My Life, My Food, My Kurdistan is a compelling story of a woman who immigrated to the United States after Saddam Husseins tyranny and purging of the Kurds in the 1970s. As a young girl, Chiman was in an arranged marriage, yet ultimately she tells a story of personal strength, achievement, and autonomy. She shows us that even the most turbulent journeys are often simultaneously rewarding. I would like to take this moment to acknowledge this powerful story from a strong woman and good friend.
This beautiful, spare narrative tells of the life of a boy named Azad--in fact the author, a Kurdish filmmaker--as he grows to manhood in Iraq during the 1960s and 1970s, resulting in a moving portrait of a boy who embraces the land and culture he loves, even as he leaves them.
Traditional Kurdish Food is perhaps the most comprehensive collection of Kurdish culinary heritage available in book form in English. Here you will find unique insights into the diverse cuisine and culinary customs of regional Kurdistan that have never been presented in this way. This book reveals to the world new tasty and resourceful recipes from this ancient land. It is the key that unlocks a secret door behind which lies the origins of so many dishes that we love and take for granted today. Fresh ingredients and liberal use of spices and herbs are intrinsic to these recipes. Some of the recipe names may seem familiar - kabab, paqlawa- albeit delivered with a distinctly Kurdish flavour; others will be delightfully new. Each recipe is illustrated with a mouth-watering colour photograph.
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.
A rich offering of traditional Kurdish tales, many never before offered in English, plus background information on the people, their culture, and history.
In a remote corner of the world, forgotten for nearly three thousand years, lived an enclave of Kurdish Jews so isolated that they still spoke Aramaic, the language of Jesus. Mostly illiterate, they were self-made mystics and gifted storytellers and humble peddlers who dwelt in harmony with their Muslim and Christian neighbors in the mountains of northern Iraq. To these descendants of the Lost Tribes of Israel, Yona Sabar was born. Yona's son Ariel grew up in Los Angeles, where Yona had become an esteemed professor, dedicating his career to preserving his people’s traditions. Ariel wanted nothing to do with his father’s strange immigrant heritage—until he had a son of his own. Ariel Sabar brings to life the ancient town of Zakho, discovering his family’s place in the sweeping saga of Middle-Eastern history. This powerful book is an improbable story of tolerance and hope set in what today is the very center of the world’s attention.
A Kurdish boy grows up in a peaceful village in Kurdistan, Iraq. His life in his small village with a large family in their two-room mud brick home is happy and peaceful. He experiences all the joys, triumphs, and activities of a young boy growing up in the country, complete with sheep, dogs, family farming, and broken bicycles. Unfortunately, his life is systematically disrupted by military raids, the deaths of loved ones, economic government oppression, and violent prejudice against his people. These trials ignite a spark of passion for finding out the true history of his people as he strives for the peace, security, and hope that he held as a child. The new knowledge fuels the flames and drives him to assist in clandestine missions against the Iraqi Army. With new vigor, the flame bursts into a bonfire in his soul as he takes the next step to join the secret resistance forces of Kurdistan and becomes a Peshmerga, or “one who stands in front of death.” He spends years resisting government oppression, sometimes winning but always walking (sometimes running). Through captures, betrayals, surrenders, prisons, and escapes, he continued to hold onto his dream that he would find the peace and opportunity that he had enjoyed as a boy. This was the one bright dream that kept his feet moving and his heart pumping when all else seemed hopeless. His years of resisting the oppression of his people in search of the dream that he wanted for himself, his family, and all the people of Kurdistan are an inspiration to those who feel that they are just one person fighting against giants. His story stands as a testimony of what happens when you believe you have a mission in life and you never give up hope.
First published in 1964, The Kurdish War tells not only David Adamson’s 200-mile journey on foot and horseback through the rebel mountains of Iraq but also of the circuitous route through the Middle East the author had to take to get there. For possibly 4000 years the Kurds have lived in the mountains between the Tigris and Armenia, owing fitful allegiance to many empires among them those of the Turks, Arabs, Persians, and briefly the British. Revolts against their overlords have been haphazard, bloody, and ill-fated. The one which began in Iraq towards the end of 1961 looked as if it would fall into the usual pattern, but in fact it was the deciding factor among the several which led to the overthrow of the late General Kassem. In the summer of 1962 David Adamson was working in Paris for the Sunday Telegraph when he met Emir Bedir Khan, the doyen of the Kurdish nationalist movement. From that meeting sprang the discussion to try to enter the rebel held territory in the north-west of Iraq. In this book the author describes the leaders of the revolt and the aspirations, history, background of the Kurdish nationalists. This firsthand historical account is an essential read for scholars and researchers of Middle East history, Middle East studies, and history in general.
This poignant tale follows the lives of three friends—Ahmad, Kadir, and Raza—growing up in Halabja, Iraq, as they struggle to survive in the tumultuous region also known as Kurdistan. Narrated by members of Kadir’s family, this intimate portrait details the boys’ move from a carefree childhood in a Kurdish community in the 1960s to a period of domestic unrest and fear, first with the onset of the Peshmerga war, and later with the rise of Saddam Hussein. As the years pass, these boyhood friends are forced to face the tragedies of war and are eventually drawn into the conflict that, by virtue of their birth, they cannot escape.
'Courageous teachers wanted to rebuilt war-torn nation.'With her marriage over and life gone flat, Theresa Turner responds to an online ad, and lands at a school in Kurdish Iraq. Befriended by a widow in a nearby village, Theresa is embroiled in the joys and agonies of traditional Kurds, especially the women who survived Saddam's genocide only to be crippled by age-old restrictions, brutality and honor killings. Theresa's greatest challenge will be balancing respect for cultural values while trying to introduce more enlightened attitudes toward women ? at the same time seeking new spiritual dimensions within herself.'The Kurdish Bike is gripping, tender, wry and compassionate ? an eye-opener into little-known customs in one of the world's most explosive regions ? a novel of love, betrayal and redemption.
