October 2005

What struck me most in the book, especially in the first chapters, was the total desolateness of the main character. Everything around him goes wrong: his marriage is falling apart, his society , he starts doubting everything in life and becomes a refugee. The second part of the book offers a small glimpse of hope that life might be better in the future and the story became less gloomy.

Initially I was disappointed with this book. I started reading the last chapter, on 9/11 and the war on terror, because I was curious what a historician would write about this recent events. However, the left-wing partisanship of the author showed very clearly and was annoying. There is nothing wrong with being against a war, but I was not expecting such obvious activism in a history book. This was, looking back, my own mistake -- the back of the book clearly states that this is a book written by someone with a mission.