Reddit reviews The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East
We found 27 Reddit comments about The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East. Here are the top ones, ranked by their Reddit score.
Vintage Books USA
Welp This book is fair to all sides, both get a coating of bile.
The Israel-Palestine Conflict: One Hundred Years of War
The best book on the middle east ever published is Robert Fisk's The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East It's the best history book i've ever read.
Some lesser known killer quotes that in my opinion put the struggle in context.
This one from Churchill in 1937 is eerily prescient.
The wealthy, crowded, progressive Jewish state will lie in the plains and on the seacoasts of Palestine. Around it, in the hills and the uplands, stretching far and wide into the illimitable deserts the war-like Arabs of Syria, of Transjordania, of Arabia, backed by the armed forces of Iraq, offer the ceaseless menace of war. To maintain itself the Jewish state will be armed to the teeth and must bring in every able-bodied man to strengthen its army. But how long will this process be allowed to continue by the great Arab populations in Iraq and Palestine? Can it be expected that the Arabs would stand by impassively and watch the building up with Jewish world capital and resources of a Jewish army equipped with the most deadly weapons of war until it was strong enough not to be afraid of them? And if ever the Jewish army reached that point, who can be sure that cramped within their narrow limits it would not plunge out into the new, undeveloped lands that lie around them?
Yitzhak Epstein....1907
"The time has come for Zionists to dispel the myth that land lies empty for the want of working hands or the laziness of the local residents. There are no deserted fields. In general we have made a blunder in our relationship to a large and passionate people. The Arab, like any man has a strong bond with his homeland, he will not abandon his country, will not wander far, he has many traditions that bind him to the soil of his homeland. Will those that have been dispossessed remain silent and accept that which is being done to them? In the end they will wake up and return to us with blows for what we have looted from them with our gold."
George Antonius, 1938
"The treatment meted out to Jews in Germany and other European countries is a disgrace to its authors and to modern civilisation. Posterity will not exonerate in any country that fails to bear its proper share of the sacrifices needed to alleviate Jewish suffering and distress. To place the brunt of the burden upon Arab Palestineis a miserable evasion of the duty that lies upon the whole of the civilised world. It is also morally outrageous. No code of morals could justify the persecution of one people in an attempt to relieve the persecution of another. The cure for the eviction of Jews from Germany is not to be sought in the eviction of the Arabs from their homeland and the relief of Jewish distress must not be accomplished at the cost of inflicting a corresponding distress upon an innocent and peaceful population".
I remember Robert Fisk mentioning the effects of DU in the 1991 Gulf War. The A-10s used DU rounds, and the burning DU rounds in Iraqi tanks caused it to be turned into a fine particulate which could more easily be spread and breathed in by the local populace. Link
>"Armour piercing ammunitions are generally referred to as "kinetic energy penetrators". DU is preferred to other metals, because of its high density, its pyrophoric nature (DU self-ignites when exposed to temperatures of 600° to 700° and high pressures), and its property of becoming sharper, through adiabatic shearing, as it penetrates armour plating . On impact with targets, DU penetrators ignite, breaking up in fragments, and forming an aerosol of particles ("DU dust") whose size depends on the angle of the impact, the velocity of the penetrator, and the temperature. These fine dust particles, can catch fire spontaneously in air. Small pieces may ignite in a fire and burn, but tests have shown that large pieces, like the penetrators used in anti-tank weapons, or in aircraft balance weights, will not normally ignite in a fire."
>Natural uranium (NU) ore dust was instilled into rat lungs for comparison. The fraction dissolving in lung showed a pattern of exponential decline with increasing initial burden similar to DU. However, the decline was less steep, with about 14% appearing in urine for lung burdens up to about 200 microg NU dust/lung and 5% at lung burdens >1,100 microg NU dust/lung. NU also showed both a fast and a more slowly dissolving component. At the higher lung burdens of both DU and NU that showed lowered urine excretion rates, histological evidence of kidney damage was seen. Kidney damage was not seen with the muscle burdens tested. DU dust produced kidney damage at lower lung burdens and lower urine uranium levels than NU dust, suggesting that other toxic metals in DU dust may contribute to the damage.
>In aggregate the human epidemiological evidence is consistent with increased risk of birth defects in offspring of persons exposed to DU.
So yeah... DU dust = not good.
Edit: tried to fix my terrible formatting
Muistaakseni luin tästä Robert Fiskin kirjasta The Great War for civilization: The Conquest of the Middle East. Taisin myös lukea asiasta Israelin historiaa käsittelevästä kirjasta, mutta Robert Fiskin kirja on erinomaista ja hyvin viihdyttävää luettavaa - vaikkakin Fisk on hyvin vasemmalla ja The Independentiä voisi paremmin kuvata nimellä Al Independent.
EDIT: Fisk on toiminut Independentin lähi-idän kirjeenvaihtajana iät ja ajat. Nähnyt Neuvostoliiton Afghanistanin miehityksen jne... Haastatellut myös Osama Bin Ladenia. Oli miehen mielipiteistä mitä tahansa mieltä, tämä kirja on järjettömän hyvä yhden ihmisen näkökulma lähi-itään.
There are two books that I want to recommend:
The Great War for Civilisation by Fisk
https://www.amazon.com/Great-War-Civilisation-Conquest-Middle/dp/1400075173
The Bottom Billion by Collier
https://www.amazon.com/Bottom-Billion-Poorest-Countries-Failing/dp/0195373383
These two books changed the way I view the Middle East and we have never learned our lessons from the past.
> what about their shitty culture, high homophobia, low women rights etc? Why would anyone want such a culture in their country?
You're right, I don't want the Republican Party in my country any more!
Nah, that was a dumb joke but I couldn't resist.
The larger problem is that people are unwilling to grapple with the intersection of politics and religion in all these Middle Eastern countries. They just want to blame Islam and pretend you can fix it by targeting Muslims, when the problems in that region are as much a result of decades of intervention by the CIA and western governments, by funding of extremism by US "allies" like Saudi Arabia (where the 9/11 hijackers came from), by horrific crimes like the War in Iraq, by unquestioning support for Israel and all the war crimes they've committed, and so forth. Seriously, It's not hard to understand why so many radicals hate us in the Middle East ... I'd probably join Al Qaeda if a drone blew up my family.
Do people think the Iranian Revolution just came out of nowhere? Go read about how the West installed the Shah to grab Iran's oil, and how the Iranian Revolution was a pushback against that. Go read about how the West supported Saddam as he was using chemical weapons against Iran.
If Islam is such a horrific and hateful religion, why isn't the biggest Muslim country - Indonesia - cranking out tons of extremists to attack the West? Clearly it's not just about being Muslim.
If anyone wants to understand what's actually going on in the Middle East, this is a fantastic and eye-opening book.
https://www.amazon.com/Great-War-Civilisation-Conquest-Middle/dp/1400075173/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1485607381&sr=8-1&keywords=the+great+war+for+civilization
Order yourself a copy of The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East and let's talk again about the facts you aren't supposed to know or take into account when assessing US foreign policy.
Hey I was also interested and looked it up. I think it's this one:
The Great War for Civilisation
Robert Fisk: The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East.
don't buy it from amazon, but the great war for civilization by robert fisk. hands down.
it's pretty impossible to explain israel/palestine outside of the context of the middle east, and it's pretty impossible to understand the context of the middle east outside of the last ~150 years of global history as relates to that part of the world. I'm not saying this book made me an expert, by any means, but it did open my eyes to just how fucking complex the situation is.
Yeah I remember reading that in his book The Great War for Civilisation. He also had a narrow escape in Afghanistan in 2001, when a group of Afghan refugees who fled the US bombing campaign tried to stone him to death.
The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East. By Robert Fisk
It depends on what you're interested in.
Great War for Civilisation is full of fascinating stories from a war correspondent covering the middle east; he interviewed Bin Laden several times before 9/11 among other things. The book is long, but it brings the conflicts to your doorstep and takes you behind the scenes where the media is often restricted from going. Be warned of the size and content though. It is gruesome in most places, and provides a very realistic account of what goes on daily over there.
1776 tells the story of the American revolution, concentrating on the battles and the men who fought them. It is written extremely well. If you have any interest whatsoever in the founding fathers, the characters behind the revolution, or even just a good story, read it and you shouldn't be disappointed.
Short History of Nearly Everything basically takes everything you're interested in that is science related, condenses it all into discrete explanations, and combines the whole to present a great reading experience. It's a bit like doing for science what "A People's History of the United States" did for history. It all feels genuine.
Those are a few I have particularly enjoyed.
I'd recommend his book on the Middle East as well. True, he as a slight left bias but he has been a foreign correspondent in the ME for twenty something years. I'd say he has a view worth considering.
Well, I stand corrected.
This and this are what im reading at the moment. Just finished this. Also recommend this.
I am being 100% sincere and as non-insulting as I can when I say this - do yourself a favor, and check out some books about the history of the Middle East, because you have some wild misconceptions.
Lawrence in Arabia is a really good one to get started -
https://www.amazon.com/Lawrence-Arabia-Deceit-Imperial-Making/dp/0307476413/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469724389&sr=1-1&keywords=lawrence+in+arabia
And I also enjoyed The Great War for Civilisation, though it's a bit dense -
https://www.amazon.com/Great-War-Civilisation-Conquest-Middle/dp/1400075173/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1469724425&sr=1-1&keywords=the+great+war+for+civilization
In this vein, I really enjoy this book which gives an in-depth & comprehensive look of the history of the Middle-East over the last 50 years or so. Around 70% through it, and it's a pretty good read. Offers a mixture of individual stories/interviews, and overall political analysis of the situation.
Here is the mobile version of your link
You can read about Robert Fisk's encounter with OBL for that Dec 6th 1993 The Independent article and other encounters with OBL in Afghanistan in Robert Fisk's book:The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East.
The book is huge and has errors in it. But you can read it for entertainment.
> Of course, reading solid history books on the topic is good.
The book by former journalist Robert Fisk "The Great War for Civilization" is in my opinion an excellent book to understand the background of not just Israel/Palestine, but the entire middle east. It does not fail to mention where everything got started, which is the time when Europe had colonized much of the middle east, and how that set the stage for everything to come.
However, it is over 1000 pages long...
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Great_War_for_Civilisation
ISBN 1-4000-7517-3
https://www.amazon.com/Great-War-Civilisation-Conquest-Middle/dp/1400075173
I highly recommend this book for anyone trying to make sense of the region:
https://www.amazon.com/Great-War-Civilisation-Conquest-Middle/dp/1400075173
It's a long read, but worth it!
> If OP has time, there are two books that I would recommend:
> The Great War for Civilization (Niall Ferguson)
> Truman (Stephen McCullough)
Did you mean The Great War for Civilization or Civilization: The West and the Rest? I didn't see a book by that name by Ferguson.
If you're looking for a broad history covering the last half century or so take a look at The Great War for Civilisation. It's a pretty dense book and takes some time to get through but it covers a lot of ground and certainly sets the stage for the modern Middle East as we know it now.
> Going to a private Christian school probably had a lot to do with the pro-israel lens
Yikes. Fundies want the Israelis to raze Al-Aqsa and rebuild the Old Temple so Jesus can return through the Eastern gate and bring about Armageddon. The prophecy of madmen.
Hope you're not in with that crowd. Regardless, yes, it's increasingly difficult to find good sources on the Middle East, its nations and conflicts.
A good primer would be Robert Fisk's The Great War for Civilisation.
https://www.amazon.com/Great-War-Civilisation-Conquest-Middle/dp/1400075173
Very dense but it covers much of the nuance of these conflicts and gives a good background on the power players. It will open your eyes to some interesting things, IMO.
Good luck out there
That's what I'm here for bud. I'll call him out for you!
But really, the Middle East, and especially Iran is soo damn fascinating. I too wish more people who choose to discuss it actually put in the work to understand it.
BTW, have you read The Great War for Civilization yet? Kinda old now but a must-read in my opinion if you study the region.
Check out Robert Fisk's "The Great War For Civilization."
I've been slowly reading The Great War for Civilisation by Robert Fisk, who was a reporter on the ground in many of the major conflicts in the Middle East in the late 20th century (Iranian revolution, Afghan resistance to the Soviet invasion, many others). It's been really good so far, both w.r.t. close-up "this is what day-to-day was actually like" and big picture "this was important because ...".
No I know you are an idiot. Afghanistan during Russian War, Iraq, So many Latin american countries, Israel, Syria (assad regime), Egypt, Saudi, etc.
Don't even pretend that those are not forms of colonialism, not to mention all the indirect forms of control through World Bank and IMF loans.
American interventionism is an indirect form of colonialism. When you prop-up pro-American dictators.
http://www.amazon.ca/Rogue-State-Guide-Worlds-Superpower/dp/1567513743
http://www.amazon.com/The-Great-War-Civilisation-Conquest/dp/1400075173