Review Return To Ruin, Iraqi Narratives of Exile and Nostalgia

Saleh, Zainab, Return To Ruin, Iraqi Narratives of Exile and Nostalgia, Stanford University Press: 2021

 

Return To Ruin, Iraqi Narratives of Exile and Nostalgia by Zainab Saleh is the story of Iraqi expatriates living in London. Saleh interviewed five Iraqi exiles from different backgrounds and experiences about their families, life in Iraq and how they ended up in England. She included her own story about exile as well. Their stories are by far the best part as Iraqi voices are rarely heard in Western books about Iraq. On the other hand this was based upon a thesis. That meant Saleh’s college advisor told her to link her interviews to a larger theory. She chose one about British and American imperialism that didn’t stand up.

This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 25 British Mandate in Iraq created Was start of Iraq as a nation state

 

1920 San Remo Agreement created British Mandate in Iraq France agreed to give up Mosul vilayet

in return for oil concessions in Iraq

(Musings On Iraq How The Ottoman Province Of Mosul Became Part Of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq interview with Princeton’s Sara Pursley on Sykes-Picot and creation of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Britain In Iraq, Contriving King and Country)

(Musings On Iraq review The Creation of Iraq 1914-1921)

(Musings On Iraq review Dictatorship, Imperialism & Chaos, Iraq since 1989)

(Musings On Iraq review An Analysis of Hanna Batatu’s The Old Social Classes and the Revolutionary Movements of Iraq)

(Musings On Iraq review Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied)

(Musings On Iraq review Supremacy And Oil, Iraq, Turkey, and the Anglo-American World Order, 1918-1930)

(Musings On Iraq review The Chatham House Version and other Middle-Eastern Studies)

(Musings On Iraq review Enemy On The Euphrates, The Battle For Iraq 1914-1921)

(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq Since 1958, From Revolution To Dictatorship)

(Musings On Iraq review Iraq’s Democratic Moment)

This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 24 Kurds announced tentative deal with Saddam for Kurdish autonomy Would lead to Kurdistan Regional Government

 

1916 British attempt to re-supply besieged garrison at Kut failed

Latest Corruption Scandal In Iraq $600 Million Stolen Using Fake Foreign Travel

Al Aalem reported that tens of thousands of people were falsely registered as traveling outside of Iraq and gained access to hundreds of millions of dollars.

This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 23 PM Maliki ordered raid on Hawija protest site leaving 110 casualties Led to revival of the insurgency

 

1915 UK Gen Townshend ordered by Mesopotamia cmdr Gen Nixon to take Qurna and Amara

(Musings On Iraq review When God Made Hell, The British Invasion of Mesopotamia and the Creation of Iraq, 1914-1921)

Security In Iraq Apr 15-21, 2024

The Islamic State remained quiet in Iraq for the second consecutive week while a mysterious explosion at a Hashd base led to another attack upon Israel.

This Day In Iraqi History - Apr 22 Ayatollah Khomeini revealed Ayatollah Baqir al-Sadr executed by Iraq Called for Saddam to be overthrown

 

1915 Lord Curzon asked why British should promise Basra and Baghdad vilayets to Arabs if they

were fighting on Ottoman side