report analyses the ethnic composition of each Kurdish province in detail and proposes plans for Turkification, which involve forcible population resettlements. His report argues that these measures were necessary to prevent the formation of `the real, horrific Kurdistan'. The major implication of this report was Turkish Army's 1938 Dersim operation, which resulted in the indiscriminate annihilation of at least 10 per cent of the regional population, sufficient to be called an ethnocide.

It is true, therefore, as Rubin argues, that many Kurds attained high-level posts, but he fails to mention the price they had to pay for this: the denial of their identity and in many cases (like Inönü's if we are to rely on Rubin's sources) to turn violently against their own people. Consequently, Natali's argument remains a sound one: Kurds could not attain high-level posts by revealing their Kurdish ethnic identity. Only by becoming Turkish, or claiming they were Turkish, could a Kurd attain professional success.

Rubin's verdict on Natali's bibliography is simply unfair, since her work is sourced in primary resources from Kurdistan and in five languages. Rubin's objection to Natali's references on the Armenian (Dadrian) and Iranian (Najmabadi) scholars is also rather curious, since firstly, the Kurds and the State's argument does not rely uncritically on these sources and secondly, an Armenian or Farsi scholar never deserves to be discriminated against a Turkish, French, British or American scholar on the basis of her/his ethnic identity (Every scholar is to a certain degree a `polemicist' and certainly has a `political prism').

Contrary to Rubin's claims, Natali specifically addresses the effects of Kemalist secularizing reforms on Kurdish tribes (pp. 79-84), revealing how the trajectory of Kurdish nationalism in Turkey became Islamized. For example, she maintains that the leader of the most important Kurdish uprising, Shaikh Said, did not call just for Kurdish nationalism (Kurdayeti, which Rubin misspells), but an Islamic state of which Kurdish nationalism is a part.

Natali's grasp of history is also accurate, which is the source of another baseless criticism that Rubin challenges her with: Kurdish borders were not determined, as he proclaims, in the sixteenth century but by the 1639 Kasr-i Sirin Treaty. In fact, even this statement can be disputed, knowing that the Turkish-Iranian border has changed several times since that date, the latest amendment being as recent as 1931.

In sum, The Kurds and the State, through its analytic and informative richness, refreshes and improves our knowledge and understanding of the Kurdish question, a major Middle Eastern and global concern of our time.

The Kurds and the State.......2006-11-27

In The Kurds and the State, derived from her University of Pennsylvania doctoral dissertation, political scientist Natali explores how Kurdish nationalism developed in Turkey, Iran, and Iraq. She does this with the opacity and jargon of an academic: "This book explains why Kudayetî, or Kurdish national identity, becomes ethnicized and the similarities and variations in its manifestation across space and time."

Beyond style, her comparative approach has value. The Kurds are not monolithic, linguistically or politically, though too many works treat them as such; to this, The Kurds and the State is an important exception. Natali avoids contemporary Kurdish narratives of victimization. Kurdish complaints that European powers divided Kurdistan do not hold up to historical fact: the border between what is now Turkey and Iran, for example, dates from the sixteenth century. Nor does she make the mistake of many contemporary authors and instant experts, retroactively extending Kurdish nationalism. She explains how Kurdish nationalism grew in early twentieth century Anatolia with the coming of European consuls and intra-communal tensions. In contrast, Kurdish nationalism took longer to develop in polyglot Iran, perhaps because there Sunni versus Shi`ite sectarian practice rather than ethnicity determined the degree to which Kurds could integrate.

Natali's overviews and comparisons are thought-provoking. She juxtaposes the growth of Kurdish participation in the political process in Turkey with an increasingly stilted process in Iraq and notes how Ankara's embrace of the Kurds and their socioeconomic and political diversification undermined any unitary sense of Kurdish identity in Turkey. Her examination of Turkish strategies to undercut Kurdistan Workers Party (Partiya Karkerên Kurdistan, PKK) terrorism in the 1980s is also useful even if she remains critical of Ankara's refusal to "de-ethnicize the notion of Turkish citizenship." In these ways, The Kurds and the State advances the staid and often simplified historiography that marks Kurdish studies.

But Natali's work is weakened by several problems, starting with her unsure grasp of history. She amplifies, for example, the efficiency of Ottoman state control and discounts the efficiency of Iranian bureaucracy. While inefficient and weak by Western standards, nineteenth century Iran was organized enough to defeat incursions by Ottoman Kurdish tribal chiefs along its periphery. Natali appears unaware that published collections of Iranian diplomatic correspondence are replete with reports and discussions telegraphed from the front. She is also prone to exaggeration. If "early republican Turkey removed all opportunities for the Kurds," how did 0smet 0nönü, an ethnic Kurd, succeed Mustafa Kemal Atatürk, Turkey's founding father?

More serious is the incompleteness of Natali's discussion of the Atatürk religious reforms. She fails to address head-on the impact of his abolishment of the caliphate, the source of a great deal of tension among Turkey's Kurdish tribes for whom religious traditionalism trumped nationalism as the impetus for struggle with the nascent Turkish republic. Her bibliographical judgment is questionable, citing, for example, Armenian polemicist Vahakn Dadrian (whose name she misspells).

Discussion of the Kurds of modern Iran falls short and that of Syria is nonexistent. Natali parses secondary sources, many out-of-date, for mention of Kurds and appears unaware that some authors upon whose work she relies, including Afsaneh Najmabadi (whose name she also misspells), approach Iranian historiography through a political prism that ends up skewing her narrative. It is unfortunate that The Kurds and the State falls short, for a more careful and complete comparative examination of Kurdish society would contribute much.

Michael Rubin
Middle East Quarterly
Winter 2007

A close scrutiny of the evolution of Kurdish nationalism.......2006-02-08

The Kurds And The State: Evolving National Identity In Iraq, Turkey And Iran is a close scrutiny of the evolution of Kurdish nationalism, particularly with regard to how the development of nation-states has affected it. Written by a professor and research team member with thirteen years of experience studying Kurdish politics and identity inside and beyond Iraq, The Kurds And The State examines Iraq's transitions first to a colonial state, then to an independent republican state; Turkey's transitions first to an independent republican state then to a quasi-democracy; and Iran's transition first to a constitutional monarchy then to an Islamic republic. The Kurds And The State approach modern history not only in scholarly and philosophical terms, but also hard and fast practical terms, drawing upon both case histories and political science principles to reveal what is required for successful conflict-resolution strategies, particularly in volatile circumstances. A balanced, serious-minded, realistically grounded study and an absolute must-read for anyone seeking to understand Kurdish community, national identity, and possible nonviolent pathways to future conflict resolution.

An Introduction to Kurdish Rugs and Other Weavings

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Personal Experience Lends Richness, Authority

An Introduction to Kurdish Rugs and Other Weavings
William Eagleton
Manufacturer: Interlink Pub Group Inc
ProductGroup: Book
Binding: Hardcover

General | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Rugs | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Textile Arts | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

Weaving | Crafts & Hobbies | Home & Garden | Subjects | Books

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General | Arts & Photography | Subjects | Books
ASIN: 0940793172

Customer Reviews:

Personal Experience Lends Richness, Authority.......2007-01-24

Eagleton's personal experience lends a richness and authority to his subject that are surely lacking in other books. One of the legendary State Department "Arabists," he had been the last U.S. official to talk with Qaddaffi before the U.S. closed its Embassy there (the U.S. reopened an Interests Section in 2004, and an Embassy in 2006). He served as U.S. Chief-of-Mission at the Interests Section in Baghdad 1980-84, and Ambassador to Syria 1984-88. He's been with the Kurdish tribes, and in the bazaars, where these rugs are made.

There is excellent historical/political context provided on Kurdish tribes in Turkey, Syria, Iraq, and Iran, and an analysis of rug designs.

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