Invasion Kuwait: An English Woman's Tale [Paperback]

Jehan S. Rajab (Author)

Book Description

ISBN-10: 1860640699 | ISBN-13: 978-1860640698 | Publication Date: December 15, 1996

In the form of a journal, this book tells the story of the author's experiences in Kuwait during the Iraqi invasion. Jehan Rajab chronicles her fight to preserve normality in the face of persecution and to save the Tareq Rajab Museum, her workplace, from destruction.

Product Details

• Paperback: 224 pages
• Publisher: I. B. Tauris (December 15, 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1860640699
• ISBN-13: 978-1860640698
• Product Dimensions: 8.3 x 5.4 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 13 ounces (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.4 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (5 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #2,414,819 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A unique and all-too-rare perspective of the Gulf War., July 17, 1999

By A Customer

This review is from: Invasion Kuwait: An English Woman's Tale (Paperback)

In the plethora of Gulf War books covering the grand strategy of generals, presidents and prime ministers, this book, like so very few others, presents a unique and fascinating account of life in Iraqi-occupied Kuwait both in the first five months of the occupation, prior to Desert Storm, and then during the war itself. It is truly the 'inside' perspective, in no uncertain terms.

Mrs. Rajab and several members of her family - long-term residents of Kuwait, and with the special perspective of a mixed Western-Kuwaiti family - did not have the protection of a large military organisation. They lived day-by-day alongside occupying Iraqi troops and the feared Mukhabarat (Iraqi Secret Police), surviving by the grace of God, sheer good fortune, and their wits. The prospect of sudden and possibly brutal death was ever-present. The fact that many others did not survive the same risks visited upon her gives the book a gravity which strikes home. This is the perspective of the crisis that was forgotten by the world's media in the rush for TV footage of fireworks displays over Baghdad, and bodies on the Basra Road. Soldiers, airmen and Marines of the Gulf War, with all credit due to them, generally lived the fear and danger of combat in periods of minutes or, at most, hours. Mrs. Rajab coped with extraordinary circumstances over seven long months with a strength of will which can only be described as inspirational. Yes, she could have left the country, but she stood by her home against incredible odds. This book is in the class of my own DAYS OF FEAR: The Inside Story of the Iraqi Invasion and Occupation of Kuwait (Motivate Publishing, London/ Dubai, 1997).

Mrs. Rajab has down a great service to the history of Kuwait and the Middle East with this book. Anyone who ever doubted the rightness of the Allied campaign to free Kuwait should read this, and know what horror and terror the people of Kuwait and those who lived there were delivered from. any serious scholar of the Gulf War cannot claim to have his or her library complete without this very readable little book. Thank you, Mrs. Rajab, for a truly relevant book from a remarkable woman.

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars This is the best book that can be read on the Gulf War., April 7, 1999

By 

[e-mail] (Kuwait) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Invasion Kuwait: An English Woman's Tale (Paperback)

Mrs. Rajabs style is sincere and human. Her account, unlike other books on the subject, not only talks of strategy, but day to day accounts and problems faced by the people of occupied Kuwait. A masterpeice. I suggest this book not only to those people intrested in the Gulf War, but to those poeple who are intrested in reading about the strength of the Human Will as well.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Back to Memories, December 7, 2008

By 

Hanen M. A. Alawadi "HanaHeart" (Kuwait) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Invasion Kuwait: An English Woman's Tale (Paperback)

What can I say about this book?
As I read through the pages, all the memories of that awful period came back to me as if they happened yesterday not 18 years ago.
And even that I was a 7 year-old child at that time, and nothing very bad happened to us, still the bitter feeling of knowing what my country went through make my heart swells with sadness and anger.
Yet, I can only bow in respect to the brave Mrs. Jehan Rajab and to all those who gave their lives for Kuwait and to everyone helped us in our ordeal...
God Bless Kuwait...