This is a review that I just sent to the DB Review list. Someone on this
list might be interested in reading it.
Miriam
The rise of Islamic state: ISIS and the new Sunni revolution DB84870
Cockburn, Patrick. Reading time: 4 hours, 23 minutes.
Read by George Holmes.
World History and Affairs
A description of the rise of conditions leading to terrorist group ISIS's
explosive success, including the Iraqi and Syrian civil wars. Additionally,
the author examines the principles of the group, also known as the Islamic
State, which combine religious fanaticism and military prowess. Some
violence. 2015.
I am calling this book to your attention because it is packed with a great
deal of information about which most people are unaware unless they manage
to find articles written by investigative reporters on the web, rather than
just listening to news items on cable tv or reading headlines in their
favorite newspapers. I've heard Andrew Cockburn's reports many times on
Democracy Now and also read his articles. He is a careful reporter, one who
often visits the war torn areas of Iraq and Syria, about which he writes.
There's a lot of military stuff in this book, battles and movements of
fighters. But there is also history and explanations of the policies of the
various countries that are involved. If you read this book, you'll learn
facts that will be new and startling. I believe that he has also written a
more recent book which may be on Bookshare.
I really must mention something about the narration. Andrew Cockburn is
British and this is very obvious if you listen to an interview with him.
However, his nationality is irrelevant to the material in his book. For some
reason, NLS chose to have the book narrated by someone with a British
accent. For me, the quality of the narrator's voice and his British accent
was a bit off putting when I began the book. It almost discouraged me from
reading it. However, I found the book worth the slight discomfort. But I do
wonder at the reason for the choice of narrators. I think that the book,
which is not entertaining, but informative and, at times, upsetting, might
have better been read by someone, easier to listen to.
***
