Into the Hands of the Soldiers
Freedom and Chaos in Egypt and the Middle East
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- 9,99 €
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- 9,99 €
Beschreibung des Verlags
A poignant, deeply human portrait of Egypt during the Arab Spring, told through the lives of individuals
A FINANCIAL TIMES AND AN ECONOMIST BOOK OF THE YEAR
'This will be the must read on the destruction of Egypt's revolution and democratic moment' Sarah Leah Whitson, Middle East director of Human Rights Watch
'Sweeping, passionate ... An essential work of reportage for our time' Philip Gourevitch, author of We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families
In 2011, Egyptians of all sects, ages and social classes shook off millennia of autocracy, then elected a Muslim Brother as president. New York Times correspondent David D. Kirkpatrick arrived in Egypt with his family less than six months before the uprising first broke out in 2011. As revolution and violence engulfed the country, he lived through Cairo's hopes and disappointments alongside the diverse population of his new city.
Into the Hands of the Soldiers is a heartbreaking story with a simple message: the failings of decades of autocratic rule are the reason for the chaos we see across the Arab world. Understanding the story of what happened in those years can help readers make sense of everything taking place across the region today – from the terrorist attacks in North Sinai to the bedlam in Syria and Libya.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
When New York Times correspondent Kirkpatrick arrived in Egypt in late 2010, it seemed like an easy, almost idyllic assignment of studying Arabic and attending dinner parties; "the experts in Washington had all assured me that nothing else interesting would happen." It was not to be, and the resulting story is as much about the cluelessness of those so-called experts as about the Egyptians whose improbable revolution was overtaken by violence, sectarianism, and venality. Kirkpatrick recounts how dueling power centers and ideologies in the American government produced a "schizophrenia... so open that Egyptian generals complained about it to their Pentagon contacts." Although the Muslim Brotherhood had been Egypt's primary opposition for decades and quickly eclipsed the liberals who led the revolution, the U.S. embassy refused to meet with their leaders even after the White House ordered it to, "too anxious about being seen with the Brothers, and too unsure of which ones to call." In the end, Kirkpatrick musters little hope for Egypt, where the security services murder citizens indiscriminately and feel "they must put themselves above the law in order to save it." Though Kirkpatrick lacks the insight into Egyptian political life that many local writers have brought to this subject, this dark chronicle adeptly weaves his personal experiences of the tumult with criticism of the flatfooted American response.
