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: #5959 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.

Holding to account
Robert Fisk’s massive, thoughtful and humanistic portrayal of the killing fields of the middle east, brought on by the thoughtless and arrogant interventions over the past century of Britain, France and America in such areas we now know as Syria, Israel, Palestine, Iraq and Iran. Its 1300 pages are a modern “War and Peace” – and can be put down only long enough to rest one’s arms from the weight of the book! I’ve tried before to understand the history and events of this area – but the previous books have clinically recited events and dates and referred in a few cliches only to the horror of those events. The only individuals who figure in these other books are the leaders – but this book portrays both the victims of the slaughter and their families and also those in the Western bureaucracies – both private and public – who make the slaughter possible. Their words are closely analysed – and their actions held to account in a relentless way which restores one faith in journalism. The book’s theme of our lack of historical perspective is echoed in a much shorter book first published in 2003 by Karl Meyer - but Fisk’s book is interlaced with powerful references to his father and others who fought in these same places at the beginning of the 20th Century. This is the book which should be required reading for students of government and for those aspiring to leadership – and the subject of discussion at all book clubs. It is writing and humanity at its highest level. Government is about individuals making, or colluding with, decisions - and how rarely do we get this level of research and critical scrutiny of the words individuals use to protect themselves from questions which might challenge the lives they lead.
I too have read his previous book on Lebanon - and disagree with another reviewer's comparison. This is the more significant book - which needs this detail to balance the countless times the victims are simply written out of history. But yes, perhaps, the chapter on Armenia is overdone - and fails to mention the slaughter by Armenians of Azeris in the 1990s and the displacement by them of 1 million Azeris to tent cities.