{"product_id":"the-great-war-for-civilisation-the-conquest-of-the-middle-east","title":"The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East","description":"\u003cp\u003eDuring the thirty years that award-winning journalist Robert Fisk has been reporting on the Middle East  he has covered every major event in the region  from the Algerian Civil War to the Iranian Revolution  from the American hostage crisis in Beirut (as one of only two Western journalists in the city at the time) to the Iran-Iraq War  from the Russian invasion of Afghanistan to Israels invasions of Lebanon  from the Gulf War to the invasion and ongoing war in Iraq. Now he brings his knowledge  his firsthand experience and his intimate understanding of the Middle East to a book that addresses the full complexity of its political history and its current state of affairs.  Passionate in his concerns about the region and relentless in his pursuit of the truth  Fisk has been able to enter the world of the Middle East and the lives of its people as few other journalists have. The result is a work of stunning reportage. His unblinking eyewitness testimony to the horrors of war places him squarely in the tradition of the great frontline reporters of the Second World War. His searing descriptions of lives mangled in the chaos of battle and of the battles themselves are at once dreadful and heartrending.  This is also a book of lucid  incisive analysis. Reaching back into the long history of invasion  occupation and colonization in the region  Fisk sets forth this information in a way that makes clear how a history of injustice has condemned the Middle East to war. He lays open the role of the West in the seemingly endless strife and warfare in the region  traces the growth of the Wests involvement and influence there over the past one hundred years  and outlines the Wests record of support for some of the most ruthless leaders in the Middle East. He chronicles the ever-more-powerful military presence of the United States and tracks the consequent  increasingly virulent anti-Westernand particularly anti-Americansentiment among the regions Muslim populations.  Fisk interweaves this history with his own vividly rendered experiences in Iraq  Iran  Afghanistan  Algeria  Israel  Palestine and Lebanonon the front lines; behind the scenes; in the streets of cities and villages; and inside military headquarters  the hideouts of guerrillas  the homes of ordinary citizens. Here  too  are indelible portraits of Osama bin Laden  Ayatollah Khomeini and Yassir Arafat  among othersall of whom he has met face-to-facerevelatory in their apprehension of the individuals and the ideologies they represent.  Finally  The Great War for Civilisation is the story of journalists in war: of their attempts to report the first  impartial drafts of history  to monitor the centers of power  to challenge authority (especially . . . when governments and politicians take us to war) and to battle an increasingly partisan worldwide media in their determination to report the truth.  Unflinching  provocative  brilliantly writtena work of major importance for todays world.\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"My Store","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":44945265033269,"sku":"ByrdShop_1400041511","price":34.65,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0627\/8139\/0901\/files\/9781400041510.jpg?v=1769880438","url":"https:\/\/atxbooks.com\/products\/the-great-war-for-civilisation-the-conquest-of-the-middle-east","provider":"ATX Books","version":"1.0","type":"link"}