Customer Reviews

A Reed Shaken by the Wind: Travels Among the Marsh Arabs of Iraq

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is a revelatory book about the culture of the Marsh Arabs in Iraq. The author travels with the famous expert, Wilfred Theisiger and gives the reader a deep understanding of why Iraq will resist any central government's attempt to form a cohesive central government. A classic!

It did take awhile to get into this book, but once I did, I had a difficult time putting it down. I finished it in two days once I got past the 4th chapter. Maxwell has an extensive vocabulary and uses it well. I'd recommend this book to anyone who wants to learn more about the Arab culture. Maxwell learns what is and what is not socially acceptable to Arabs.

a companion piece to thesiger's marsh arabs. fun. a likeable character and again lots of detail and a slightly different point of view. also another's view of thesiger himself.

This excellent study of the marsh Arabs of Iraq needs to be read in conjunction with Wilfred Thesiger's book The Marsh Arabs. If the culture of the marsh Arabs had to be destroyed, at least Maxwell and Thesiger got their work in while the culture was still there to observe.