Synopses & Reviews
Years ago, noting that Kurds—the largest ethnic group in the world without their own country—were involved in every major story he covered in Iran, Israel, Turkey, Lebanon, and Iraq, veteran reporter Jonathan Randal decided to produce this first-hand report on Kurdistan, a shocking, tragic account of diplomacy and politics in the Middle East, and a gripping adventure story about being a war reporter in the 1990s.Throughout the Kurds’ history, world powers have promised to help them achieve autonomy, and each time the Kurds have been betrayed. But they are also masters of betrayal: Randal, recording their talent for vehement internecine warfare and their gift for friendship, takes us behind the headlines to the inner story of power politics in the Middle East. His sympathetic knowledge of Kurdish history and his unparalleled access to Kurdish leaders and to diplomats, ministers, intelligence agents, warriors, and journalists makes him the only writer able to get this story for us and discover the truth.
Review
"An effective, affecting portrait of a resilient, dispossessed people who continue to believe that they shall overcome some day."
Kirkus Reviews
Review
"Fascinating....The writing sets a pace as fast as this veteran reporter himself
.[Randal] can also tell of murky intelligence wars, deliveries of poisoned oranges, meetings in Paris nightclubs, the strapping of bombs to unwitting Muslim divines, the grisly details of Iraq's genocidal campaigns, or how a key message was once delivered through a dentist's answering machine....The analysis of US policy toward the Kurds is passionate and highly revealing."
Wall Street Journal
Review
"This is a fine work. It has contributed greatly to our understanding of a people who have been fated to stumble through this century from one unfortunate tragedy, often of their own making, to the next."
New York Times
Review
"Randal sets [his story] out in all its bitter detail, adding well-researched accounts of the ignominious role that the United States has sometimes played....One strength of Randal's book is his unflinching account of the Kurds' own perfidies."
New York Times Book Review
Synopsis
Years ago, noting that Kurds were involved in every major story he covered in Iran, Israel, Turkey, Lebanon, and Iraq, veteran reporter Jonathan Randal decided to produce this firsthand report on Kurdistan, a shocking, tragic account of diplomacy and politics in the Middle East, and a gripping adventure story about being a war reporter in the 1990s.
Throughout the Kurds' history, world powers have promised to help them achieve autonomy, and each time the Kurds have been betrayed. But they are also masters of betrayal: Randal, recording their talent for vehement internecine warfare and their gift for friendship, takes us behind the headlines to the inner story of power politics in the Middle East. His sympathetic knowledge of Kurdish history and his unparalleled access to Kurdish leaders and to diplomats, ministers, intelligence agents, warriors, and journalists makes him the only writer able to get this story for us and discover the truth.
Description
Includes bibliographical references (p. [343]-345) and index.