Sunday, December 2, 2007

#31 Reading: Thieves of Baghdad


My book club's selection for this month was Thieves of Baghdad, by Matthew Bogdanos. I thought it was an interesting story, one that I was largely unaware of--the plundering of Iraqi artifacts before and after the current war. And the author (Bogdanos) is a really fascinating character, but the way the book is written was of-putting to me. Parts of it are very stream of consciousness, with Bodganos throwing in a lot of quotes and literary references from his extensive knowledge of a wide variety of topics. But, I think the book was worth reading, just to get an insider's perspective on a country and regime I know mainly through the media.

From Publisher's Weekly:

In April 2003, Matthew Bogdanos was a long way from the courtrooms of New York City where, as an assistant D.A., he prosecuted hundreds of cases. After September 11, 2001, this Marine Corps Reserve colonel, lawyer and student of ancient civilizations, returned to uniform full-time to head counterterrorism operations in Afghanistan and later in Iraq, where Bogdanos gave himself the mission of finding antiquities that had been stolen from the Iraq National Museum during the American invasion. Beginning with an Indiana Jones-like opening that finds him in the museum's bowels, Bogdanos chronicles a journey fueled by his passion for history and frustrated by erratic record-keeping and factionalism among Iraqis, not to mention the hazards of warfare. The son of Greek immigrants who went on to achieve advanced degrees in law and classical studies, Bogdanos weaves together a detective story, adventure yarn and history lesson, committing himself to the investigation of stolen artifacts and reflecting what he deems rumor and exaggeration among the media coverage and academics who claimed irrevocable archeological tragedy. Indeed, some pieces, he discovers, were moved and protected prior to the U.S. invasion, while others were housed by Iraqis for safekeeping until after the war. Bogdanos is a remarkable blend of warrior, academic and communicator, and he cuts through politics and hyperbole to tell an engrossing story abundant with history, colored by stories of brave Iraqis and Americans, and shaded with hope for the future.


We choose books 6 months at a time, and tonight was our night to pick books for January through June. Some of them I'm really looking forward to reading, others, not so much. But, that's one of the things I like about my book club--I would usually not pick any of the books we read on my own, but I've learned a lot and enjoyed books I wouldn't otherwise. For January, we're reading Triangle: The Novel, which is historical fiction about the 1911 Triangle Shirtwaist fire which apparently killed 146 workers (most of them women) and galvanized efforts to reform working conditions in sweatshops. Should be interesting!

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