The Foreigner's Gift - Fouad Ajami

Renowned and respected the world over for his astute scholarship and incisive political commentary, Fouad Ajami has an unrivalled reputation as an expert on the Arab world. In THE FOREIGNER'S GIFT, Ajami delves beneath the familiar picture of Iraq to unveil the underlying truths of real Iraqi citizens' lives and desires. From Sunni Arab leaders, Shia clerics, and American soldiers to Kurdish politicians and poets, Iraqi policemen and ordinary women voting for the first time in their lives, Ajami personally interacts with the breadth of Iraq's populace and paints a profound portrait of Iraq today, and of the Allies' quest to bring order to a nation burdened with a difficult history. Ajami interweaves contemporary history with his own observations of the current situation in Iraq - all of it elevated by his innate poetic sensibility - and delivers a masterful, multifaceted portrayal of a country that has emerged as a crucial battleground between Western power and the wider forces of Arab religious and political extremism.