City of Widows: An Iraqi Woman's Account of War and Resistance [Hardcover]

Haifa Zangana (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: November 6, 2007

In City of Widows, Haifa Zangana tells the story of her country, from the early twentieth century through the US-UK invasion and the current occupation. She brings to light a sense of Iraq as a society mainly of secularists who have been denied, through years of sanctions, war, and occupation, a system
within which to build the country according to their own values. She points to the long history of political activism and social participation of Iraqi women, and the fact that, before the recent invasion, they had been among the most liberated of their gender in the Middle East. Finally, she writes about
Baghdad today as a city populated by bereaved women and children who have lost their loved ones and their land, but who are still emboldened by the native right to resist and liberate themselves to create an independent Iraq.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

Starred Review. In her opening line, Iraqi novelist (and former prisoner of Saddam Hussein) Zangana lays out this Iraq primer's unapologetic intent: "that readers in the West will gain insight into a country they have impacted so fully and terribly." With 300,000 widows in Baghdad alone, another million across the country, and thousands of women imprisoned without acknowledgement-much less hope for legal recourse-Zangana's dispatches are different from those of U.S. and Iraqi officials who, she says, claim to support "women's empowerment" while sponsoring militant sectarian forces with "barbaric ideas" about women in society. The U.S. media, according to Zangana, is happy to fall in line: by repeating the story that Iraqis are killing Iraqis by the hundreds each day, the American reflex has become to blame the victims, rather than an occupation that has deliberately dismantled the country's only ways of coping. Putting the current moment in perspective with an engaging history of women's rights in Iraq, Zangana convincingly indentifies the current Iraqi moment "a terrible state of regression." This angry, unforgiving and powerful book is as vital as it is hard to swallow.
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About the Author

HAIFA ZANGANA is an Iraqi political commentator, novelist, and former prisoner of Saddam Hussein’s regime. She is a weekly columnist for al-Quds newspaper and a commentator for the Guardian, Red Pepper, and al-Ahram Weekly. She lives in London.

Product Details

• Hardcover: 176 pages
• Publisher: Seven Stories Press (November 6, 2007)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1583227792
• ISBN-13: 978-1583227794
• Product Dimensions: 5.8 x 0.7 x 8.5 inches
• Shipping Weight: 10.4 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 3.7 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #1,757,605 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars REQUIRED READING ON IRAQ, December 7, 2007

By 

J. Morgan - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: City of Widows: An Iraqi Woman's Account of War and Resistance (Hardcover)

Iraqi journalist and activist Haifa Zangana writes boldly about the current conditions of her homeland. The first account about occupied Iraq by an Iraqi woman, CITY OF WIDOWS provides a poignant and thorough outline to understanding the nation's intricate ethnic and political situation. Zangana's strongest arguments are those against the neo-colonial, Western "feminist" NGOs who have accompanied the US-led occupation. Groundbreaking, innovative and truthful, this book is not to be missed.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars An Exceptional and Brave Book, December 7, 2007

By 

S. E. Travis - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: City of Widows: An Iraqi Woman's Account of War and Resistance (Hardcover)

City of Widows should be read by anyone interested in the truth of the devastating events that have occurred in Iraq. It is the only account of it's kind that shares with the public how Iraqi's are being treated by the American government, and what has occurred in the country as a result. Namely, that a country of liberated women are now struggling to survive. This is a book about a women's life as it reflects all of the women in Iraq.

1 of 18 people found the following review helpful:

1.0 out of 5 stars Are you kidding?, December 13, 2007

By 

publisher (U.S.A) - See all my reviews

This review is from: City of Widows: An Iraqi Woman's Account of War and Resistance (Hardcover)

I did not read this book but I heard Haifa Zangana's interview with Diane Rehm.
I was absolutely flabbergasted (listen for yourself - http://www.wamu.org/programs/dr/07/11/26.php#18056).

She consistently and blatantly evades uncomfortable questions (changing the subject like a seasoned politician),
she refuses to say that the U.S should leave immediately (the US should only give statements regarding its intent....!?) but at the same time says that everything is the fault of the U.S.

And the frosting on top was her statement that there is no Sunni-Shia conflict in Iraq (it's a US fabrication)!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

It was nothing more than ridiculous propaganda and lies, how could her book be believable?
In short it was the usual Arab slant, nothing is our fault, we are a peace loving people (this is a quote), it's all the fault of the U.S and Israel, we are perfect, and the US is the devil.
Come-on are you for real??

P.S Personally I think that the occupation has turned out to be a disaster and that Bush is the worse president ever, so I'm not bashing her as a right wing republican, just as a truth seeking citizen.