The Poet of Baghdad: A True Story of Love and Defiance

If you know Iraq only through the media, it's time for you to read this book. We see war-torn Iraq, but do not have a clear understanding of how it came to be this way. This book gives a human face to daily life before and during Sadaam's dictatorship. It's an eye opener!

This is a heart breaking and at the same heart warming tale of a shia man and his family and their lives before, during and after the Regime of the despot Saddam Hussein. Love laughter, sadness and torture at the hands of a madman, how a man and his family survived and actually flourished. Now you will know why the present population of Iraqis are at times so angry and hostile to foreigners!

Because of the insights into life under Sadam Hussein and other groups in Iraq, the reader's group I lead chose this as their book for discussion for their November meeting. Most felt that they had learned a great deal about the struggles between various political groups in Iraq and how Sadam Hussein's rise to power affected freedom of speech and movement in that country. Many commented on the ability of an illiterate mother to produce and guide chhildren who became leaders in many areas

I highly recommend this book. I am also surprised that there are so few reviews and hope that it is just because the book is fairly new... This book has made Iraq, its people, traditions, values, and changing government more accessible to me.

I'm surprised there are no reviews, as yet, for The Poet of Baghdad. I'm also surprised this wonderful true story hasn't received the recognition it deserves. This book follows Nabeel Yasin, a poet, from childhood through adulthood. Born in Iraq before the cruel dominance of Saddam Hussein and his henchmen, Nabeel, his family and his country suffer through unbelievable suffering and Nabeel is eventually forced to flee the country with his wife. He stays in exile until well after the American invasion, but his poems survive and inspire his fellow Iraqis. His family plays a large part in the story and his brothers are jailed, tortured and beaten by the Republican Guard for not conforming. I highly recommend this true story. I hated to put it down and I think you will feel the same.