Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
51 of 57 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Spectacular Second Book, 27 Jun 2006
This book, Rory Stewart's second, is hugely impressive. Those who enjoyed The Places in Between, his astonishing account of his walk across Afghanistan, may have wondered "Where on earth does he go from here?" The answer lies in this gripping account of his year working for the Coalition Provisional Authority in Iraq.
Stewart clearly makes for a talented administrator, bringing enormous energy, enthusiasm, deft political judgement and skilful diplomacy to the job at hand. His writing is understated, crisp, lucid and occasionally poetic. His descriptions of those he meets reveal a perceptive eye and deep sense of humanity, while his comments on policy reveal a keen intellect and reflect a wisdom borne of experience. He is sceptical about the grand rhetoric and designs emanating from Baghdad, wary of the all-too-easy universal theories of "foreigners in a hurry", and pragmatic about what he can achieve in a limited period of time. And throughout the chaos, confusion and intermittent danger, you have the impression that he is unfailingly polite.
Stewart's narrative is also, I suspect, unusual in at least three other respects. He demonstrates a clear honesty about his own limitations that more careerist bureaucrats might avoid. He records disagreements about policy decisions with little desire to settle scores or have the last word. And he displays a deep interest in Iraqi history and culture that contextualises the narrative magnificently. Should you feel a little perplexed by the proliferation of political factions, sheikhs and tribes that tumble across his pages, do not be put off; consider instead the size of the challenge that confronted those foreign administrators.
This is an insider history that shirks sensationalism, and is all the more powerful for doing so. It provides an important counterpoint to those self-appointed experts whose newspaper columns are often longer on opinions than genuine expertise. If you wish to understand the dynamics of modern Iraq, to explore the grand rhetoric and sobering reality of twenty-first century nation-building, or simply want a damn good yarn, then read this book.
|
|
|
21 of 23 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
An eye opening and concise insight into politics in Iraq., 15 Aug 2006
Rory Stewart tells the amazing tale of 2 regions of Iraq before the handover to Iraqi control.
What seems to be a modestly written account of his time in Iraq, this book details the incredibly convoluted politics of the regions he worked in as governor or deputy.
It brings to life the "story behind the headlines" - except there were no headlines about the violence and intense political negotiations being carried out on our behalf.
Dealing with everyone from the U.N. to local Iraqi mayors, Rory Stewart pulls no punches, but nor does he set out to criticise any party.
I would recommend that this is read in conjunction with "Dusty Warriors: Modern Soldiers at War" by Richard Holmes which tells a similar story that happened at around the same time, but from the army's perspective.
The best book I have read in quite a few years.
|
|
|
25 of 28 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
A fine book about banging your head against a brick wall, 5 May 2007
Rory Stewart gives us a rare, enlightening and honest (albeit subjective) account of what it was like on the ground as an administrator in provincial Iraq in the early days after the invasion.
Tasked with developing and effectively governing one of Iraq's regions, he encounters slippery sheikhs, treacherous clerics, post-modern civil-society-builders, cowardly Italians and -- later -- mortar bombs and RPGs. On arriving, he seems to be terribly out of his depth, largely because he is unprepared and unsupported, but he never seems daunted and one gets the impression that most people would have done a much worse job. But it's painfully clear that the overall operation was woefully inadequate in preparation, naive in its conception and incompetent in its execution.
The story is littered with broken promises that seem to surprise Stewart and his hard-pressed colleagues. If you were against the war to begin with, you may find yourself wondering: "Just what did you expect? How could you ever expect to just walk in there and run Iraq?" But Stewart seems confident that success is possible and he tirelessly tries to engage with all the major players. His optimism is completely devoid of any neo-con zealotry -- he's just there to do a job. This is laudable, but with hindsight we know all his efforts are doomed, thwarted by US incompetence, Iranian interference, and Iraqi sectarianism, and so, unavoidably, it proves.
Stewart writes well, explains complex tribal politics elegantly, and is thoroughly polite about the people he deals with, often through gritted teeth. Even the people who really let him down, like the Italians, are only a small part of a much bigger picture, so it would have been interesting to hear him explain why he thought the whole project fell apart in the end. Similarly, his descriptions of Bremer's bureaucracy in Baghdad are peppered with black humour and appalling indifference to reality but, although he teeters on the brink, he never launches a real barrage at Bremer and his flunkies. One wonders why not. Is he just too diplomatic? Were they not to blame?
His book is a fascinating insider's perspective and will be a useful source for historians of the war for decades to come.
|
|
|
Most Recent Customer Reviews
|
by Rory Stewart
by Hilary Synnott
by Ali A. Allawi
