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asma_aj's review against another edition
4.0
Over 30 years of Middle East reporting, with civil wars, insurgencies and massacres, Fisk collects the writings he's published as a columnist for The Independent, ranging from historical events to recent and personal subjects with sharp perception.
I didn't think I'd enjoy reading this as much as I did. It's non-fiction, and it's about all sorts of atrocities within the Middle East, and a few times, during the World Wars. But somehow, Fisk makes it all so appealing. To read the rest of this review, visit A Reading Kabocha @ http://areadingkabocha.blogspot.com
I didn't think I'd enjoy reading this as much as I did. It's non-fiction, and it's about all sorts of atrocities within the Middle East, and a few times, during the World Wars. But somehow, Fisk makes it all so appealing. To read the rest of this review, visit A Reading Kabocha @ http://areadingkabocha.blogspot.com
jon_gresham's review against another edition
3.0
"... I realise that the memory is readily diluted very easily and which that opens the door with other massacres innocent whatever their origin."
Excerpt from letter of Denise Epstein to Robert Fisk, 3 Dec 2006 thanking him for remembering and writing about her mother Irene Nemirovsky who died in Birkenau infirmary on 17 August 1942.
This passage sums up the message I obtained from this collection of Fisk's columns over the years.
Excerpt from letter of Denise Epstein to Robert Fisk, 3 Dec 2006 thanking him for remembering and writing about her mother Irene Nemirovsky who died in Birkenau infirmary on 17 August 1942.
This passage sums up the message I obtained from this collection of Fisk's columns over the years.
unisonlibrarian's review against another edition
5.0
Robert Fisk has been a reporting from the Middle East for several decades now, first with the Times and then the Independent once Rupert Murdoch had shown too much interest in editing his pieces for the former newspaper. The majority of the writing in this collection of his articles for the Independent come from the Iraq invasion onwards to the book’s publication in 2010. Because Fisk has been a correspondent in the Arab world for so long there is a weariness in some of the reports, you get the sense that the author just wants to grab the leaders of America, the UK, Israel, Palestine, Lebanon, Syria etc etc and bang their heads together and tell them to stop bombing, killing, maiming, invading, occupying and destroying.
Robert Fisk is a go-to man for facts on the Middle East, not only his own time but the history of the area from cultural influences through the Crusades and early modern history up to the 20th Century and the Turkish genocide of the Armenian people, still unacknowledged by Turkey’s political elite. His knowledge of Arab involvement in the World Wars is comprehensive and is a renowned authority on the years following the creation of the Israeli state and the Palestinian Nakba. He writes pointedly, almost brusquely at times with his dispatches containing the horrific details of the aftermath of attacks, usually by western or western backed powers. We hear of the duplicity of the leaders of the free world, the complicity of leaders of the Arab world and the truculence of Israel’s politicians in the face of huge levels of human suffering. It is written with an even hand, and no one gets off lightly. As with all collections of journalism some of the dispatches have a dated feel and should be read in the context of the events they describe. Many of the articles have a solid prescience to them that can only come from the author’s knowledge that “we’ve been here before, and history repeats itself” as Israel tragically proves on a regular basis. This is a useful book for anyone wishing to recall the mendacity with which we were taken to war, the results of that invasion and its impact on the surrounding countries in the area and anyone who wants to know more about the historical precedents that lead our politicians to believe they have a right to interfere in other nations present and future as well as their torn pasts.
Robert Fisk is a hero of journalism and free speech, his masterwork is The Great war for Civilisation and this volume is a decent companion for that exalted tome.
Robert Fisk is a go-to man for facts on the Middle East, not only his own time but the history of the area from cultural influences through the Crusades and early modern history up to the 20th Century and the Turkish genocide of the Armenian people, still unacknowledged by Turkey’s political elite. His knowledge of Arab involvement in the World Wars is comprehensive and is a renowned authority on the years following the creation of the Israeli state and the Palestinian Nakba. He writes pointedly, almost brusquely at times with his dispatches containing the horrific details of the aftermath of attacks, usually by western or western backed powers. We hear of the duplicity of the leaders of the free world, the complicity of leaders of the Arab world and the truculence of Israel’s politicians in the face of huge levels of human suffering. It is written with an even hand, and no one gets off lightly. As with all collections of journalism some of the dispatches have a dated feel and should be read in the context of the events they describe. Many of the articles have a solid prescience to them that can only come from the author’s knowledge that “we’ve been here before, and history repeats itself” as Israel tragically proves on a regular basis. This is a useful book for anyone wishing to recall the mendacity with which we were taken to war, the results of that invasion and its impact on the surrounding countries in the area and anyone who wants to know more about the historical precedents that lead our politicians to believe they have a right to interfere in other nations present and future as well as their torn pasts.
Robert Fisk is a hero of journalism and free speech, his masterwork is The Great war for Civilisation and this volume is a decent companion for that exalted tome.
mikewomack's review against another edition
4.0
Robert Fisk has both the knowledge of the Middle East and the eloquent gift of a writer to express and explain his frustration with many policies made by the US and Europe towards the ME region. Living in the Middle East helps me to appreciate his point of view. However, I understand why those who live in the West and have never traveled here or studied, to any great extent, the polices of the West towards the ME find Fisk one-sided. But I think those critics are poorly informed. Fisk is fair in his criticism, condemning Arabs, Jews, and Anglos when appropriate. If he is more critical of the West it is only because there aren't many voices that oppose the foolishness that often takes place in the name of 'democracy'.
A brilliant book that only occasionally veers of the path.
A brilliant book that only occasionally veers of the path.
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