Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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66 of 73 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Phew, What a Scorcher!, 20 Mar 2006
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!
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55 of 61 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The Horror! The Horror!, 20 Dec 2006
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.
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75 of 85 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A massive book in so many ways, 8 Oct 2006
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.
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