A fist in the hornet's nest

the long version

Richard Engel graduated from Stanford University in 1996. He wanted to be a foreign correspondent and knew that the Middle East would continue to be a hot spot for breaking news, so he moved into a poor Cairo neighborhood and learned “street” Arabic by talking to his neighbors. After a few years reporting for the BBC and other news outlets, he moved to Jerusalem to gain perspective on the other side of the Middle Eastern conflict. By the end of the Gulf War II, he was NBC’s main on-air war correspondent and one of the few American journalists who filed reports from Baghdad for the duration of the war. In A FIST IN THE HORNET’S NEST, Richard Engel examines the anticipation, impact and aftermath of the war from the insider perspective of the Iraqi people who are still living through it. The stories are wide-ranging and gripping: a Christian Iraqi pharmacist whose biggest fear before the war is what Muslim fundamentalists might do to him; a pastry shop owner who is one of several hundred Iraqis who starts a newspaper in his basement after the war; a history professor -- tortured under Saddam’s regime for starting a movie club in his home -- who, after the war, begins building a headquarters for the new political party he founds. Through a chronological journey that begins well before the first American troops arrive, Engel recounts all of these stories with a sense of immediacy that comes from living and interacting with the people. He also provides a critical assessment of the American war strategy and the future of the Gulf Region.