The Weight of a Mustard Seed: The Intimate Story of an Iraqi General and His Family During Thirty Years of Tyranny - Hardcover

Steavenson, Wendell

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0061721786 ISBN 13: 9780061721786

Publisher: Collins, 2009

Synopsis

An intimate account of Iraqi life under Saddam Hussein's regime, written from the perspective of one of his loyal generals, describes Kamael Sachet's regret over his role in Hussein's terror regime, his refusal to let his sons join the military, and his relationships with such associates as the head of the Republican Guard and a director of Abu Ghraib prison.

About this title

Review:

Praise for STORIES I STOLE: "Lovely.Stories I Stole, like the works of Bruce Chatwin or Ryszard Kapuinski, is poised somewhere between memoir and ethnography.The great heart of the book, though, belongs to the people [Steavenson] met." -- Time Out New York

"[The Weight of a Mustard Seed] weaves a fascinating account of how good men went terribly wrong... echoing works by Hannah Arendt, Primo Levi and Stanley Milgram. A tenacious attempt to answer the question, 'How do ordinary little human cogs make up a torture machine?'"--Kirkus Reviews

Praise for STORIES I STOLE: "[This] unusual and beautifully worded tale is, mercifully, nothing like the usual foreign correspondent's end-of-term book...[An] accomplished narrative-part travelogue, part love story...When [Steavenson] tells Georgian people's stories, you hear real voices."--The Times (London)

Praise for STORIES I STOLE: "A remarkable first effort from a writer to watch."--Publishers Weekly

Steavenson is a talented writer and her reconstruction of Sachet s story is staggering in its revelation of a collective psychological trauma that continues to grip a nation. --Publishers Weekly (starred review)"

[The Weight of a Mustard Seed] weaves a fascinating account of how good men went terribly wrong echoing works by Hannah Arendt, Primo Levi and Stanley Milgram. A tenacious attempt to answer the question, How do ordinary little human cogs make up a torture machine? --Kirkus Reviews"

Praise for STORIES I STOLE: A remarkable first effort from a writer to watch. --Publishers Weekly"

Praise for STORIES I STOLE: Lovely Stories I Stole, like the works of Bruce Chatwin or Ryszard Kapu?inski, is poised somewhere between memoir and ethnography The great heart of the book, though, belongs to the people [Steavenson] met. --Time Out New York"

Praise for STORIES I STOLE: [This] unusual and beautifully worded tale is, mercifully, nothing like the usual foreign correspondent s end-of-term book [An] accomplished narrative-part travelogue, part love story When [Steavenson] tells Georgian people s stories, you hear real voices. --The Times (London)"

"Steavenson is a talented writer and her reconstruction of Sachet's story is staggering in its revelation of a collective psychological trauma that continues to grip a nation."--Publishers Weekly (starred review)

From the Back Cover:

General Kamel Sachet was a favorite of Saddam Hussein's, a hero of the Iran-Iraq war, head of the army in Kuwait City during Desert Storm, governor of the province of Maysan, and father of nine children. When author Wendell Steavenson became intrigued by his story, she began with a few questions about Sachet and his fellow Baathist loyalists: "Why had they served such a regime? How had they accommodated their own morality? How had they lived? How had they lived with themselves?" Her journey to find these answers took five years, and an accumulation of facts, opinions, fears, confessions and suspicions from Sachet's family, friends, and enemies. The result is not just a gripping account of one man's rise and fall, but a vivid and compassionate portrayal of the Iraqi people.

As Sachet rose from policeman to Special Forces officer and then General, he made more and more sacrifices to remain in Saddam's good favor. Steadfast in his loyalty to God and his President, Sachet attended military executions and endured his own imprisonment as Saddam's behavior took increasingly paranoiac and power-crazy turns. But when it came time for Sachet's sons to do their military service, he refused to let them join the "criminal" organization to which he had given his life. Kamel Sachet realized, too late, that he'd become a participant in the terror regime that had strangled his county and destroyed its people. Through his story and the stories of those around him, Wendell Steavenson shows the choices Iraqis have had to make between exile and collaboration, God and jihad. Here are the Iraqis behind the headlines and the tragedy begotten of unintended consequences. And here is the first full-length narrative from an immensely talented journalist who has already been compared by critics to Bruce Chatwin and Ryszard Kapucinksi.

About this edition

• Publisher: Collins
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0061721786
• ISBN 13: 9780061721786
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 288