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This comparative anthology showcases the rich and mutually intertwined folklore of three ethno-religious communities from northern Iraq: Aramaic-speaking (‘Syriac') Christians, Kurdish Muslims and—to a lesser extent—Aramaic-speaking Jews. The first volume contains several introductory chapters on language, folkore motifs and narrative style, followed by samples of glossed texts in each language variety. The second volume is the anthology proper, presenting folklore narratives in several distinct varieties of North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic and Northern and Central Kurdish. The stories are accompanied by English translations. The material includes different genres such as folktales, legends, fables and anecdotes, and is organised into seven thematic units. The folkloristic material of these three communities is shared to a large extent. The anthology is, therefore, a testament to the intimate and long-standing relations between these three ethno-religious communities—relations that existed in a multilingual environment centuries before the modern era of nationalism.

This comparative anthology showcases the rich and mutually intertwined folklore of three ethno-religious communities from northern Iraq: Aramaic-speaking (‘Syriac') Christians, Kurdish Muslims and—to a lesser extent—Aramaic-speaking Jews. The first volume contains several introductory chapters on language, folkore motifs and narrative style, followed by samples of glossed texts in each language variety. The second volume is the anthology proper, presenting folklore narratives in several distinct varieties of North-Eastern Neo-Aramaic and Northern and Central Kurdish. The stories are accompanied by English translations. The material includes different genres such as folktales, legends, fables and anecdotes, and is organised into seven thematic units. The folkloristic material of these three communities is shared to a large extent. The anthology is, therefore, a testament to the intimate and long-standing relations between these three ethno-religious communities—relations that existed in a multilingual environment centuries before the modern era of nationalism.

New York Times best-selling author Stephen Mansfield was witness to much of the modern history of the Kurds. In this riveting account, Mansfield movingly tells the stories of the people who have fashioned one of the greatest economic and cultural resurrections in human history.They are the largest people group in the world without a homeland of their own. Despised and persecuted the world over, they even call themselves'the people without a friend.'Saddam Hussein tried to wipe them from the face of the earth, killing several hundred thousand of them in the attempt. Their sufferings have become legend.They are the Kurds, descendants of the ancient Medes best known today from the pages of the Bible -- inhabitants of what the world now calls Northern Iraq. Yet today the Kurds are rebuilding so brilliantly from war and oppression that even their enemies call it'a miracle.'Six star hotels stand where bombs once fell, shopping malls and gleaming schools rise where massacres once occurred. National Geographic and Conde Nast have listed modern'Kurdistan'as a'must-see'tourist destination.

Road Through Kurdistan is an enthralling story, packed with adventure, of one man's determination in the face of adversity.In 1928, A.M. Hamilton travelled to Iraqi Kurdistan, having been commissioned to build a road that would stretch from Northern Iraq through the mountains and gorges of Kurdistan and on to the Iranian border. Now called the Hamilton Road, this was, even by today's standards, a remarkable feat of engineering and remains one of the most strategically important roads in the region.In this colourful and engaging account, Hamilton describes the four years he spent overcoming immense obstacles – disease, ferocious brigands, warring tribes and bureaucratic officials – to carve a path through some of the most beautiful but inhospitable landscapes in the world. A classic of travel writing, Road Through Kurdistan is also an invaluable portrayal of the Iraqi Kurds themselves, as well of the Kurdish regions of Northern Iraq.

'The Stryker brigade, one of the Army's newest units, has a full complement of Army digital networked communications and battle command systems. An important issue for the Department of Defense and the Army is whether these networking capabilities translate into an information advantage and, if so, whether that advantage results in greater mission effectiveness in stability operations. To answer those two questions, the authors compare three units that operated in the same area in Iraq's northern provinces between 2003 and 2005: the 101st Airborne Division (ABD) (which had only limited digital communications capabilities), the 3/2 Stryker brigade combat team (SBCT), and the 1/25 SBCT. Overall, the 1/25 SBCT and 101st ABD performed best in the stability phase in northern Iraq. They were particularly effective in social networking with the local populace and civilian leaders. The 3/2 SBCT did not perform as well as the 1/25 SBCT, even though it was equipped with some of the same digital networking capabilities. Some of the tactics it employed, such as indiscriminate sweeps, widened the gulf between coalition forces and the local populace. Although networking technologies confer obvious benefits, the authors conclude that command leadership, training, and the processes employed in stability operations are just as important for improving mission effectiveness in stability operations.'--Publisher's website.

On April 14, 1994, two U.S. Air Force F-15 fighters accidentally shot down two U.S. Army Black Hawk Helicopters over Northern Iraq, killing all twenty-six peacekeepers onboard. In response to this disaster the complete array of military and civilian investigative and judicial procedures ran their course. After almost two years of investigation with virtually unlimited resources, no culprit emerged, no bad guy showed himself, no smoking gun was found. This book attempts to make sense of this tragedy--a tragedy that on its surface makes no sense at all. With almost twenty years in uniform and a Ph.D. in organizational behavior, Lieutenant Colonel Snook writes from a unique perspective. A victim of friendly fire himself, he develops individual, group, organizational, and cross-level accounts of the accident and applies a rigorous analysis based on behavioral science theory to account for critical links in the causal chain of events. By explaining separate pieces of the puzzle, and analyzing each at a different level, the author removes much of the mystery surrounding the shootdown. Based on a grounded theory analysis, Snook offers a dynamic, cross-level mechanism he calls'practical drift'--the slow, steady uncoupling of practice from written procedure--to complete his explanation. His conclusion is disturbing. This accident happened because, or perhaps in spite of everyone behaving just the way we would expect them to behave, just the way theory would predict. The shootdown was a normal accident in a highly reliable organization.

Yezidism is a fascinating part of the rich cultural mosaic of the Middle East. The Yezidi faith emerged for the first time in the twelfth century in the Kurdish mountains of northern Iraq. The religion, which has become notorious for its associations with'devil worship', is in fact an intricate syncretic system of belief, incorporating elements from proto-Indo-European religions, early Iranian faiths like Zoroastrianism and Manichaeism, Sufism and regional paganism like Mithraism. Birgül Açikyildiz here offers a comprehensive appraisal of Yezidi religion, society and culture.Written without presupposing any prior knowledge about Yezidism, and in an accessible and readable style, her book examines Yezidis not only from a religious point of view but as a historical and social phenomenon. She throws light on the origins of Yezidism, and charts its development and changing fortunes - from its beginnings to the present- as part of the general history of the Kurds. Her book is the first to place Yezidism in its complete geographical setting in Northern Iraq, Turkey, Syria and Transcaucasia. The author describes the Yezidi belief system (which considers Tawûsî Melek - the'Peacock Angel'- to be ruler of the earth) and its religious practices and observances, analysing the most important facets of Yezidi religious art and architecture (including funerary monuments and zoomorphic tombstones) and their relationship to their neighbours throughout the Middle East. Açikyildiz also explores the often misunderstood connections between Yezidism and the Satan/Sheitan of Christian and Muslim tradition.Richly illustrated, with accompanying maps, photographs and illustrations, this pioneering book will have strong appeal to all those with an interest in the culture of the Kurds, as well as the wider region.

This book is highly topical considering the recent resurgence of violence by the PKK, the incursions into Northern Iraq by the Turkish army and security forces and Turkey's EU accession negotiations. Turkey has become an increasingly important player in Middle Eastern geopolitics. More than two decades of serious conflict in Turkey are proving to be a barrier to improved relations between Turkey and the EU. This book is the first study to fully address the legal and political dimensions of the conflict, and their impact on mechanisms for conflict resolution in the region, offering a scholarly exploration of a debate that is often politically and emotionally highly charged.Kerim Yildiz and Susan Breau look at the practical application of the law of armed conflicts to the ongoing situation in Turkey and Northern Iraq. The application of the law in this region also means addressing larger questions in international law, global politics and conflict resolution. Examples include belligerency in international law, whether the ‘War on Terror'has resulted in changes to the law of armed conflict and terrorism and conflict resolution. The Kurdish Conflict explores the practical possibilities of conflict resolution in the region, examining the political dynamics of the region, and suggesting where lessons can be drawn from other peace processes, such as in Northern Ireland. This book will be of great value to policy-makers, regional experts, and others interested in international humanitarian law and conflict resolution.

The setting is northern Iraq, 2004—a lawless region of rock, sand, scrub, and warring factions; so dangerous the regular coalition armies were reluctant to put their soldiers in harm's way up there. Enter the civilian contractors—private armies in all but name, with state of the art funding, equipment, and training, packing immense firepower and staffed by veterans of the world's elite forces. Working in small groups alongside the U.S. Army, men from all corners of the globe volunteered to risk their lives day after day fighting someone else's war—and all for a few bucks and a suntan. One of these mercenaries was Peter Mercer. An ex-Royal Marine and former member of the navy's elite SBS, Peter's been to some pretty hot places before but even he didn't know what to expect. A warm welcome was extended when within minutes of his arrival into northern Iraq he came under intense mortar and small-arms fire. That was just the start of 9 months of high-tempo missions putting him literally right on the firing line. Scouting for roadside bombs; safeguarding the Iraqi elections; taking down hit-and-run insurgent forces—the frenetic life of the mercenary changed from one week to the next, but the constants remained—dirt, danger, excitement, and the ever-present gallows humor in the face of huge casualty rates. But the story does not end with tales of intense fire-fights and silent night patrols. It goes much deeper. Sent on suicidal runs designed to draw out the enemy insurgents, Peter's team were going into places even the U.S. Army didn't care to send its troops. They were expendable men, charged with making the hard yards on behalf of the most sophisticated army in the world. And when the orders started coming right from the CIA itself, things really started to heat up. Sprinkling his story with incredibly candid anecdotes encompassing the adrenaline of battle, and reflecting on the humor and absurdity of life on the frontline, Peter Mercer takes us on an unforgettable journey through the dangerous backstreets of 21st-century Iraq, and reveals that the realities of the ongoing War on Terror are not all that they seem.

Scion Aviation International has been hired by the Pentagon to take over aerial patrols in northern Iraq as the U.S. military begins to downsize its presence there. But when Kurdish nationalist attacks led by the Republic of Turkey and joined by the new government in Persia invade northern Iraq, retired Air Force lieutenant-general Patrick McLanahan makes the decision to take the fight to the Turks.

Asa Lundgren explores Turkish policy towards northern Iraq from the beginning of the 1990s to the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003 and draws important conclusions about the relation between nation-building and foreign policy. The author argues that there is a crucial interplay between the protection of state borders, foreign policy practice and the construction of national identity. Turkey's policy towards northern Iraq during the last decade can be described as a balancing act where the integrity of the Turkish-Iraqi border was firmly defended by Ankara, while at the same time it was consistently violated through Turkish military incursions against a perceived Kurdish threat and by the permanent military presence of the Turkish army on Iraqi territory. The author's highly original proposition is that Ankara's policy opposition to all attempts to break up Iraq along ethnic lines was a mirror image of an almost obession-like concern with the unity of the Turkish nation state.

On August 3, 2014, the Sinjar region of Northern Iraq was attacked by the “Islamic State”. Killing and abducting thousands, the jihadists also destroyed many of the religious minority's shrines. Others, however, were defended by local fighters and groups affiliated with the PKK. In the aftermath of the genocide, stories of divine intervention into the defence bolstered land claims of serveral Kurdish political groups. Through extensive fieldwork in the region, I trace imaginaries of Sinjar as a landscape of resistance and a communal history of continuous persecution to current political disputes and attempts to construct a unified Yezidi identity.

A young Kurdish woman discovers a commitment to liberation, both personal and collective, through a harrowing journey to Rojava and the heart of armed struggle.Jînçin is a young professor living in Berlin, born to a Yezedi father who years earlier was shunned and exiled for marrying outside his community, and who late in life makes the surprising and fateful decision to return to his homeland to join the Kurdish People's Defense Units (YPG) in their fight against the Islamic State.Searching for answers as to why the father she adored would give his life for such a cause, Jînçin embarks on a clandestine journey through various autonomous territories of embattled Kurdistan—from Başûr [northern Iraq, southern Kurdistan] to Bakûr [southeast Turkey, northern Kurdistan], to the remote mountains of Rojava [western Kurdistan] in northeastern Syria.With little training and without warning, she is plunged into the freedom struggle as she confronts the extremist threat that faces the Kurds, from bloody skirmishes with ISIS to drone strikes and the clandestine operations and brutal human rights abuses of the Turkish military. Her new life as a guerrilla fighter is a bitter and arduous one, but also one of rich discovery. Over months of mournful, intimate, and often-times playful conversations with her comrades, as well as remarkable acts of resistance and narrow escapes from grave danger, Jînçin finally grasps her place and purpose in the world. Ultimately, Rojava is the story of people living and fighting shoulder-to-shoulder who have decided, regardless of the present world order and in spite of the odds stacked against them, to build a society free from discrimination, based on shared dignity and collective autonomy.

An accessible guide to the history of the Assyrian empire from the perspective of its powerful elites. At the height of its power near 660 BC, the Assyrian empire, centered in northern Iraq, wielded dominance from Egypt to Iran. This vast region was ruled by a series of kings who demonstrated their power with magnificent palaces adorned by sculptures depicting rituals, battles, and hunts. Established by military might, the empire thrived under the guidance of scholars who interpreted divine will and administrators who relocated tens of thousands of people to serve the state. This book relates the history of Assyria through the lens of its royal family and the officials who commissioned its buildings, art, and literature—each a critical part of the foundation for the later Babylonian and Persian empires.

Liminal Minorities addresses the question of why some religious minorities provoke the ire of majoritarian groups and become targets of organized violence, even though they lack significant power and pose no political threat. Güneş Murat Tezcür argues that these faith groups are stigmatized across generations, as they lack theological recognition and social acceptance from the dominant religious group. Religious justifications of violence have a strong mobilization power when directed against liminal minorities, which makes these groups particularly vulnerable to mass violence during periods of political change.Offering the first comparative-historical study of mass atrocities against religious minorities in Muslim societies, Tezcür focuses on two case studies—the Islamic State's genocidal attacks against the Yezidis in northern Iraq in the 2010s and massacres of Alevis in Turkey in the 1970s and 1990s—while also addressing discrimination and violence against followers of the Bahá'í faith in Iran and Ahmadis in Pakistan and Indonesia. Analyzing a variety of original sources, including interviews with survivors and court documents, Tezcür reveals how religious stigmatization and political resentment motivate ordinary people to participate in mass atrocities.

Rose Publishing's Then and Now Bible Map Insert provides 22 clear plastic overlays, making it easier than ever to see where biblical places were 3,000 years ago and where they are today.Tired of looking at the tiny maps included in the back of your Bible and still not understanding an ancient city's location? Most study Bibles provide maps showing only the position of cities during biblical times in super small print, making your study efforts frustrating, time consuming, and incomplete.Enjoy having 22 easy-to-read, full-color maps that you can easily slip inside your Bible cover with this incredible Bible Map Insert! Features larger print, easy-to-read type, and 8 clear plastic overlays showing the location of modern cities and countries in red. Packed with maps, timelines, charts, and fascinating facts, this is a must-have resource for any Bible study. Now you can easily see where Bible places are located today!See fascinating facts at a glance:Daniel was captured as a POW and taken to Iraq; he lived there the rest of his life.The wise men were probably from Iran or Saudi Arabia.Abraham crossed Iraq and Syria to get to the Promised Land (The Holy Land today)The ruins of Nineveh (from the story of Jonah) are in Northern Iraq near Mosul in Kurdish areasKnowing the whereabouts of ancient cities and their distance from modern-day locations remains an essential part of any Bible study.Then and Now Bible Maps Insert includes 44 pages with 8 clear plastic overlays; 22 full color maps; larger print; every major city in the Bible; separate maps for each of Paul's journeys; a Bible time line; and an index.Then and Now Bible Maps Insert features:Middle East: Then & Now mapsOld Testament Time LineAbraham's JourneysJourneys of Jacob and JosephFamilies of Abraham, Isaac, and JacobThe Exodus: Then & Now mapsJudges and Prophets of IsraelHoly Land-Twelve Tribes: Then & Now mapsThe Cycle Pattern in JudgesHoly Land-United Kingdom: Then & Now mapsThe TabernacleHoly Land-Divided Kingdom: Then & Now mapsAssyrian Empire: Then & Now mapsBabylonian Empire mapPersian Empire mapsNew Testament Time LineJerusalem mapHoly Land-New Testament: Then & Now mapsPaul's Travels and Missionary Journeys mapsPaul's Journey to RomeIndexCompared to other products on the market, Rose's Bible Map Insert offers—MORE full-color mapsMORE clear plastic overlaysLARGER font sizeNow, you will know where Bible places are today and will discover how Location, Location, Location matters within the Bible with Rose Publishing's Then and Now Bible Map Insert.

This insightful book analyses the issue of norm erosion in international law by examining arms transfers to non-state actors. Balancing empirical research with legal theory, the author dissects recent case studies, tracing individual changes in norms against a background of systemic transformation.Arms Transfers to Non-State Actors follows changes in the prohibition of arms transfers to non-state actors since the pivotal International Court of Justice's Nicaragua ruling in 1986. Hannah Kiel critically discusses the legal developments through relevant case studies, including Abkhazia, Bosnia, Congo, Eastern Ukraine, Kosovo, Libya, Northern Iraq, South Ossetia, Syria and Yemen. Adopting a customary law perspective while also placing the narratives of states in the context of international structural changes, Kiel emphasises the interplay between state practice and the strengthening of a human rights-based paradigm. Kiel ultimately shows that changes in norms at the individual level indicate a larger transformation in the international order, and while the arming of non-state actors remains formally illegal, the prohibition of this practice is informally eroding.Interdisciplinary in scope, this book provides valuable insights for scholars and researchers of public international law, human rights, international humanitarian law, and international relations. It is also of great benefit to human rights lawyers, policymakers, and diplomats.

The Kurds are the fourth largest ethnic group in the Middle East. An Indigenous people from the Mesopotamian plains and highlands in what is now Southeast Turkey, Northeast Syria, Northern Iraq, northwest Iran and Southwest Armenia, they are the largest stateless people in the world. Denied a national identity, their culture and language have been banned or suppressed throughout the centuries and theirs is a story of resistance and survival. This book offers a contemporary overview and critical analysis of the Kurds quest for national identity and statehood from the end of the Ottoman Empire to the modern day. Kurdish nationalism has taken many forms and had to endure periods of rebellion, acceptance, oppression and ethnic cleansing. Mandana Hendessi outlines the contours of the political struggle and military conflict that continue to shape the lives of a people that occupy one of the most contested regions in the world.

Brace yourself for the electrifying sequel to,'Call Sign Chopper'! In book 1, Chris's journey takes him from street copper, military reservist to bouncer to bodyguarding the President of Haiti. In'Call Sign Chopper-The Sequel', we join Chris in his “adventure years”; which starts in Kenya after a chance encounter with two veterinary surgeons. A short time later an unexpected twist lands him in war-torn Kurdistan, Northern Iraq. After a crazy few years, Chris returns to the UK and works providing security at music festivals and nightclubs while tackling international maritime missions. But the beat of voodoo drums beckons once more, leading to heart-pounding, life-threatening escapades back in Haiti. 15 months later, we join Chris on his anti-piracy missions in the Indian Ocean, facing off against ruthless Somali pirates. His adventures take a humanitarian turn with work in Libya, France, grim mortuary work in post-tsunami Thailand; the Grenfell Tower disaster in London and building eco-friendly homes for AIDS orphans in Zimbabwe. Once again, we find Chris back in the UK working security for various events and music festivals. Now in his mid-60s, and due to one (surprising) close encounter, he realises his adventures have reached an end… or have they? Dive into'Call Sign Chopper-The Sequel'TODAY for the electrifying story!

Former RAF Tornado pilot Michael Napier chronicles the action-packed history of the Harrier GR 7/9, and its missions in West Africa, the Balkans, the Middle East and Afghanistan over a 14-year period of ceaseless operations. The Harrier GR 7/9 was at the'tip of the spear'for the RAF when it came to employing weapons against well-equipped standing armies and irregular forces in the 1990s and during the first decade of the new millennium. Assigned to the Harrier GR 7/9 Force, the aircraft undertook No Fly Zone patrols over northern Iraq, supported UN forces in the Balkans and embarked in Royal Navy carriers to bolster the RAF presence ashore in the Arabian Gulf. Harrier GR 7s also flew from HMS Illustrious over Sierra Leone in 2000 and were involved in the second Gulf War during early 2003 acting as Close Air Support for Coalition forces. Using first-hand accounts from his extensive Service contacts, supported by both official and personal photographs and 30 artwork profiles illustrating the wide range of colours worn and ordnance employed by the'jump jet', Michael Napier provides a rare insider's look at the deployment of Harrier GR 7/9 up to its withdrawal from RAF service in 2010. Moreover, Napier also covers the numerous upgrades received by the aircraft over the years, from more powerful engines to the creation of the GR 9/9A variants in 2005.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. Book Preview: #1 I was summoned to Fred Turco's office, and he told me that the FBI had been sent to investigate me for trying to assassinate Saddam Hussein. The accusation was false, but it didn't matter. My career was over. #2 I was being investigated for a conspiracy to commit premeditated murder, the murder of Saddam Hussein. I had the right to an attorney, but I didn't want one. I didn't need one. I knew that in an investigation like this, you never give up anything freely. #3 I knew Ahmad Chalabi well. I had been in northern Iraq when the meeting took place, and I knew beyond a shadow of a doubt that Chalabi had invented this story from scratch. He must have thought that if he could swindle the Iranians into believing that the NSC and the White House were finally serious about getting rid of Saddam, they would have no choice but to throw their support behind Chalabi and his faction.

A powerful and sweeping novel set over two tumultuous decades in Iraq from the National Book Award-nominated author of The Beekeeper. Shortlisted for the International Prize for Arabic Fiction.Helen is a young Yazidi woman, living with her family in a mountain village in Sinjar, northern Iraq. One day she finds a local bird caught in a trap, and frees it, just as the trapper, Elias, returns. At first angry, he soon sees the error of his ways and vows never to keep a bird captive again. Helen and Elias fall deeply in love, marry and start a family in Sinjar. The village has seemed to stand apart from time, protected by the mountains and too small to attract much political notice. But their happy existence is suddenly shattered when Elias, a journalist, goes missing. A brutal organization is sweeping over the land, infiltrating even the remotest corners, its members cloaking their violence in religious devotion. Helen's search for her husband results in her own captivity and enslavement. She eventually escapes her captors and is reunited with some of her family. But her life is forever changed. Elias remains missing and her sons, now young recruits to the organization, are like strangers. Will she find harmony and happiness again? For readers of Elif Shafak, Samar Yazbek's Planet of Clay, or Ahmed Saadawi's Frankenstein in Baghdad, Dunya Mikhail's The Bird Tattoo chronicles a world of great upheaval, love and loss, beauty and horror, and will stay in readers'minds long after the last page.

This Handbook discusses the new political and social realities in Turkey from a range of perspectives, emphasizing both changes as well as continuities. Contextualizing recent developments, the chapters, written by experts in their fields, combine analytical depth with a broad overview.In the last few years alone, Turkey has experienced a failed coup attempt; a prolonged state of emergency; the development of a presidential system based on the supreme power of the head of state; a crackdown on traditional and new media, universities and civil society organizations; the detention of journalists, mayors and members of parliament; the establishment of political tutelage over the judiciary; and a staggering economic crisis. It has also terminated talks with the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK); intervened in and occupied mountainous border areas in northern Iraq to fight that organization; occupied Afrin and strips of territory in northern Syria; intervened in Libya; articulated an assertive transnational politics toward “kin” across the world; strained its relations with the European Union and the US, while developing relations with Russia; flirted with China's intercontinental Belt and Road Initiative; and carved out a presence in Africa, to name just a few of the most recent developments.This volume provides a comprehensive and wide-ranging overview of the making of modern Turkey. It is a key reference for students and scholars interested in political economy, security studies, international relations and Turkish studies.

Please note: This is a companion version & not the original book. #1 The first tweet of the war was sent on May 4, 2009. It was a promotion for Donald Trump's TV show. Twitter, Facebook, and YouTube were just beginning to be used for socializing and sharing content, but they would soon be thrust into the center of civic life and global politics. #2 Through his Twitter account, Trump began posting about politics and drawing attention to himself. In the three years that followed, he would personally author some 15,000 tweets. #3 The Trump campaign was not just a marketing or political campaign, but also an information war fought by hundreds of millions of people across dozens of social media platforms. The participants ranged from politicians and celebrities to soldiers, criminals, and terrorists. #4 The Islamic State, also known as ISIS or Daesh in Arabic, launched a social media campaign in 2014 to promote their invasion of northern Iraq. They posted selfies of black-clad militants and Instagram images of convoys that looked like Mad Max come to life. Their demands for swift surrender were spread both regionally and personally, via the internet.

Chris Burwell charts one man's career in aviation from joining the RAF in 1969 aged 18, to having responsibility for training pilots for the world's major airlines nearly 50 years later. After training at RAF Cranwell and RAF Valley and a tour as a flying instructor on Jet Provosts, he joined the Harrier Force, flying on front-line squadrons in the UK and Germany during the Cold War and as an instructor on the Harrier Conversion Unit. Detachments to Belize in 1977, the Falklands (twice), ejection from a Harrier GR3, introducing FLIR and NVG to the Harrier front line and operational missions in Northern Iraq are all covered in entertaining detail. After 30 years of service, the author spent 12 years with Cobham, managing their Teesside base and flying the Falcon 20 on operational training for the military and the King Air 200 on international flight calibration tasks. Finally, he spent four years in Spain with Flight Training Europe (FTE) Jerez with responsibility for the flying training of a new generation of pilots. Through his experience as a pilot, leader and manager gained over many years, his valuable insights into military and civilian flying operations are both engrossing and noteworthy. Highly recommended to readers of both disciplines.

With the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq seemingly drawing down, and with new calls to focus on the threats of great power competition posed by states such as China and Russia on the rise, what will happen to U.S. capabilities for dealing with conflicts that occur in messy political-military environments? Irregular Soldiers and Rebellious States offers, for both expert and non-expert audiences, a useful typology and background for examining interventions where U.S. advisors and forces operating on a small-scale basis will either work with a foreign government to help defend it from threats of subversion or insurgency (known as Foreign Internal Defense) or to assist insurgents or guerrilla forces in countering a hostile regime (known as Unconventional Warfare). It uses nine examples to illustrate how the U.S.—and the British in one case—used such capabilities in either limited or assertive ways to defend (El Salvador, Philippines, Sahel, and Dhofar) or counter (Angola, Nicaragua, northern Iraq, and Afghanistan) foreign governments. Placing such interventions within the broader contexts of American military history and the cultures of the armed forces, it offers three key findings and six policy prescriptions for wisely and judiciously using these capabilities in the present and future.

••Longlisted for the Moore Prize for Human Rights Writing••'A tragic portrait of a disappearing world, created with passion and literary grace'SALMAN RUSHDIE'Janine di Giovanni is a humane and persistent witness'HISHAM MATAR'Profoundly moving'MARK TULLY_______________________The Vanishing reveals the plight and possible extinction of Christian communities across Syria, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon and Palestine after 2,000 years in their historical homeland.Some of the countries that first nurtured and characterized Christianity - along the North African Coast, on the Euphrates and across the Middle East and Arabia - are the ones in which it is likely to first go extinct. Christians are already vanishing. We are past the tipping point, now tilted toward the end of Christianity in its historical homeland. Christians have fled the lands where their prophets wandered, where Jesus Christ preached, where the great Doctors and hierarchs of the early church established the doctrinal norms that would last millennia.From Syria to Egypt, the cities of northern Iraq to the Gaza Strip, ancient communities, the birthplaces of prophets and saints, are losing any living connection to the religion that once was such a characteristic feature of their social and cultural lives.In The Vanishing, Janine di Giovanni has combined astonishing journalistic work to discover the last traces of small, hardy communities where ancient rituals are quietly preserved amid 360 degree threats. Full of faith and hope, di Giovanni's riveting personal stories make a unique act of pre-archeology: the last chance to visit the living religion before all that will be left are the stones of the past.

The cradle of the Church of the East was in Mesopotamia (between the Tigris and the Euphrates), where it developed its first centre at Seleucia-Ctesiphon, then the capital of the great Persian Empire and today an archaeological site to the south of Baghdad. From the very beginnings of Christianity until the fourteenth century, this Church experienced a remarkable expansion in Asia, its missionaries carrying the Gospel from Persia to India, via the Persian Gulf, and even as far as China. The Church of the East reached China as early as the seventh century via Central Asia and the celebrated Silk Road that linked China to the Mediterranean world. Much later, in the late fourteenth century, the invasions of the Mongol conqueror, Timur Lang (Tamerlane), across Asia brought about a great decline of the Church of the East. Eventually, after the genocide suffered by Christians in the Ottoman Empire in 1915, and the massacres that followed in Persia, the Church of the East and its people were on the verge of extinction. In 1940 the patriarchal seat was moved to Chicago (in the United States) and then in September 2015 to Erbil (in northern Iraq). Many of the faithful have left the Middle East and have formed diaspora communities throughout the world. The history of Christianity in the Middle East and well beyond, in Central and Eastern Asia, is very little known. In this book, the reader is invited to travel in time and space and undertake the fascinating discovery of a very ancient apostolic Church, the Church of the East, whose two-thousand year history constitutes an indispensable chapter in the history of the universal Church.

The book examines the destruction of the architectural heritage in Mosul perpetrated by Islamic State between 2014 and 2017. It identifies which structures were attacked, the ideological rationale behind the destruction, and the significance of the lost monuments in the context of Mosul's urban development and the architectural history of the Middle East. This methodologically innovative work fills an important gap in the study of both current radical movements and the medieval Islamic architecture of Northern Iraq.

This book investigates how humanitarians balance the laws and principles of civilian protection with the realities of contemporary warzones, where non-state armed actors assert cultural, political and religious traditions that are often at odds with official frameworks.This book argues that humanitarian protection on the ground is driven not by official frameworks in the traditional sense, but by the relationships between the complex mix of actors involved in contemporary wars. The frameworks, in turn, act as a unifying narrative that preserves these relationships. As humanitarian practitioners navigate this complex space, they act as unofficial brokers, translating the official frameworks to align with the often-divergent agendas of non-state armed actors. In doing so, they provide an unofficial humanitarian fix for the challenges inherent in applying the official frameworks in contemporary wars.Drawing on rich ethnographic observations from the author's time in northern Iraq, and complemented by interviews with a range of fieldworkers and humanitarian policy makers and lawyers, this book will be a compelling read for researchers and students within humanitarian and development studies, and to practitioners and policy makers who are grappling with the contradictions this book explores.

The Vanishing reveals the plight and possible extinction of Christian communities across Syria, Egypt, Iraq, and Palestine after 2,000 years in their historical homeland. Some of the countries that first nurtured and characterized Christianity - along the North African Coast, on the Euphrates and across the Middle East and Arabia - are the ones in which it is likely to first go extinct. Christians are already vanishing. We are past the tipping point, now tilted toward the end of Christianity in its historical homeland. Christians have fled the lands where their prophets wandered, where Jesus Christ preached, where the great Doctors and hierarchs of the early church established the doctrinal norms that would last millennia. From Syria to Egypt, the cities of northern Iraq to the Gaza Strip, ancient communities, the birthplaces of prophets and saints, are losing any living connection to the religion that once was such a characteristic feature of their social and cultural lives. In The Vanishing, Janine di Giovanni has combined astonishing journalistic work to discover the last traces of small, hardy communities that have become wisely fearful of outsiders and where ancient rituals are quietly preserved amid 360 degree threats. Di Giovanni's riveting personal stories and her conception of faith and hope are intertwined throughout the chapters. The book is a unique act of pre-archeology: the last chance to visit the living religion before all that will be left are the stones of the past.

The images released by the Islamic State of militants smashing statues at ancient sites were a horrifying aspect of their advance across Northern Iraq and Syria during 2015-16. Their leaders justified this iconoclasm by arguing that such actions were divinely decreed in Islam, a notion that has remained fixed in the public consciousness. The Image Debate is a collection of thirteen essays which examine the controversy surrounding the use of images in Islamic and other religious cultures and seek to redress some of the misunderstandings that have arisen. Written by leading academics from the United States, Australia, Turkey, Israel and the United Kingdom, the book has a foreword by Stefano Carboni, Director of the Art Gallery of Western Australia, followed by an introduction by the editor Christiane Gruber, who sets the subject in context with a detailed examination of the debates over idols and the production of figural images in Islamic traditions. Twelve further articles are divided into three sections: the first deals with pre-modern Islam: Mika Natif looks at tensions between the Hadith prohibition on images and the praxis of image-making under the Umayyad dynasty and argues that the Umayyad rulers used imagery to establish their political and religious authority; Finbarr Barry Flood examines the practice of epigraphic erasure, i.e., the removal of names of rulers and patrons from historical inscriptions from the medieval Islamic world; and Oya Pancaroğlu focuses on the figural conventions of an illustrated manuscript of Varqa and Gulshah, a medieval Persian romance composed in the masnavi (rhyming couplet) form by the 11th-century poet ‘Ayyuqi. The second section addresses the situation outside Islam: Alicia Walker surveys attitudes toward the production and veneration of religious images in Byzantium from the earliest years of the Christian Roman Empire (early 4th century) to the aftermath of the Iconoclast controversy (late 9th century); Steven Fine explores the history of Jewish engagement with ‘art'from Roman antiquity through the high middle ages through a detailed exploration of the 3rd-century Dura Europos synagogue and its wall paintings; Michael Shenkar examines evidence for the employment of figural images in the cultic practices of some of the major ancient Iranian cultural and political entities, offering a broad perspective on perceptions of images in ancient Iranian worship; and Robert DeCaroli delves into the question of why no image of the Buddha was made during the first five hundred years of Buddhism. The third section brings the reader back to Islamic lands with five articles examining aspects of the issue in the modern and contemporary periods: Yousuf Saaed investigates South Asian mass-produced images, especially posters that include illustrations of local Sufi shrines, portraits of saints and Shi‘i iconography; James Bennett explores the visual depiction of Javanese shadow puppets (wayang kulit), including the sage Begawan Abiyasa, whose narratives convey key elements of Sufi mystical philosophy; Allen and Mary Roberts consider images of Cheikh Amadu Bamba, the founding Sufi saint of the Senegalese Mouride order; Rose Issa addresses how the term ‘Islamic'relates to contemporary art, how artists manage to create work in countries in constant turmoil and to what extent such works reflect their conceptual, aesthetic, and socio-political concerns; and finally Shiva Balaghi traces the use of the figure, along its symbolic shadows and silhouettes, in works by notable Iranian artists living in Iran and in diaspora.

Poems informed by and immersed in politics. Everything has significance beyond the surface. Beautiful, hair-raising words and form. Emma Lee's The Significance of a Dress moves from Refugee camps in northern Iraq via beaches in Greece and Northern France to dark streets in London and elsewhere, and asks questions about where to find hope, and how to overcome adversity.'A wedding is a party, a welcome, a sign of hope. The dresses sparkle with sun-reflected diamanté but the gravel paths of the camp leave the hems stained.'

“A valuable history [and] a stark warning to Washington policy and strategy makers.” —James Stejskal, former US Army Special Forces and CIA officer In 2002, Sam Faddis was named to head a CIA team that would enter Iraq to facilitate the deployment of follow-on conventional military forces numbering over 40,000 American soldiers. This force, built around the 4th Infantry Division, would, in partnership with Kurdish forces and with the assistance of Turkey, engage Saddam's army in the North as part of a coming invasion. Faddis expected to be on the ground in Iraq within weeks, the entire campaign likely to be over by summer. Over the course of the next year, virtually every aspect of that plan for the conduct of the war in northern Iraq fell apart. The 4th Infantry Division never arrived, nor did any other conventional forces in substantial number. The Turks not only refused to provide support, they worked overtime to prevent the United States from achieving success. And an Arab army that was to assist US forces fell apart before it ever made it to the field. Alone, hopelessly outnumbered, short on supplies, and threatened by Iraqi assassination teams and Islamic extremists, Faddis's team, working with Kurdish peshmerga, miraculously paved the way for a brilliant and largely bloodless victory in the North and the fall of Saddam's Iraq. That victory, handed over to Washington and the Department of Defense on a silver platter, was then squandered. The decisions that followed would lead to catastrophic consequences that continue to this day. This is the story of the brave and effective team of men and women who overcame massive odds to help end the nightmare of Saddam's rule. It is also the story of how incompetence, bureaucracy, and ignorance threw that success away and condemned Iraq and the surrounding region to chaos

ISIS's genocidal attack on the Yezidi population of northern Iraq in the summer of 2014 brought the world's attention to followers of a faith with a long history of persecution. Large numbers of men were executed, while thousands of Yezidi women were taken to the Islamic state to be sold as chattel for ISIS fighters. The headlines have moved on, but many Yezidi women and children remain in captivity. Their mass abduction is here conveyed with extraordinary intensity by the first-hand reporting of a young journalist who has worked in Iraqi Kurdistan for four years. Based on extensive interviews with survivors, as well as those who smuggled them to safety, With Ash on Their Faces presents a unique and profoundly moving account of the privations and resistance of those enslaved by a monstrous regime. An inspiring story of resistance and survival.” — Patrick Cockburn “ Otten's searing chronicle... is compelling and devastatingly necessary.” — Sareta Ashraph

Since the end of their involvement in the Vietnam War, the Australian Army has been modernized in every respect. After peacekeeping duties in South-East Asia, Africa and the Middle East in the 1980s–90s,'Diggers'were sent to safeguard the newly independent East Timor from Indonesian harassment in 1999, and to provide long-term protection and mentoring since 2006. Australian Army units have served in the US-led wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, and Australian Special Forces are currently operating alongside US and British elements against ISIS in northern Iraq. During these campaigns the Australian SAS Regiment and Commandos have fully matured into'Tier 1'assets, internationally recognized for their wide range of capabilities. The book, written by an Australian author who has written extensively about modern warfare, traces the development of the Army's organization, combat uniforms, load-bearing equipment, small arms and major weapon systems using specially commissioned artwork and photographs.

The languages of Western Asia belong to a variety of language families, including Indo-European, Kartvelian, Semitic, and Turkic, but share numerous features on account of being in areal contact over many centuries. This volume presents descriptions of the modern languages, contributed by leading specialists, and evaluates similarities across the languages that may have arisen by areal contact. It begins with an introductory chapter presenting an overview of the various genetic groupings in the region and summarizing some of the significant features and issues relating to language contact. In the core of the volume the presentation of the languages is divided into five contact areas, which include (i) eastern Anatolia and northwestern Iran, (ii) northern Iraq, (iii) western Iran, (iv) the Caspian region and south Azerbaijan, and (v) the Caucasian rim and southern Black Sea coast. Each section contains chapters devoted to the languages of the area preceded by an introductory section that highlights significant contact phenomena. The volume is rounded off by an appendix with basic lexical items across a selection of the languages. The handbook features contributions by Erik Anonby, Denise Bailey, Christiane Bulut, David Erschler, Geoffrey Haig, Geoffrey Khan, Rene Lacroix, Parvin Mahmoudveysi, Hrach Martirosyan, Ludwig Paul, Stephan Procházka, Laurentia Schreiber, Don Stilo, Mortaza Taheri-Ardali, Christina van der Wal Anonby.

Modern Chaldeans are an Aramaic speaking Catholic Syriac community from northern Iraq, not to be confused with the ancient Mesopotamian civilization of the same name. First identified as'Chaldean'by the Catholic Church in the sixteenth century, this misnomer persisted, developing into a distinctive and unique identity. In modern times, the demands of assimilation in the US, together with increased hostility and sectarian violence in Iraq, gave rise to a complex and transnational identity. Faced with Islamophobia in the US, Chaldeans were at pains to emphasize a Christian identity, and appropriated the ancient, pre-Islamic history of their namesake as a means of distinction between them and other immigrants from Arab lands. In this, the first ethnographic history of the modern Chaldeans, Yasmeen Hanoosh explores these ancient-modern inflections in contemporary Chaldean identity discourses, the use of history as a collective commodity for developing and sustaining a positive community image in the present, and the use of language revival and monumental symbolism to reclaim association with Christian and pre-Christian traditions.

An exploration of the future geopolitical landscape of the Middle East in postnuclear Iran and what that means for US foreign policy in the region.In an age of nuclear experimentation, military conflicts, and ISIS, the Middle East is unstable, and the Iranian nuclear deal is shrouded in controversy and mistrust. How will this agreement impact US relations and strengths, not only in the region, but around the world? Will the United States be challenged for world leadership? In Volatile State: Iran in the Nuclear Age, global affairs analyst David Oualaalou explores the new geopolitical landscape and how it will allow a nuclear Iran to flex its military, economic, and ideological muscles with the assistance of Russia and China. Taking under consideration how other governments have reacted to the agreement, Oualaalou provides a fresh perspective on current and future relations among the United States. and its current allies and provides a compelling path forward for future strategies in the Middle East. Volatile State is a “must read” to help understand the implications and future with a nuclear deal with Iran.“David Oualaalou, a geopolitical analyst, writer, speaker, teacher, military veteran, Middle East specialist and linguist with unique first-hand experiences and knowledge gained from personal field intelligence in Middle East wars—combined with his fresh and unique writing style—has produced a challenging perspective and a thought-provoking book. David's unembellished bold critiques, with credible analytical interpretation of geopolitical implications and national security challenges, for not only the USA but for the Iran, Saudi Arabia, Russia, China and others in the new Middle East region (and world), will be much discussed in this impressive approach to eye-opening questions with credible rival answers. I believe this book is crucial reading for any person interested in the future nuclear Middle East.” —William A. Mitchell, author of Baylor in Northern Iraq During Operation Iraqi Freedom“Once again Dr. Oualaalou has brought to life a complex current topic. His balanced and in-depth investigation of the topic allows the reader to not only learn the history of the parties involved, but also to follow the historic threads that have led to today's geopolitical situation. Dr. Oualaalou has the experience and expertise to give a clear picture of the region's issues today and projection of possible scenarios in the future.” —Mortada Mohamed, President, World Affairs Council of Austin

In 2014, many people saw images of members of the Yazidi ethno-religious group on television. They sought refuge from Islamic State in Syria (ISIS) militants in the mountains of northern Iraq. Since then, the genocide against the Yazidi minority group has continued. This book will teach students about Iraq and the Yazidis, as well as the violence the Yazidis have faced at the hands of ISIS. As the war against ISIS and the global refugee crisis continue, understanding the plight of the Yazidis in order to work against hatred and discrimination is more important than ever.

This comprehensive book examines the crucial connections between national identity, territory, and scale. Providing a powerful theoretical and organizational framework, the volume identifies four ways in which scale operates dynamically in the formation and maintenance of national identity. Consolidating identities considers the strategies necessary to keep all parts within the fold through educational systems, minority policies, immigration controls, and other forms of traditional state power. Magnifying identities examines the consequences of shifting the scale up and unifying territories that have a sense of a larger, supranational identity. Connecting identities assesses how nations can bridge physical distance, water barriers, or sovereign boundaries. Fragmenting identities looks into the disintegration of national identities and those forces that have the potential to unravel a nation or block its effective formation. Nationalism and national identity remain critical flashpoints in the geopolitical order, as we have seen in the development of a quasi-independent Kurdistan in Northern Iraq, the resurgence of Native American identities in response to the Dakota Access Pipeline, and the Chinese crackdown on its minority regions. Offering a rich set of case studies from around the world, this essential book affirms the global importance of national identity and scale.

Thirty contributions in German and English are devoted to the archaeologist Reinhard Dittmann (University of Munster). They cover a broad range of topics of Near Eastern Archaeology and Assyriology, from Neolithic and Chalcolithic times until early Christianity in Northern Iraq, from Cyprus in the West to Iran in the East.

On August 3rd, 2014, the Islamic State attacked the Kurdish region of northern Iraq, sweeping down into Iraq's Nineveh province. Islamic State struck the ancient Yazidi people, citizens of Iraq who had lived in the country's north for centuries. Within minutes, more than 150,000 members of this pre-Abrahamic faith fled their homes. Fifty thousand sought refuge on the nearby holy Mount Sinjar, a dry, desolate, treeless mountain, where they were stranded, surrounded by the militant jihadists, without food or water in temperatures over 110 degrees. What convinced the Obama Administration and the U.S. military to go back into the quagmire of Iraq after leaving it three years earlier in a hasty pull-out?How did this obscure ethnic group seize headlines and hold the world's attention? How did a small sub-office of the U.S. State Department emerge as a source of crucial intelligence, eclipsing the CIA and the NSA?How were new Yazidi immigrants working from a Super 8 motel in Maryland able to help defeat the warriors of Islamic State on the battlefield?This is the extraordinary tale of how a few American-Yazidis in Washington, DC, mobilized a small, forgotten office in the American government to intervene militarily in Iraq to avert a devastating humanitarian crisis. While Islamic State massacred many thousands of Yazidi men and sold thousands more Yazidi women into slavery, the U.S. intervention saved the lives of 50,000 Yazidis.

There are two distinct contemporary challenges to the relief of war-induced human suffering--one within the institutions that make up the international humanitarian system, the other on the ground in war zones. Varied interests, resources, and organizational structures within institutions hamper the effectiveness of efforts on behalf of war victims. And at the same time, on the ground, there are ethical, legal, and operational challenges and dilemmas that require actors continually to choose a course of action with associated necessary evils.Humanitarian challenges and intervention concerns within the international humanitarian system--combined with the domestic context of armed conflicts--often yield policies that do not serve the immediate requirements of victims for relief, protection of rights, stabilization, and reconstruction. Based on compelling, up-to-date case studies of the post-Cold War experience in Central America, northern Iraq, Somalia, the former Yugoslavia, and the African Great Lakes, the authors Thomas G. Weiss and Cindy Collins make recommendations for a more effective international humanitarian system.

An inspiring collection of testimonies from people of different cultures and faiths encountering Jesus. Jesus promised that he would draw people to himself from every tribe and nation. In this collection of thirteen testimonies, Naomi Reed encourages us to see that the good news of the gospel is still powerful as people are continuing to fall in love with Jesus all over the world. From such varied worldviews as Islam, Buddhism and atheism, Naomi has unearthed encouraging stories of Jesus meeting people and transforming them. Emerging from these pages is a beautiful picture of our Saviour who calls people to himself in a very personal and individual way, changing lives forever. God is visibly at work in the world. From the flat dry towns of Uganda, an airport in Singapore, a hospital in Alice Springs, the Amazon jungle, a bare hillside in the former Soviet Union to a bombed-out town in Northern Iraq, Finding Faith encourages us all to see that Jesus is passionately drawing people to himself.

The Hizmet Movement and Peacebuilding assesses the peacebuilding implications and societal impact of the Hizmet Movement, characterized as a pacifist and inclusive expression of Islam. With a range of both supporters and critics, the studies of the Hizmet Movement presented in these cases provide a counter to negative stereotypes with examples of positive educational institutions rooted in Islamic values. The book includes contributions from scholars and practitioners around the world that critically explore the intersection of the movement and peacebuilding in countries such as Northern Iraq, Nigeria, Ethiopia, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Sri Lanka, and the Philippines.

For a brief period, the attention of the international community has focused once again on the plight of religious minorities in Iraq, Syria, and Turkey. In particular, the abductions and massacres of Yezidis and Assyrians in the Sinjar, Mosul, Nineveh Plains, Baghdad, and Hasakah regions in 2007–2015 raised questions about the prevention of genocide. This book, while principally analyzing the Assyrian genocide of 1914–1925 and its implications for the culture and politics of the region, also raises broader questions concerning the future of religious diversity in the Middle East. It gathers and analyzes the findings of a broad spectrum of historical and scholarly works on Christian identities in the Middle East, genocide studies, international law, and the politics of the late Ottoman Empire, as well as the politics of the Ottomans'British and Russian rivals for power in western Asia and the eastern Mediterranean basin. A key question the book raises is whether the fate of the Assyrians maps onto any of the concepts used within international law and diplomatic history to study genocide and group violence. In this light, the Assyrian genocide stands out as being several times larger, in both absolute terms and relative to the size of the affected group, than the Srebrenica genocide, which is recognized by Turkey as well as by international tribunals and organizations. Including its Armenian and Greek victims, the Ottoman Christian Genocide rivals the Rwandan, Bengali, and Biafran genocides. The book also aims to explore the impact of the genocide period of 1914–1925 on the development or partial unraveling of Assyrian group cohesion, including aspirations to autonomy in the Assyrian areas of northern Iraq, northwestern Iran, and southeastern Turkey. Scholars from around the world have collaborated to approach these research questions by reference to diplomatic and political archives, international legal materials, memoirs, and literary works.

The creation of safe areas poses a number of difficult challenges to the spatial and normative organization of contemporary international politics. As a result, academics, practitioners and NGOs alike will find the case studies in this informative book essential reading. Hikaru Yamashita firstly looks at the case of northern Iraq after the first Iraqi war, where safe areas represented a major departure from the conventional notion. The different understandings of the Srebrenica safe areas, especially with regard to the role of security, are also assessed to ascertain how they eventually destroyed this humanitarian space. A much-needed account of the extent to which humanitarian space, intended as shelter in response to Rwandan genocide, consequently destabilized the area and provided cover for the genocideurs is additionally provided. This well-researched book, through the prism of safe areas, allows a measured assessment to be made of the place of human rights and humanitarianism in the contemporary world.

ISIS's genocidal attack on the Yezidi population in northern Iraq in 2014 brought the world's attention to the small faith that numbers less than one million worldwide. That summer ISIS massacred Yezidi men and enslaved women and children. More than one hundred thousand Yezidis were besieged on Sinjar Mountain. The US began airstrikes to roll back ISIS, citing a duty to save the Yezidis, but the genocide is still ongoing. The headlines have moved on but thousands of Yezidi women and children remain in captivity, and many more are still displaced. Sinjar is now free from ISIS but the Yezidi homeland is at the centre of growing tensions amongst the city's liberators, making returning home for the Yezidis almost impossible. The mass abduction of Yezidi women and children is here conveyed with extraordinary intensity in the first-hand reporting of a young journalist who has been based in Iraqi Kurdistan for the past four years, covering the war with ISIS and its impact on the people of the country. Otten tells the story of the ISIS attacks, the mass enslavements of Yezidi women and the fallout from the disaster. She challenges common perceptions of Yezidi female victimhood by focusing on stories of resistance passed down by generations. Yezidi women describe how, in the recent conflict, they followed the tradition of their ancestors who, a century ago during persecutions at the fall of the Ottoman empire, put ash on their faces to make themselves unattractive and try to avoid being raped. Today, over 3,000 Yezidi women and girls remain in the Caliphate where they are bought and sold, and passed between fighters as chattel. But many others have escaped or been released. Otten bases her book on interviews with these survivors, as well as those who smuggled them to safety, painstakingly piecing together their accounts of enslavement. Their deeply moving personal narratives bring alive a human tragedy.

ISIS's genocidal attack on the Yezidi population in northern Iraq in 2014 brought the world's attention to the small faith that numbers less than one million worldwide. That summer, ISIS massacred Yezidi men and enslaved women and children. More than one hundred thousand Yezidis were besieged on Sinjar Mountain. The headlines have moved on, but thousands of Yezidi women and children remain in captivity. Sinjar is now free from ISIS but the Yezidi homeland is at the center of growing tensions, making a return home for those who fled almost impossible. The mass abduction of Yezidi women and children is here conveyed with extraordinary intensity in the first-hand reporting of a young journalist who has been based in Iraqi Kurdistan for the past four years, covering the war with ISIS. The Yezidi women who were caught up in this disaster often followed the tradition of their ancestors who, a century ago during persecutions at the fall of the Ottoman Empire, put ash on their faces to make themselves unattractive in order to try to avoid rape. Today, over 3,000 Yezidi women and girls remain in the Caliphate where they are bought and sold, and passed between fighters as chattel. But many other have escaped or been released. Otten bases her book on interviews with these survivors, as well as those who smuggled them to safety, painstakingly piecing together their accounts of enslavement. Their deeply moving personal narratives bring alive a human tragedy.