The Kurds
my friends in the north
Published on 22. June 2021
Book
Paperback/Softback
256 pages
978-1-913567-79-8 (ISBN)
Description
'The Kurd requires a beating one day and a sugar plum the next.' British Government official 1921
'Saddam throws a little gas, everyone goes crazy, "oh, he's using gas!''' former President Donald Trump 2019
Delving into history and mixing eye-witness accounts with compelling anecdotes from his journalistic career, John Cookson examines the Kurds' eternal quest for independence. He tells of his encounters with Kurdish guerillas in their mountain hideouts and of his travels with Kurdish smugglers. He documents survivors' stories from Saddam Hussein's genocidal campaign and reveals for the first time how Iraqi Kurdistan was saved from being overrun by murderous jihadis in the summer of 2014.
He also digs through secret archives to discover why Sir Winston Churchill and Middle East titans like T. E. Lawrence and Gertude Bell made a fateful decision to leave the Kurds landlocked and doomed to an eternity of conflict.
'Saddam throws a little gas, everyone goes crazy, "oh, he's using gas!''' former President Donald Trump 2019
Delving into history and mixing eye-witness accounts with compelling anecdotes from his journalistic career, John Cookson examines the Kurds' eternal quest for independence. He tells of his encounters with Kurdish guerillas in their mountain hideouts and of his travels with Kurdish smugglers. He documents survivors' stories from Saddam Hussein's genocidal campaign and reveals for the first time how Iraqi Kurdistan was saved from being overrun by murderous jihadis in the summer of 2014.
He also digs through secret archives to discover why Sir Winston Churchill and Middle East titans like T. E. Lawrence and Gertude Bell made a fateful decision to leave the Kurds landlocked and doomed to an eternity of conflict.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
Canterbury
United Kingdom
Illustrations
10 black and white photographs
Dimensions
Height: 197 mm
Width: 130 mm
Thickness: 32 mm
Weight
228 gr
ISBN-13
978-1-913567-79-8 (9781913567798)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Person
John Cookson is an award-winning journalist who began his career in Fleet Street and then spent 30 years as a senior correspondent at Sky News, Fox News, Al Jazeera, Bloomberg, Euronews and African start-up Arise News. He is also a qualified lawyer.
Content
Foreword 9
1. Magic carpet ride 21
2. Wounded guerrilla on board 28
3. Welcome back Mr John. 32
4. Downtown 38
5. Who are the Kurds? 42
6. Hoshayar 46
7. Iskan Street 53
8. Christians in peril 60
9. 'Please help me!' 71
10. Brown envelope anyone? 78
11. Chalabi the Cheshire Cat 87
12. Jalal Talabani 94
13. A matter of 'honour'? 97
14. Shayan 99
15. Those who die first 103
16. Dara 110
17. The long march 114
18. 'The Kurd requires a beating.' 122
19. The Cairo Conference 125
20. Gertrude Bell 128
21. The Kurdish question 132
22. The King of Kurdistan 135
23. The Cairo legacy 141
24. Driving with Mustafa 146
25. Remembering Anfal 153
26. Halabja 157
27. Chemical Ali 163
28. Hypocrisy 165
29. Iran accused 167
30. Inside the clan 170
31. The King's tomb 177
32. Bring me the manager 182
33. Smugglers' paradise 188
34. Komola and Iran's rebellious Kurds 199
35. Khalkhali: the hanging judge 206
36. Four empty graves 208
37. Mahabad 214
38. By the rivers of Babylon 221
39. Betrayal 229
40. The PKK 233
41. The millennials 236
42. They reap what they sow 240
43. Saving the economy 243
44. Not in the news 245
45. Final thoughts 250
1. Magic carpet ride 21
2. Wounded guerrilla on board 28
3. Welcome back Mr John. 32
4. Downtown 38
5. Who are the Kurds? 42
6. Hoshayar 46
7. Iskan Street 53
8. Christians in peril 60
9. 'Please help me!' 71
10. Brown envelope anyone? 78
11. Chalabi the Cheshire Cat 87
12. Jalal Talabani 94
13. A matter of 'honour'? 97
14. Shayan 99
15. Those who die first 103
16. Dara 110
17. The long march 114
18. 'The Kurd requires a beating.' 122
19. The Cairo Conference 125
20. Gertrude Bell 128
21. The Kurdish question 132
22. The King of Kurdistan 135
23. The Cairo legacy 141
24. Driving with Mustafa 146
25. Remembering Anfal 153
26. Halabja 157
27. Chemical Ali 163
28. Hypocrisy 165
29. Iran accused 167
30. Inside the clan 170
31. The King's tomb 177
32. Bring me the manager 182
33. Smugglers' paradise 188
34. Komola and Iran's rebellious Kurds 199
35. Khalkhali: the hanging judge 206
36. Four empty graves 208
37. Mahabad 214
38. By the rivers of Babylon 221
39. Betrayal 229
40. The PKK 233
41. The millennials 236
42. They reap what they sow 240
43. Saving the economy 243
44. Not in the news 245
45. Final thoughts 250