Description
Book SynopsisAn autobiography of newspaper editor Abdel Bari Atwan who recounts his many extraordinary encounters, including tea with Margaret Thatcher, his weekend with Osama bin Laden, intimate meetings with Yasser Arafat, and the row between Colonel Gaddafi and the Shah of Iran that earned him his first journalistic break.
Trade Review'A penetrating insight into the world as seen from the point of view of someone born and bred a Palestinian refugee in a Gaza camp ... Atwan's authentic voice and sharp, descriptive writing brings alive a lifetime spent deep in the travails of the Middle Eastern tragedy.' Polly Toynbee 'Atwan's enthralling memoir charts his meteoric rise from shoeless urchin in the 1950s to cultured commentator whose opinion is now sought all over the world - A Country of Words combines in-depth analysis with a welcome dose of the personal - A skilful raconteur' Tribune Magazine 'A Country of Words traces [Atwan's] life in greater detail while also offering chapters on the Israeli/Palestinian conflict, London, and his fascinating interviews with Osama Bin Laden and Yasser Arafat.' The Middle East in London 'A remarkable Palestinian memoir, exceptional because of its abundance of compassion, humor and humility' Electronic Intifada
Table of ContentsContents Acknowledgments 10 Preface 12 1. Thorns in our Feet 15 2. Sleeping on the Roof 51 3. A Cairene Education 80 4. Career Moves 107 5. The Arab Independent 130 6. Culture Shock 161 7. Beirut-on-Thames 194 8. Osama bin Laden 214 9. Yasser Arafat and the PLO 230 10. Right to Return 259 Appendix 283
