The Iran-Iraq War

Children's Literature

This information book's aim is a straight foreword look at the history of the Iran-Iraq war, excluding more recent events in the Persian Gulf. This work provides a general grasp of facts and tangential history, and at the same time glaring mistakes. As with other titles recently reviewed from this publisher, some of the fault lies in the selection of and the lack of specific credits to the photographs. As an example, the cover photograph, meant to illustrate the war of the title, is clearly of Afghani guerillas in Afghanistan, undated and unattributed. It seems that the editor has relied upon the stock photo house a bit too much. There is certainly room for skepticism overall, as the scope of the sources quoted contains no Middle Eastern authors, favoring American pundits. It is interesting to see the spin given to the Iran-Contra affair; no mention is made of the "contra" (Nicaraguan counter-revolutionary and drug running) side of the affair. Similarly, in tables describing which countries contributed weapons and military funding to Iraq, the United States is absent. Egypt, a poverty stricken nation, is said to have contributed 1-3 billion, actually U.S. funds. Why the author chose to eliminate most of the United States' role in the conflict is unknown; these are commonly known facts, which again threatens the credibility of the text. Part of the "World History Series." 2003 (orig. 1991), Lucent Books/Gale,
— Kate Pourshariati