No comments about Small town editor: Fifty-nine years of journalism.

No comments about A nice, quiet man who made a difference. (the late Congressional Quarterly editor David Kaplan): An article from: American Journalism Review.

No comments about More Dangerous Ground: The Inside Story of Britain's Best Known Investigative Journalist.

5 comments about Ahmad's War, Ahmad's Peace: Surviving Under Saddam, Dying in the New Iraq.

1. Of all the articles and books that I've read concerning the modern history of Iraq, none has affected me as much as Michael Goldfarb's wonderful new work. Goldfarb brilliantly interweaves the history of Iraq with life story of his interpreter Ahmad--his suffering, joy, hopes seemingly fulfilled by the fall of Saddam, hopes corroded by the miscalculations and lack of planning by the American government. No matter which side of the Iraqi debate a reader has taken, this is a book that challenges all pre-conceived ideas. Perhaps even more importantly, it is a shattering personal story written with enomrous skill and perception by an exceptional journalist.
   Essential reading.



2. Besides being an extremely well-written crash course in what went on in Iraq at the outset of the current war, Michael Goldfarb's superb book describes the beautiful friendship that developed between him & his extraordinary interpreter while Goldfarb was covering the war in Iraq. Goldfarb has been a voice of reason on NPR for many years; anyone familiar with his first rate radio work will easily be able to hear him telling this story -- he writes the way he talks: the voice is engaging, precise & always lucid. He has a gift for describing even the most complicated events in a way that the general reader can readily understand. As engaging & personable as Goldfarb is himself, he never lets you forget that the real hero is Ahmad, an amazingly resilient & likeable fellow -- a man of honor & courage & of incredible personal warmth.
   
   Despite the cruel tribulations recounted in the story, the book is notable for its gladness of spirit -- it isn't grim & forbidding -- quite the contrary: Ahmad's story is a sad one, but the man himself was not a sad person, & certainly not one given to self-pity. He is full of life & enthusiasm & you will be glad to meet him.



3. In this book, you will find information about leaders we have heard of. some famous and some infamous. Khomeini Auyatollah, Osama bin Laden, Gamal Abdel Nasser, Jelal Talabani, Kind Faisal I & II, and Saddam Hussein. American generals include Norman Schwarzkopf and General David Petraeus. Theirs is a history of duplicity and violence against others. One of the triumps of the Bush administration's Iraq policy is that "they managed to create an environment in which Americans, rather than being thanked, are more likely to be abducted and decapitated if they walk down a street alone."
   
   Iraq was born in the aftermath of WWI, as the Allies carved up the Ottoman Empire and created the nations of the modern Middle East. The British created an Iraqi government modeled on their own, with a constitutional monarchy established. Faisal I was chosen to be elected the first King, and his relaitonship with T. E. Lawrence is shown in the movie, 'Lawrence of Arabia.'
   
   When wars end, generally the battlefield is cleaned up. After WWII, warships were mothballed and the California desert was filled with old warplanes. That would be a sight to see! When the Cold War was over, USA did nothing to decomission its proxies (tyrants created and sustained in power), and it is now paying the price. In Afghanistan, Taliban and al Qaeda were formed as terrorist groups against their own people.
   
   "Life without problems is not interesting" and "We each have a role to play" introduce you to the integrity and devotion of Ahmad Shawkat to his family and to his country. He felt helpless and told the author, "Only America has the power to do these things." Ahmad looked like someone I know here, Jim Nahmad, always on the prowl to find lost people whom he can help. Ahmad took chances and went into war torn areas, and paid the price, just as America paid for their intervention with the deaths on 9/11/01. If you are a listener to Public Radio, you willl have heard Goldfarb's "Inside Out" program. He won the Edward R. Morrow award for one of his features on Ahmad.
   
   I had a doctor called Ahmed. They said he came to America from India. I once worked as a medical transcriptionist for Dr. Z also from India. I became friends with his sister-in-law who, with her two brothers, attended Vo-Tech when I did. They are secretitive people, innocent in a way about America's abundance, and hire family to work in their offices. Dr. Z. had his connected to the local hospital; on Secretaries Day, even though I was not one of his employees, I was invited to have a meal with them and he told me, "Betty, when I was in school in Chicago, I actually laughed." I would ask sometimes if he ever smiled; his wife was always smiling. The different cultures keep nationalities apart as they feel they cannot trust each other and thus, deception rules. Ahmed is young and agrees that he does not know how to get a specialist, or prescribe the needed medicines. He was personable, but incompetent as a family doctor. He wanted to be a specialist and so charged accordingly.
   
   "Admad began to feel freedom at last with the fall of Saddam. He had a newspaper in which he decried terrorists in his editorials. He as murdered as a result. Goldfarb won the Lowell Thomas award for his report about British Jihad in 2005.



4. This book is the author's tribute to the late Ahmad Shawkat, a Kurdish translator who worked with Goldfarb when we was covering the war in Iraq for WBUR radio. Goldfarb is a London-based reporter for the American public radio station; he first met Shawkat shortly before the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003.
   
   Goldfarb was more than a man who knew the language. As an intellectual, he had moved in revolutionary circles for many years, agitating against Hussein's government. He had been captured, imprisoned and tortured on a couple of occasions and once even met the dictator. As a Kurd, he rejected the sectarian leanings of many of his people in favor of a single, unified nation. As Goldfarb explains, Ahmad Shawkat was uniquely qualified not only to translate words but to provide context to what the reporter was seeing and hearing on the streets of a new Iraq.
   
   The first section of the book follows the two men together as Goldfarb reports on the war for public radio. (His dispatches can be heard on WBUR's Inside Out web site.) The last section is the story of Shawkat's tragic death at the hands of an assassin and the months after when the author returns to the war-torn country. The middle section, Ahmad's Life, is the author's reconstruction of his translator's story. From his early life as a bookish boy through college and into adulthood, the reader learns to know a man who never stopped searching for the answers in life, and the solutions, whether they be of a political or a religious nature.
   
   Goldfarb's own take on the war in Iraq may surprise some readers. Although he is very critical of the Bush administration's handling of the post-war situation, the author and reporter initially supported U.S. action there in the belief that the Iraqi people could be freed. He and Ahmad speak about this shared belief at length, alternately dreaming of the future and despairing as the country falls into chaos and internal strife in the months after the fall of Saddam's army.
   
   Michael Goldfarb writes about the qualities he looks for in a translator. Often he cannot find all of those things in one person. In Ahmad Shawkat, he finds a scholar, an intellectual, a writer, a patriot and at the end a close friend. It is a remarkable life story which could be difficult to read due to the fact that one knows how it ends. In spite of this, Goldfarb's skill makes for a moving, poignant read from start to finish. Highly recommended.



5. Ahmad's War, Ahmad's Peace: Surviving Under Saddam, Dying In New Iraq is an outstanding book that inspires and educates.
   
   The story centers around the United States' invasion of Iraq and the subsequent overthrow of Saddam Hussein and Ahmad Shawkat, an Iraqi Kurd. Ahmad is an intellectual, a reader, a writer, a husband, and a father. He's had many different ups and downs throughout his life in a country that didn't quite value its intellectuals and often times tried to silence them.
   
   As told by Michael Goldfarb, a British journalist in Iraq to cover the war, the story is both beautiful and heartbreaking. Going behind the scenes, Mr. Goldfarb shows us the life in Iraq from the perspective of a native.
   
   Very few books remain neutral on the subject of Iraq War. Goldfarb manages to do so well. I highly recommend picking this one up.

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3 comments about We Felt The Flames: Hitler's Blitzkrieg, America's Story.

1. Charles Kupfer, clearly a wordsmith of the top rank, has written a fantastic book about how the news media covered the enormously important events of World War II. Through clear and enjoyable writing, the author helps one understand what it would have felt like to be a member of the American public during this time. I found this book to be a wonderful discourse on a largely under-discussed aspect of World War II. While reading the book, I couldn¡¦t help ponder about the differences between today¡¦s media and that of yesteryear. The power of the press was never more important than during that time, as Dr. Kupfer clearly shows how the news media played a crucial forming public sentiment. I strongly recommend this book to anyone interested in the media and/or World War 2 as it provides one a startling fresh take on well known historic events. I greatly look forward to reading other books by Charles Kupfer.



2. I had the pleasure of studying underneath Charles Kupfer at Penn State Harrisburg and the next best thing to sitting down with him in a classroom is picking up this book. Dr. Kupfer is a thorough researcher and a skilled writer with the training of a journalist and a historian rolled into one. WWII history is a favorite of mine and I particularly enjoyed learning about this under-reported aspect to the war. I may be biased, but I would recommend this book to the casual reader of history and the serious scholar alike. An evening spent with Charles Kupfer, be it in written form or in a class is an evening well spent.



3. Just finished this book and found it insightful, well written and extremely useful. Kupfer is that rare gem... a historian who can really write. This book is a treasure.

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