Mr Dan and the Dams of Kurdistan - A Cork Man in Saddam's Iraq

Dan Coakley

Summary

For Dan Coakley, Iraq ticked all the boxes. It had a mad dictator, a secret police that left the Gestapo far behind in terms of brutality and sadism and a temperature range that varied from minus fifteen to plus fifty degrees Celsius. Dan was asked to be the Technical Manager of the electricity sector, the largest module of the largest aid programme in UN history, helping to repair the country after the first Gulf War. But when he arrived in Iraq he had no idea that he would be involved in conflict resolution between the warring Kurdish parties, or that some of Saddam's nuclear scientists would be on his Iraqi staff in Baghdad. Dan Coakley gives an honest and an unbiased description of the region and its history from the First World War to the turmoil of today. He discovers the archaeology of prehistory from Ur to Babylon to Nineveh. Working for the UN, he gives us a first-hand insider's view on the dynami of a region in turmoil. The book focuses on the aftermath of the first Gulf War, the lead up to and devastation of the second war and the utter despair he witnesses in Iraq today. Mr Dan and the Dams of Kurdistan is a travelogue of an ancient and haunting Iraq and Kurdistan, illustrated with cameos of its beautiful and long-suffering people. Saint Patrick when talking of the ancient Irish said 'he heard them calling to him in dreams'. Dan Coakley was drawn to Iraq and this excellent book is an honest and compelling read worthy of his experiences.

Available since: 11/07/2013.

Print length: 300 pages.

Other books that might interest you

Focus - The Secret Sexy...

Michael Gross

Before Instagram was an art form, fashion photographers were pop culture royalty. From the postwar covers of Vogue until the triumph of the digital image, the fashion photographer sold not only clothes but ideals of beauty and fantasies of perfect lives. Even when they succumbed to temptation and excess, the very few photographers who rose to the top were artists above all.In his follow-up to the New York Times bestselling Model: The Ugly Business of Beautiful Women, Michael Gross probes the lives, hang-ups, and artistic triumphs of more than a dozen of fashion photography's greatest visionaries: Richard Avedon, Irving Penn, Melvin Sokolsky, Bert Stern, David Bailey, Bill King, Gilles Bensimon, Bruce Weber, Steven Meisel, Corinne Day, Bob and Terry Richardson, and more. From Avedon's haute couture fantasies and telling portraits to Weber's sensual, intimate and heroic slices of life, and from Bob Richardson's provocations to his son Terry's transgressions, Gross takes listeners behind the scenes and reveals the revolutionary creative processes and fraught private passions of these visionary imagicians.

Show book

A God Named Josh - Uncovering...

Jared Brock

The Life of Jesus Like You've Never Imagined 
 
Jesus asked His disciples, "Who do you say I am?" It's a question that still needs an answer today. With deft, insightful, and humorous strokes, award-winning biographer Jared Brock weaves archaeology, philosophy, history, and theology to create a portrait of Jesus we've never seen before. 
 
This is a groundbreaking biography about the historical Jesus we don't usually think about: The child refugee. The "carpenter" who most likely worked with stone. The adult who walked at least 21,525 miles in His lifetime and yet never tasted tomatoes or potatoes. The itinerant rabbi whose real name wasn't Jesus. The political revolutionary whose brutal murder was secretly masterminded by a power-hungry mafia family. 
 
More than a fascinating biography, A God Named Josh seeks to illuminate Jesus of Nazareth from new perspectives, grounded in history, that will surprise Christians and atheists alike. 
 
"The same wonderful story, the same incredible Savior, the same good news... but written with such clarity that everything you thought you knew about Jesus will seem new and exciting."--STEVE BROWN, founder of Key Life and author of Laughter and Lament 
 
"Prepare yourself: Jesus is about to become thrillingly, subversively, dangerously, gloriously interesting again."--MARK BUCHANAN, author of God Walk: Moving at the Speed of Your Soul

Show book

Benito Mussolini - The Fascist...

Benito Mussolini

“It’s better to live one day as a lion than 100 years as a sheep.” 
"I am the most terrible animal that's ever existed." 
“We become strongest, I feel, when we have no friends upon whom to lean, or to look for moral guidance." (Mussolini) 
Benito Amilcare Andrea Mussolini, born on July 29, 1883, who went by the nickname “Il Duce” (“the Leader”), was a deeply unbalanced tyrannical Italian dictator who created the dreaded Fascist Party in 1919. Eventually, he held all power in Italy as the country’s prime minister from 1922 to 1943. An ardent socialist as a youth, Mussolini followed in his father's political footsteps but was expelled by the party for his overt support of World War I. As an evil dictator during World War II (even murdering his own son by lethal injection) he greatly overextended his forces and was eventually killed by his own people in Mezzegra, Italy. Here, for the first time, are the words of the great dictator himself in his twisted manifesto on the political movement he started and is still so feared to this very day.Geoffrey Giuliano is the author of thirty two internationally best-selling books published by the biggest publishers in the world from 1984 until today. He is also an acclaimed Hollywood film actor, director, designer, and is the voice on over 500 popular audiobooks. 
Series producer Avalon Giuliano in New York Edited and mixed by Macc Kay in BangkokICON intern Eden Garret Giuliano

Show book

Charles Dickens

G.K. Chesterton

G. K. Chesterton was a great admirer of Charles Dickens, and wrote a noted critique of Dickens' works expressing his opinion in his own inimitable style. (Summary by Karen Merline)

Show book

John Williams - Messenger of Peace

Janet Benge, Geoff Benge

The thousands of islands scattered across the Pacific Ocean were home to fierce warriors and cannibals who sacrificed their children to the many gods they worshiped. A few islands had been dramatically transformed by the gospel, but thousands more were waiting for someone to come and teach them about the one true God.  John Williams dedicated his life to bringing the message of Christ's love and peace to these brutal islands. In the face of constant danger, he discipled and inspired Polynesians to go as missionaries to their neighbors, ultimately giving his life to see the gospel spread across the vast Pacific. (1796\-1839)

Show book

Letters to My Son in Prison -...

Ken Guidroz

Ken raised his three sons in a squeaky-clean suburb of Los Angeles. He envisioned fatherhood as coaching their sports teams, taking them to church (where he was the pastor), and visiting colleges one day. Instead, he got an education on the street names of opioids, fluency in rehab vernacular, and an insider’s view of the California prison system, when his middle son, Lucas, accidentally killed a man with his car while high on heroin.
Ken was tormented by doubt. What did I do wrong as a dad? Will my son ever be okay? Will my marriage survive this trauma?
Estranged from his son, Ken strived to rebuild their relationship. Face-to-face visits made them feel like they were in a fishbowl and phone calls were interrupted with inmates screaming. Letter writing turned out to be the best way to connect. Writing the letters proved cathartic for Ken. And they were clarifying for Lucas, as he made sense of losing his way, ultimately writing a heart-wrenching apology to the widow of his victim.
The written word became the perfect medium for a father to reconnect with his son—and himself.
Ken is most revealing, however, about the impact all this had on his faith. To go from the podium to the back pew and then out the back door disoriented him. How could he redefine his faith outside the four walls of religion?
With a distinct voice and disarming honesty, Letters to My Son in Prison offers a candid snapshot of fatherhood, a refreshing take on marriage, and a creative vision of faith.

Show book