Synopsis
Describes the life of the leader of Iraq, from his childhood, through his rise to power, the Iran-Iraq War, the Persian Gulf War, to his ongoing presidency.
Karen Leggett - Children's Literature
This biography opens with a rare personal glimpse of Saddam Hussein-he enjoys reading American authors, especially Ernest Hemingway, and watches movies like The Godfather and The Day of the Jackal. But he also has fresh food flown in to him twice a week in spite of the malnutrition that plagues most of his country. Yet for all the unsavory excesses of his personal and political life, the United States supported him during the Iran-Iraq war, when he " tended to be seen as a stabilizer in a region that was volatile." During that war, Hussein was already shelling civilian centers and using chemical weapons against the Kurds. The book covers the background of the Persian Gulf War and the UN inspections, but with the last sentence, the book is already out of date: "President Bush would want to exhaust all other options before deciding on an invasion of Saddam Hussein's Iraq." There is a good chronology and index; unfortunately the editors missed several typographical errors and the long pages of unbroken text with few interesting photos will discourage many young readers. The "Major World Leaders" series covers a wide range of leaders from Yassir Arafat and Menachem Begin to Jimmy Carter, George W. Bush, Vladimir Putin and Vicente Fox. The opening essay on leadership by noted historian Arthur Schlesinger is intellectually demanding, and unappealingly printed in small type with small margins. It would be valuable primarily for generating discussion or writing projects by very advanced students. 2003, Chelsea House Publishers,