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The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East | 
 enlarge | Author: Robert Fisk
Publisher: Vintage
Category: Book
List Price: $20.00
Buy Used: $11.00
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New (29) Used (12) from $11.00
Rating:  126 reviews
Sales Rank: 33172
Media: Paperback
Pages: 1136
Number Of Items: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 2.4
Dimensions (in): 9.2 x 6.1 x 2
ISBN: 1400075173
Dewey Decimal Number: 327
EAN: 9781400075171
ASIN: 1400075173
Publication Date: February 13, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Condition: Cover and spine are worn and scratched. Great customer service!
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Product Description
A sweeping and dramatic history of the last half century of conflict in the Middle East from an award-winning journalist who has covered the region for over thirty years, The Great War for Civilisation unflinchingly chronicles the tragedy of the region from the Algerian Civil War to the Iranian Revolution; from the American hostage crisis in Beirut to the Iran-Iraq War; from the 1991 Gulf War to the American invasion of Iraq in 2003. A book of searing drama as well as lucid, incisive analysis, The Great War for Civilisation is a work of major importance for today's world.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 121 more reviews...
 Cynical, tirade, good journalism, colorful December 10, 2005
Seth J. Frantzman (Jerusalem, Israel)
221 out of 291 found this review helpful
This long winded Cynical tirade chronicles many years of Fisk's experiences in the Middle East. There is plenty of dislike to go around. He speaks about riding with the Muhadeen who fought the Russians in Afghanistan, tells us of the horrors of Saddam Hussiens prisons, the Lebanese sadness and of the `last colonial war' fought by Israel. He speaks with passion about Gaza and his experiences of having his car broken into while living in Abu Tor in Jerusalem. Here we glimpse the anger of Israelis after the Passover bombing and the follow up operation, we also see the anger of Palestinians, Iraqis, Iranians.
Probably the greatest, newest and most original part of this book is that it contains the only long description of the deportation of the entire Palestinian community, that numbered over 300,000, from Kuwait after the Gulf War. Fisk witnessed not only the Palestinians support for Saddam but also the subsequent killing of hundreds of Palestinians by Kuwaitis after the war. We hear for the first time this true and shocking story, one the UN never noticed and one the world never cared about. This story alone makes the book worth it because no other book on the Middle East dares speak of this saga, the Palestinians were invited as foreign workers into Kuwait in the 1950s, Arafat was even there, only to be totally ejected in 1990, and replaced by Pakistanis and Phillipinoes.
Fisk uncovers many stories. He is rife with condemnation for all, especially Israel, but others too. He pulls no punches when speaking of Saddam or the Afghans. The view of this book is that the entire middle east has been `conquered' by the West. He speaks memorably of his father and recalls stories from the great war. He even speaks of the Armenians Genocide and claims that it too is a Holocaust and wonders why his editor wont use a capital H and then turns his tirade into a mildly anti-semitic outburst against who gets to have a monopoly on genocide. Rambling, brilliant, offensive. A worthwhile tome, a contribution.
Seth J. Frantzman
 An amazing read! November 13, 2005
NYC Reader (New York CIty)
212 out of 254 found this review helpful
A very informative book! A must read for anyone interested in the history of this important region. Some reviewers would have us believe that historical facts are biased, they exist independent of politics. To anyone who is serious about reading factual and a trully objective analysis of the how and why the middle east is as it is should buy and read this book.
Outstanding book on the Middle East November 11, 2005
Larry R. Thorn (Pflugerville, Tx USA)
115 out of 128 found this review helpful
I'm close to halfway through this title. Although the page count is somewhat daunting, I have never picked it up and not become immediately engrossed.
Not a book for the faint-of-heart, as it describes many war scenes and tales of torture and mayhem. Perhaps the strongest parts of the book are when Fisk reports from his personal experiences in the Middle East. The writing is always superb, and my admiration for the writer grows by the page.
brilliant historical analyses, moving memoir, and howl of outrage January 12, 2007
Robert J. Crawford (Balmette Talloires, France)
89 out of 90 found this review helpful
If you are like me, once you've established your basic opinion on something, you tend to skim the newspapers on the subject, often only reading headlines and maybe the first few paragraphs. So it has been with me and the Middle East conflicts over the last 30 years. However, every so often, a book like this comes out that is so deep, so excellent, and so challenging that it will wipe out all my cozy assumptions and ignite an interest that will carry me for several years at a minimum.
I read this over a period of months with a mixture of fascination and revulsion. It is in my opinion a literary masterpiece by a courageous reporter who is also a true intellectual, steeped in history as well as the stories of people that great journalists seek like air or food. There are so many levels to this book that a review cannot do it justice, but I will try.
First, there is the autobiographical side of this, where Fisk explains his obsession with war and injustice and man's inhumanity to man - it originated with his conflict with his father, a WWI veteran, which leads to his search for the truth and the need to document the lives of those who suffer. At times very moving, always vivid, this in many ways is the core of the book's theme.
Second, there are the historical analyses of conflicts starting with WWI and its aftermath - the Balfour Declaration - that saw the carve-up of the Ottoman Empire and the beginnings of the modern Middle East. This covers a huge range of countries, from Algeria to Turkey and Iran. You can see the roots of where the conflct started with the end of Turkish authority, how it got complicated by decolonization and the establishment of Israel, and how it has evolved into an increasingly murderous direction. Because of the superficial grasp I had of the history, I learned a tremendous amount from this, including from the first systematic account of the Armenian genocide, to the civil wars in virtually all the rest of the countries covered. Not everything is covered, however, only what Fisk investigated on assignment. In a sense, he is showing how similar the recent actions - even the rhetoric - of Bush are to the first forays of European imperialists in the 1920s.
Third, there is a political analysis of the root of the current crisis that increasingly pits the US and Israel against the Moslem world. In a nutshell that badly oversimplifies, Fisk argues that the US has always taken Israel's side uncriticially and unequivocably, which Moslems have taken as unfair and inimical to their causes and civilization; the West always makes expedient promises that it never intends to keep, while allowing the Israelis free rein to be as brutal as they wish with the Palestinians. This, Fisk argues, has contributed to their hostility to the West, even to terrorism. Fisk also laments how this cannot even be questionned - he recounts how often he is often accused of anti-semitism for opinions contrary to the pro-Israeli view. Agree or disagree, this gets you to think more deeply than one is accustomed to about this conflict, if your major source is American newspapers, that is.
Fourth, this book is a critique of his profession, which now largely has been "embedded" with US soldiers in the Irak conflict. Here he sets a high standard indeed, recounting his adventures and near death experiences while doing his job - he was attacked by a mob in Afghanistan, which the Wall Street Journal said he deserved for his "self hatred", that is, his critical comments of Bush's policies! I was shocked to learn that CNN now requires its experts on the scene to submit all comments in advance for "approval" by editors in the US, though had suspected it was like that given how canned CNN has come to sound. While praising a few, Fisk also takes many to task for laxness and sleazy intrigues to their own advantage. In particular, he is very hard on American journalists, most of whom he sees as uncritical and even tendentious in their coverage.
Fifth, there are trenchant analyses of recent events that are as provocative as they are shocking. For example, Fisk believes that the Rabin-Arafat Oslo accords were so slanted in Israel's favor that it was doomed to fail, which really shocked me as it had been universally hailed in the newspapers I read as the best peace possible, etc. But there is also the Algerian revoltes of the 1990s, Beirut, of course, and the many wars of the lsat 30 years. In one section, he gives a fascinating analysis on the relation of Saudi Arabia's brand of conservative Islam, Wahabism, with the Taliban's ideology. It was all a perspective new to me and exactly what I was hoping to find. This includes an analysis of the language and rhetoric used to describe events, which Fisk argues shape not only the way we see things but policy options. For example, in labelling people "terrorists" they become totally indefensible, deserving to be killed by military means; however, as he shows over and over, this label is not consistently applied and used as a substitute for thinking and ends any possibliy of negotiation or conciliation.
Finally, there are amazing personal stories he finds, which make it into mainstream news, from interviews with Bin Laden to a fascinating inquiry to find who manufactured the missiles that killed innocent Palestinians. The book is packed with stories like these far too numerous to count. They can be tragic and cruel, meaningless deaths at the hands of those who are rarely punished.
All in all, reading this was wonderful. He covers the last 30 years in detail, roughly coinciding with the time that I became an obsessive follower of current events. So it is like a review of everything I read about - too quickly - in the Middle East over that time. Every page made me think more deeply on the area than I have in a long time, food for thought that will last me a long long time. Now I will have to read more....much more.
Warmly recommended. Fisk in my view is equally hard on everyone from an ethical point of view and is not biased as he has been accused of being. I will add his newspaper, the Independent, to my list of daily must skims!
Note: I have learned that Fisk is unpopular with his fellow journalists. Several of them who know him - and admit there is a lot of professional jealousy about him - have told me that he is known for making things up or embellishing. While I cannot prove this one way or the other, my sense is that his writing rings true.
 A Poor Production Job November 14, 2005
Wilam Potts (Bethesda, MD USA)
75 out of 142 found this review helpful
This is no doubt an important book by a respected expert in the subject matter. The problem is that the book is poorly manufactured and, therefore, extremely difficult to read. It runs to 1136 pages in only one volume. It weighs 3.4 pounds. To get it all in one volume, the publisher chose an extremely small type face, 10 or 11 point at most. The copy I received had two damaged pages which is not surprising since the binding is too flimsy to withstand the stresses of handling such a lengthy tome. The book deserved to appear in two volumes and in a readible type face with a strong binding. It is really a shame. Wiliam J. Potts, Jr.
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