A Stranger in Your Own City
Travels in the Middle East’s Long War
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A Stranger in Your Own City
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Narrated by:
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Ghaith Abdul-Ahad
About this listen
Brought to you by Penguin.
This is not a book about Iraq's history, nor an inventory of the many Middle Eastern wars that have spun out over the past twenty years, though both wars and history are part of its narrative, from the American invasion to the Arab Spring, ISIS and beyond. 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. It offers a remarkable de-centring of the West in the history and contemporary situation of the region - the motivation, needs and ideologies of Western powers are all dealt with sparingly, dismissively, even. What comes to the fore is the effect on the ground: the human cost, the shifting allegiances, and the generational change. The result is a rare work of great beauty and tragedy, whose power and relevance lies in the return of twenty years of war to those whose land it really is.
©2023 Ghaith Abdul-Ahad (P)2023 Penguin AudioListeners also enjoyed...
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By: James Verini
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The Spymaster of Baghdad
- A True Story of Bravery, Family, and Patriotism in the Battle Against ISIS
- By: Margaret Coker
- Narrated by: Cassandra Campbell
- Length: 10 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 70
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 65
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Story5 out of 5 stars 65
The Spymaster of Baghdad tells the dramatic yet intimate account of how a covert Iraqi intelligence unit called “the Falcons” came together against all odds to defeat ISIS. The Falcons, comprised of ordinary men with little conventional espionage background, infiltrated the world’s most powerful terrorist organization, ultimately turning the tide of war against the terrorist group and bringing safety to millions of Iraqis and the broader world.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Worth every penny
- By Michelle on 04-20-21
By: Margaret Coker
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The Nine Lives of Pakistan
- Dispatches from a Precarious State
- By: Declan Walsh
- Narrated by: Roger Clark
- Length: 11 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 103
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 87
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 87
Declan Walsh is one of the New York Times's most distinguished international correspondents. His electrifying portrait of Pakistan over a tumultuous decade captures the sweep of this strange, wondrous, and benighted country through the dramatic lives of nine fascinating individuals. On assignment as the country careened between crises, Walsh traveled from the raucous port of Karachi to the salons of Lahore, and from Baluchistan to the mountains of Waziristan. He met a diverse cast of extraordinary Pakistanis....
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5 out of 5 stars
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A Fascinating Look at a Troubled Country
- By Dipam on 07-11-21
By: Declan Walsh
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Night Draws Near
- Iraq's People in the Shadow of America's War
- By: Anthony Shadid
- Narrated by: Anthony Shadid
- Length: 6 hrs and 6 mins
- Abridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 76
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 26
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 27
Determined to offer an unfiltered version of events, the Washington Post's Anthony Shadid was neither embedded with soldiers nor briefed by politicians. Because he is fluent in Arabic, Shadid, an Arab-American born and raised in Oklahoma, was able to actually disappear into the divided, dangerous worlds of Iraq. Day by day, as American dreams clashed with Arab notions of justice, he pieced together the human story of ordinary Iraqis weathering the terrible dislocations and tragedies of war.
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1 out of 5 stars
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Too little, too late
- By Kindle Customer on 03-23-09
By: Anthony Shadid
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Erdogan Rising
- The Battle for the Soul of Turkey
- By: Hannah Lucinda Smith
- Narrated by: Hannah Lucinda Smith
- Length: 14 hrs and 33 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4 out of 5 stars 60
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Performance4 out of 5 stars 51
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Story4 out of 5 stars 51
Everyone has heard of Erdogan: Turkey’s bullish, mercurial president is the original postmodern populist. Around the world, other strongmen are now following the path that he has blazed. For the first time, Erdogan Rising tells the inside story of how a democracy on the fringe of Europe has succumbed to dictatorship. Hannah Lucinda Smith, Turkey correspondent with The Times of London, has witnessed all that has befallen Turkey and the wider region since the onset of the Arab Spring.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Overall fascinating profile of Erdogan’s Turkey
- By Saul M on 09-18-20
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Places and Names
- On War, Revolution, and Returning
- By: Elliot Ackerman
- Narrated by: Elliot Ackerman, Mark Deakins
- Length: 6 hrs and 38 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 106
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 91
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 90
Toward the beginning of Places and Names, Elliot Ackerman sits in a refugee camp in Turkey, across the table from a man named Abu Hassar, who fought for al-Qaeda in Iraq, and whose connections to the Islamic State are murky. At first, Ackerman pretends to be a journalist, but after establishing a rapport with Abu Hassar, he takes a risk by revealing to him that in fact he was a Marine special operation officer. Ackerman then draws the shape of the Euphrates River on a large piece of paper, and his one-time adversary quickly joins him in the game of filling in the map.
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5 out of 5 stars
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A crazy ride through the Mideast.
- By Kent Prochazka on 12-05-19
By: Elliot Ackerman
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No Turning Back
- Life, Loss, and Hope in Wartime Syria
- By: Rania Abouzeid
- Narrated by: Susan Nezami
- Length: 14 hrs and 31 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 54
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 48
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 47
Based on more than five years of clandestine reporting on the front lines, No Turning Back is an utterly engrossing human drama full of vivid, indelible characters that shows how hope can flourish even amid one of the 21st century's greatest humanitarian disasters.
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4 out of 5 stars
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SYRIA'S FAMILY BUSINESS
- By chetyarbrough.blog on 12-03-22
By: Rania Abouzeid
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Mosul
- Australia's Secret War Inside the ISIS Caliphate
- By: Ben Mckelvey
- Narrated by: Nick Farnell
- Length: 10 hrs and 5 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 33
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 30
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Story5 out of 5 stars 29
Taking us from the suburbs of Western Sydney and Australia's military army bases, to the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq, this is a remarkable audiobook that reveals the as-yet untold story of the battle for Mosul and the secret involvement of Australians on both sides of the war - both our commandos and Australian ISIS fighters. Mosul details the rise of ISIS influence in Australia, the Iran and Australia allegiance to fight Daesh and shows what led up to the battle and the ramifications that are still being felt at home - by our soldiers and the victims of that war.
By: Ben Mckelvey
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The Morning They Came for Us
- Dispatches from Syria
- By: Janine di Giovanni
- Narrated by: Teri Schnaubelt
- Length: 5 hrs and 21 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 66
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 60
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 60
Doing for Syria what Imperial Life in the Emerald City did for the war in Iraq, The Morning They Came for Us bears witness to one of the most brutal, internecine conflicts in recent history. Drawing from years of experience covering Syria for Vanity Fair, Newsweek, and the front pages of the New York Times, award-winning journalist Janine di Giovanni gives us a tour de force of war reportage, all told through the perspective of ordinary people.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Bearing Witness to the Brutalities of War
- By Theo Horesh on 06-07-18
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The Shining Path
- Love, Madness, and Revolution in the Andes
- By: Orin Starn, Miguel La Serna
- Narrated by: Robert Fass
- Length: 12 hrs and 35 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall5 out of 5 stars 59
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 51
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 51
On May 17, 1980, on the eve of Peru's presidential election, five masked men stormed a small town. They set election ballots ablaze and vanished, but not before planting a red hammer-and-sickle banner in the town square. The lone man arrested the next morning later swore allegiance to a group called Shining Path. Described by a US State Department cable as "cold-blooded and bestial", Shining Path orchestrated bombings, assassinations, and massacres across the cities, countryside, and jungles of Peru in a murderous campaign to seize power and impose a Communist government.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Understanding my wife
- By Eugene on 06-10-22
By: Orin Starn, and others
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Three Ordinary Girls
- The Remarkable Story of Three Dutch Teenagers Who Became Spies, Saboteurs, Nazi Assassins and WWII Heroes
- By: Tim Brady
- Narrated by: David de Vries
- Length: 7 hrs
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 356
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 321
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 317
May 10, 1940. The Netherlands was swarming with Third Reich troops. In seven days it's entirely occupied by Nazi Germany. Joining a small resistance cell in the Dutch city of Haarlem were three teenage girls: Hannie Schaft, and sisters Truus and Freddie Oversteegen, who would soon band together to form a singular female underground squad.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Communist fan fiction
- By Rodney on 03-12-23
By: Tim Brady
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Say Nothing
- A True Story of Murder and Memory in Northern Ireland
- By: Patrick Radden Keefe
- Narrated by: Matthew Blaney
- Length: 14 hrs and 40 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 8,030
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Performance5 out of 5 stars 7,081
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Story5 out of 5 stars 7,031
Jean McConville's abduction was one of the most notorious episodes of the vicious conflict known as The Troubles. Everyone in the neighborhood knew the I.R.A. was responsible. But in a climate of fear and paranoia, no one would speak of it. In 2003, five years after an accord brought an uneasy peace to Northern Ireland, a set of human bones was discovered on a beach. McConville's children knew it was their mother when they were told a blue safety pin was attached to the dress--with so many kids, she had always kept it handy for diapers or ripped clothes.
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5 out of 5 stars
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On a par with I'll Be Gone in the Dark, plus...
- By Grace O'Malley on 03-01-19
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A Rage for Order
- The Middle East in Turmoil, from Tahrir Square to ISIS
- By: Robert Worth
- Narrated by: Will Damron, Robert Worth
- Length: 10 hrs and 15 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 86
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 73
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 70
In 2011 a wave of revolution spread through the Middle East as protesters demanded an end to tyranny, corruption, and economic decay. From Egypt to Yemen, a generation of young Arabs insisted on a new ethos of common citizenship. Five years later their utopian aspirations have taken on a darker cast as old divides reemerge and deepen. In one country after another, brutal terrorists and dictators have risen to the top.
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4 out of 5 stars
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What a mess!
- By Art Guzman on 01-19-17
By: Robert Worth
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The Daughters of Kobani
- A Story of Rebellion, Courage, and Justice
- By: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
- Narrated by: Gayle Tzemach Lemmon
- Length: 6 hrs and 49 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 363
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 317
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 315
In 2014, northeastern Syria might have been the last place you would expect to find a revolution centered on women's rights. But that year, an all-female militia faced off against ISIS in a little town few had ever heard of: Kobani. By then, the Islamic State had swept across vast swaths of the country, taking town after town and spreading terror as the civil war burned all around it. From that unlikely showdown in Kobani emerged a fighting force that would wage war against ISIS across northern Syria alongside the United States.
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2 out of 5 stars
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Very informative but one-sided.
- By Yahya on 04-09-21
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Dancing in the Glory of Monsters
- The Collapse of the Congo and the Great War of Africa
- By: Jason Stearns
- Narrated by: Mike Chamberlain
- Length: 15 hrs and 27 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 278
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 236
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 237
At the heart of Africa is Congo, a country the size of Western Europe, bordering nine other nations, that since 1996 has been wracked by a brutal and unstaunchable war in which millions have died. And yet, despite its epic proportions, it has received little sustained media attention. In this deeply reported book, Jason K. Stearns vividly tells the story of this misunderstood conflict through the experiences of those who engineered and perpetrated it.
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5 out of 5 stars
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First book I've found that explains DRC
- By Amazon Customer on 09-09-17
By: Jason Stearns
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Assad or We Burn the Country
- How One Family's Lust for Power Destroyed Syria
- By: Sam Dagher
- Narrated by: Gary Tiedemann
- Length: 19 hrs and 52 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 264
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 220
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 215
In spring 2011, Syrian President Bashar al-Assad turned to his friend and army commander, Manaf Tlass, for advice about how to respond to Arab Spring-inspired protests. Tlass pushed for conciliation but Assad decided to crush the uprising - an act which would catapult the country into an eight-year long war, killing almost half a million and fueling terrorism and a global refugee crisis. Assad or We Burn the Country examines Syria's tragedy through the generational saga of the Assad and Tlass families, once deeply intertwined and now estranged....
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2 out of 5 stars
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Good until final chapter
- By Amazon Customer on 02-24-21
By: Sam Dagher
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Invasion
- The Inside Story of Russia's Bloody War and Ukraine's Fight for Survival
- By: Luke Harding
- Narrated by: Nicholas Guy Smith
- Length: 11 hrs and 36 mins
- Unabridged
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Overall4.5 out of 5 stars 62
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Performance4.5 out of 5 stars 58
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Story4.5 out of 5 stars 57
In a damning, inspiring, and breathtaking narrative of what is likely to be a turning point for Europe—and the world—Guardian correspondent and New York Times bestselling author Luke Harding reports firsthand on the Russian invasion of Ukraine. When, just before dawn on February 24, 2022, Vladimir Putin launched a series of brutal attacks, Harding was there, on the ground in Kyiv. But this senseless violence was met with astounding resilience—from, among others, the country’s embattled president—and the courage of a people prepared to risk everything to preserve their nation’s freedom.
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5 out of 5 stars
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Pray For Ukraine
- By Tyler 963 on 12-03-22
By: Luke Harding