Description
This is the story of a people who once lived under the rule of a megalomaniac leader who shaped the state in his own image.
Then one day, after yet another war, a foreign army invaded, toppled the leader, destroyed the state, and proceeded to invent a new country.
This is the story of a people who watched with horror as their world fragmented into a hundred different cities, as walls rose between them and bodies piled in the streets.
From the American invasion to the Arab Spring, ISIS and beyond, A Stranger in Your Own City offers a remarkable de-centring of the West in the history and contemporary situation of the region.
What comes to the fore is the effect on the ground: the human cost, the shifting allegiances, the generational change.
‘Shatters western assumptions…and offers cautious hope’ – The Observer
‘Haunting’ – Financial Times
‘Exquisite…a genuine, melancholy masterpiece’ – William Dalrymple
‘A journalistic marvel’ – James Meek
‘A powerful, unforgettable book’ – Nadifa Mohammed
