Product Description

An astonishing and timely account of 50 years of bloodshed and tragedy in the Middle East from one of our finest and most revered journalists. 'The Great War for Civilisation' is written with passion and anger, a reporter's eyewitness account of the Middle East's history. All the most dangerous men of the past quarter century in the region -- from Osama bin Laden to Ayatollah Khomeini, from Saddam to Ariel Sharon -- come alive in these pages. Fisk has met most of them, and even spent the night out at a guerrilla camp with Bin Laden himself. In a narrative of blood and mass killing, Fisk tells the story of the growing hatred of the West by millions of Muslims, the West's cynical support for the Middle East's most ruthless dictators and America's ever more powerful military presence in the world's most dangerous lands as well as its uncritical, unconditional support for Israel's occupation of Palestinian land. It is also a story of journalists at war, of the rage, humour and frustration of the correspondents who spend their lives reporting the first draft of history, their weaknesses and cowardice, their courage and truth-telling. After reading 'The Great War for Civilisation' the reader grasps just why those 19 suicide pilots changed the world on September 11th. Assessing the situation right up to the present day and reporting from the heart of a bombed-out Baghdad, Fisk examines the factors leading up to the coalition forces entering Iraq, and discusses possible outcomes of long-term involvement there.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #9942 in Books
• Published on: 2006-10-02
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 1392 pages

Review
'Brilliant!this powerfully-written book is filled with accounts of horror, pain and injustice. His triumph is that he has turned a slightly dubious and over-romanticised craft into a honorable vocation.' Independent 'His forte is straight reporting, such as his three interviews with Osama bin Laden. At least as good are his meetings with Saddam Hussein, Khomeini and Sadeq Khalkhali, the hanging judge of the Iranian revolution, and his close-ups of the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, the launch of Saddam's war against Iran, an ambush by Islamists of an Algerian police patrol, and a lift into trouble in an Apache attack helicopter on the Iraq/Turkey border.' Guardian 'A stimulating and absorbing book, by a man who speaks Arabic, who has known the region better than most, and has met the leading players, from Bin Laden to Ahmad Chalabi. A formidable production.' New York Times 'Full of furious, vivid and highly personalised writing!An important book by an intrepid and talented writer.' Literary Review

Independent on Sunday
'Robert Fisk writes with a marvellous resource of image and language'

The Sunday Times
'There is nobody in British journalism to match Robert Fisk. This book is his testament.'

Customer Reviews

Phew, What a Scorcher!
You don't have to be a fan of Robert Fisk to realise that this is an important book. Aim-off if he irritates you, but read the damn thing. It is hugely long, but hugely informative. It took me over two months to read, but is the best book of its type I have ever read. The best bits are when Fisk writes about events he has witnessed at first-hand. The parts on the Iran/Iraq war are masterly. And, for those who mighty expect a long diatribe on Israel/Palestine...well there isn't one. Yes, it plays an important part in the book, but it isn't the focus.

Buy it in hardback or wait until the paperback is available. It's your choice. But I urge you to read this important historical work.

I am, however, glad now not to have to lug the thing in my rucksack to read to/from work on the train!

The Horror! The Horror!
I first became aware of Robert Fisk (I am not a keen follower of English journalism) after listening online to a talk Fisk gave a year ago, which is essentially the foreword to this book. His strident, urgent yet tender voice would not leave me and it was with this voice ringing in my mind that I read "The Great War for Civilisation"

This book should be obligatory reading for all those with even a passing interest in 20th century history. Here is a first hand account of events which have shaped our present and will continue shaping our increasingly bleak future. It is essential that we are aware of the forces behind the news headlines and Robert Fisk does just that while "keeping it real", staying on the ground, among the people, the victims and survivors of horrific slaughter. This book is essential reading because the author does not flinch from the horror, and miraculously (and here is where Fisk climbs head and shoulders above the competition) he does so with extreme impartiality. If there's one thing the reader will come away with after reading this massive tome is that all sides have their hands dipped in the blood of the innocent, west, north, south, east, christian, muslim, jew, kurd, shia, sunni, white house, downing street, saddam hussein and khomeni, arafat, turkey etc etc... the list goes on and on... a depressing yet strangely empowering read.

A massive book in so many ways
Robert Fisk has his detractors, but there aren't many of them that have more knowledge or experience of the Middle East than him. What winds them up is that he has no time for partisan spin - killing lots of people is killing lots of people, full stop, no matter who does it. Journalists like him, in the days of 'embedded reporters', are a rare breed. He has risked his life many times to talk to real people on the ground and get a story - some of the stories in the book bring this home, as Fisk dodges bullets and gets badly beaten up. (Channel 4's Jon Snow also puts in an appearance, in his earlier career.) Worth remembering next time some talking head is pontificating from the safety of London or Washington about the future of countries they've never been to. I hope I'm wrong, but I suspect we'll never see another book like this - it's unlikely that there'll be a future reporter who'll spend the best part of his or her life in a region, since they all want to be editors or news anchors, and getting shot at just isn't worth it.

Does the book have flaws? Well, it's big, and heavy to cart about. I would say that it could have been edited differently, but actually I think it fits together quite well - themes recur and the reader gets a very good sense of Fisk's despair at the continuing tragedies of the region and its peoples - the victims of external interference and internal dictatorships. Contrary to popular belief, Fisk makes no excuses for Saddam and his ilk, but neither does he pull any punches in criticising western and Israeli governments.

The connection of the whole thing to the First World War, in which Fisk's father served, seems odd at first, and isn't essential to the 'plot'. It does reveal something about Fisk's personal background and personality though, which is interesting enough.

Overall, a very great and important book.