Richard Engel is the award winning Chief-Foreign Correspondent for NBC and has been in the Middle East war zone for over twenty years. He is the author of And Then All Hell Broke Loose, War Journal, and A Fist in the Hornet's Nest.
"[Engel's] fascinating new book . . . chronicles his often
dangerous journey in a complicated neck of the woods. Engel was
always restless, driven and filled with wanderlust. . . . Engel has
proved to be a fearless reporter. He has covered every major crisis
with incredible moxie. . . . Engel spends a large portion of his
narrative deftly explaining to us these sectarian differences and
their centuries-old history."--The Jerusalem Post
"A deft personal account . . . a lucid, alarming overview of where
the Middle East has been and where it is heading."--Kirkus
Reviews
"As a print and broadcast journalist with his own boots on the
ground in the Middle East for more than 20 years, Engel has seen it
all . . . Now Engel takes a long view . . . His grasp of Middle
East history is encyclopedic, yet Engel distills the major tenets
of geopolitical and religious conflict into comprehensible and
comprehensive terms. . . . Clear, candid, and concise, Engel's
overview of the ongoing battleground should be required reading for
anyone desiring a thorough and informed portrait of what the past
has created and what the future holds for the Middle East and the
world at large."--Booklist, starred review
"Brisk . . . Engel, the chief foreign correspondent for NBC News,
has written an absorbing book about his eventful career. . . . At
heart, [the book] is a nerve-racking autobiography by a journalist
on the front lines, covering wars and terrorism in Lebanon, Israel,
Gaza, Iraq and Syria. On another level, it's an informative
portrait of a troubled region, one that has been unduly influenced
by charlatans and madmen and poorly served by two consecutive
American presidents, Engel argues."--The Kansas City Star
"Engel offers an adventurous overview of the past, present and
future of the area."--Fort Worth Star-Telegram
"Engel... has been in the Middle East, getting a viscerally
up-close perspective on these world-historic events. And as this
fast-paced and engaging new book makes clear, even if it hasn't
always been easy, Engels' time in the Middle East has always been
important."--Salon.com
"The author's quick-paced account is a thrilling adventure story
laced with historical context to help readers make sense of the
longstanding sectarian hatreds that propel the violence in Iraq and
elsewhere. . . . No one can argue that Engel, now NBC's chief
foreign correspondent, missed the boat when he decided to head to
the Middle East to cover what he believed would be his generation's
biggest news venue. 'My ambition was to ride the train of history,
and the train came rumbling right at me.'"--Associated Press
"Engel -- who is NBC's Chief Foreign Correspondent -- offers a
brisk, concise, often-hair-raising saga beginning with his early,
fondly remembered years in Cairo, to the increasing bloodshed and
intransigent policies, wars and terrorism of Jerusalem, Lebanon,
Libya, Syria and Afghanistan . . . The book often reads like a
thriller . . ."--Liz Smith "New York Social Diary "
"Engel's harrowing adventures make for gripping reading . . . he
deftly uses them as a portal to look at how the Middle East has
changed since he arrived in the region as a young reporter back in
1996. The result is a book that gives readers a brisk but
wide-angled understanding of the calamities that have unfurled
there over the last two decades . . . for readers looking for an
astute, fast-paced overview, this book is a great explainer. . . .
Mr. Engel, 42, gives us sharp, unnerving snapshots of events he
witnessed and a visceral sense of the daily rhythms of life in
Baghdad as the war turned increasingly chaotic . . . What makes Mr.
Engel's tactile eyewitness accounts particularly valuable is that
they are fuel-injected with his knowledge of the history and the
politics of the region. . . . Mr. Engel writes with great concision
-- honed, no doubt, by years of having to compress momentous
stories into a few minutes on the evening news.--Michiko Kakutani
"The New York Times "
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