In August 2003; the world gained access to a remarkable new voice: a blog written by a 25-year-old Iraqi woman living in Baghdad; whose identity remained concealed for her own protection. Calling herself Riverbend; she offered searing eyewitness accounts of the everyday realities on the ground; punctuated by astute analysis on the politics behind these events.In a voice in turn eloquent; angry; reflective and darkly comic; Riverbend recounts stories of life in an occupied city—of neighbors whose homes are raided by US troops; whose relatives disappear into prisons and whose children are kidnapped by money-hungry militias. At times; the tragic blends into the absurd; as she tells of her family jumping out of bed to wash clothes and send e-mails in the middle of the night when the electricity is briefly restored; or of their quest to bury an elderly aunt when the mosques are all overbooked for wakes and the cemeteries are all full. The only Iraqi blogger writing from a woman’s perspective; she also describes a once-secular city where women are now afraid to leave their homes without head covering and a male escort.Interspersed with these vivid snapshots from daily life are Riverbend’s analyses of everything from the elusive workings of the Iraqi Governing Council to the torture in Abu Ghraib; from the coverage provided by American media and by Al-Jazeera to Bush’s State of the Union speech. Here again; she focuses especially on the fate of women; whose rights and freedoms have fallen victim to rising fundamentalisms in a chaotic postwar society.With thousands of loyal readers worldwide; the Riverbend blog is widely recognized around the world as a crucial source of information not available through the mainstream media. The book version of this blog will have “value-added†features: an introduction and timeline of events by veteran journalist James Ridgeway; excerpts from Riverbend’s links and an epilogue by Riverbend herself.
#1556079 in Books 1999-05Original language:EnglishPDF # 1 .95 x 6.34 x 9.42l; 1.00 #File Name: 1557506957272 pages
Review
3 of 3 people found the following review helpful. Best book on this subjectBy Charles B. OlsonDespite the large number of books available about the Naval aspects of the Civil War there is a strange lack of information on one of the most important USN ironclads: the USS New Ironsides. This book goes a long way to make up this gap; and is by far the best source I have found on the Ironsides. Despite being in more engagements (and being hit more times) then then any other US Ironclad the Ironsides is strangely neglected. The author guides us through the construction and history of this great ship; and help us understand why she was the most feared of the Federal ship by the Confederates. With her large battery of 11 inch guns the Ironsides had the effective firepower of twenty Monitors; and therefore was the perfect shore bombardment ship. He also addresses the reasons why the US did not build any more such ships in the Civil War. Monitor mania had much to do with it; along with the need for ships more suitable for river service. It has always stuck me as very strange that Union ship yards went on to build two more similar ships and then exported them to Italy (one of which was sunk at the battle of Lissa)! Perhaps the only thing lacking in this book is the action photo of the Ironsides in battle (as shown in the book Charleston at War; and the only live "action" photo ever taken of a Civil War battle); I would think that no Ironsides book would be complete without it. A very interesting little book for anyone interested in Civil War naval warfare.10 of 10 people found the following review helpful. USS New IronsidesBy Robert ThomasDespite being an excellent source on the construction and operations of this unique ship; this book is also a comment on what could have been had more of this superior design been built; or the orginal not accidentally destroyed. The book does a good job of addressing the "Monitor Fever" of the time that caused many monitors to be built despite the flaws of the design. Monitors appeared in variety from one to three turrets; while only two seagoing broadside ironclads saw service. Designed for ship to ship combat; Monitors did not have the large battery's necisary to tackle forts; the broadside ironclads did. Since forts were common; but CSN ironclads were few and far between and were broadside ships to begin with; the puzzle is why the US did not explore this design further. The answer; the author proves; was politics.
