Content tagged with “middle-east”

“ Arabic Numbers are the common, base-10 numeric system most people in the world use: 0, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9. They’re not from Arabia specifically, but they were brought to Spain in the 900s by Arabic speakers from North Africa across the Straight of Gibraltar. ”

“So, here’s the problem with this book: the situation is ultimately just not that exciting. Yes, the movie was apparently great, and the set-up is amazing – diplomats hiding in a hostile country, escaping through disguise, etc. – but in the end, the CIA forged some documents and they all walked out….”

“It is just south of present-day Baghdad, Iraq, about 50 miles, along the banks of the Euphrates. It no longer exists as a major population center, but there are significant ruins of the ancient walled city remaining. Here it is on Google Maps. Babylon was no longer a ‘city’ by about the 900s – was…”

“This is Christian/Conservative spy fiction, if that’s even a thing? It’s perhaps telling that the cover has a praise quote from Rush Limbaugh, and there’s another from Sean Hannity on the inside flap. (The author was on Limbaugh’s payroll earlier in his career, apparently.) This is #4 in a…”

“A book about applying military principles to business. It’s not a bad book, but the hook is clearly the Navy SEAL angle. Every chapter starts with a novel-esque recounting of some warfare scenario in Ramadi, Iraq, then segues into how that applies to business. It’s all very gung ho and ‘MURICA!…”

“I read this book because I loved Red Storm Rising (which Bond co-wrote) when I was in high school, and was looking for a way to recapture that. The result was mixed. This book was less ‘nation states at war’ and more ‘special forces beats the terrorists.’ The plot was very human-oriented, which…”

“This is an excellent spy novel. Years ago, I listened to quite a few of Daniel Silva’s novels on CD in the car. I remember really enjoying them, and always wanting to get back to them. I looked up the Gabriel Allon series (his most successful series), and found the first title in it (this one)….”

“I eventually abandoned this book, but I read quite a bit of it. What I came to appreciate is that history of the Middle East and history of the British Empire are wildly intertwined. The British were all over that region, and when they left, they made some attempts to split it up, but then left…”

“Here’s my problem with this book – it wasn’t a history, it was more of a personal memoir . I was expecting the detailed story of the Kurdish people, but instead I got a story about the author and how he interacted with the Kurds over the course of several decades. The author had some history with…”

“This is a first-rate political/military thriller. Some backstory: Joel Rosenberg wrote five books in the ‘Last Jihad’ series. Someone gave me book #4 – ‘The Copper Scroll’ – and I loved it . So, now I’m going back and reading the entire series from the start. The series has some controversy. It got…”

“Strange little book. I wanted to read some Michener without commitment, and this is the shortest Michener book. It’s a family history, told in flashback by a modern-day solider preparing to testify in front of Congress during the Iran-Contra scandal of the 80s. The main character comes from a long…”

“It’s an alternative name for Iran. The term ‘Persia’ is considered a relic of ancient times by most, and usage of it usually implies a historical reference to Iran. In 1935, the reigning shah announced that the country would henceforth be referred to by its modern name of ‘Iran.’ This wasn’t…”

“In general, no. However, there are two separate things here: (1) WMDs themselves, and (2) a WMD development program. Saddam Hussein did have older WMDs, dating back to the 1960s. In fact, he used chemical weapons extensively on his own people in the 1980s. However, he was ordered to stop all WMD…”

“This is a Biblical name for a fortress that became the city of Jerusalem specifically, and the entire state of Israel generally. It has often been extended to refer to the Jewish people and community. The word is found 152 times in the Old Testament, the first time in 2 Samuel 5:7: Nevertheless,…”

“An ancient religion practiced mainly in Iran. It is named for an Iranian prophet named Zoroaster or Zarathustra. Zoroastrianism was the official religion of Iran for almost 1,000 years. It is known to many modern audiences as the subject of Frederick Nietzsche’s work of fiction Thus Spoke…”