Tunisia: A Journey Through a Country That Works (Hardcover)

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Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

A non-fundamentalist Arab nation in North Africa that borders the Sahara desert, Tunisia was praised by U.N. Secretary General Kofi Annan "as one of the few countries in the world that serves as an international model." History records Tunisia as the home of Carthage and of Hannibal, the general who marched elephants over the Alps along with his army. According to Geyer, modern Tunisia is no less impressive, possessing a middle class of 80%, laws that ensure every child receives an education and an impressive women’s rights record. No less than 40% of Tunisian women work, many as policewomen, diplomats, filmmakers and CEOs of major companies. Geyer sees Tunisia as "a country that works," and she backs this assertion by relating a series of conversations with various politicians and prominent academics. The reasons for Tunisia’s success are many. There have been two presidents since 1956 whose progressive policies have worked wonders for the country’s infrastructure. Foreign Minister Habib Ben Yahia cites Tunisia’s commitment to maintaining a "dialogue of all the social forces in the country" as a buffer to extremist tendencies. Student Diomande Soumaila says that the capital’s university teaches students to think independently "instead of simply following the Koran and the Prophet’s sayings." Tunisia does have a dark spot, however: a record of internal human rights violations. Occasionally, Geyer’s admiration for Tunisia’s political leadership can jar with trite observation, such as when she writes that woman "chirped like a bird in her Berber tongue" as if she were "a creature from some enchanted aviary." Fortunately, such attempts at lyricism aren’t overdone; Geyer’s journalistic instincts win out, and the reader benefits from her good analysis of a unique country.
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From Booklist

A fixture in Washington, D.C.'s foreign policy salons, journalist Geyer has taken a shine to Tunisia and here lauds the country in a book she demurs from labeling as a travelogue, preferring instead the term "developmental political literature." Description of people and places is secondary to Geyer's narrative of Tunisia's relative economic success and political placidity, compared to its neighbors in the Arab world. For this she credits Tunisia's two leaders since the country gained independence from France in 1956: Habib Bourguiba, and, since that president-for-life was put out to pasture in 1987, Zine El Abidine Ben Ali. The two leaders sponsored a sort of authoritarian progressivism, which has resisted the region's secular and religious radicalisms and has incrementally expanded economic and political rights. Geyer is especially impressed with women's freedom in Tunisia. Politics aside, the author imparts snippets of history back to Hannibal and evocations of Tunisia's landmarks and landscapes, but Tunisia's postcolonial political history is the soul of Geyer's work. An homage to Tunisia, this would be a useful supplement to a standard guidebook. Gilbert Taylor
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

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Product Details

• Hardcover: 240 pages
• Publisher: Stacey International Publishers (December 2003)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1900988437
• ISBN-13: 978-1900988438
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1 pounds (View shipping rates and policies)
• Average Customer Review: 4.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (1 customer review)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #867,887 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

19 of 19 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A personal appreciation; a political history and assessment, December 31, 2004

By	J. Mann (southwestern NH) - See all my reviews

I received this book as a gift. The book's subtitle is the key: "A country that works". By that is meant a country that functions well. Ms. Geyer reviews the recent history of Tunisia as led first by Habib Bourgiba and now by Ben-Ali, leaders who have carefully set up policies and investments (e.g. investment in girls' education) designed to raise the country from a poor agricultural French colony to a successful independent nation, reaching out to participate as a player in the European economy. The theme of the book is that true democracy - not just elections but stability and human rights - is very difficult to establish, requiring an educated populace, a sizable middle class, and a certain amount of mutual trust across the society - which have to be in place before elections; in this context, Tunisia's leaders have been carefully building these prerequisites and Tunisia stands out as an ongoing success against a background of failed efforts - including, so far, the effort in Iraq - to establish democracy by magic (or other) bullets. The book will reveal that Ms. Geyer has an affection for Tunisia and Tunisians, but I think her assessment is not bad - my daughter, her Tunisian husband, and her two children live in Tunisia (and all of them speak in English and Arabic) and Geyer's assessment is confirmed by our experiences there as well as many discussions about the matters raised in the book.