The Fires of Spring

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Turkey, Iraq, Qatar, Jordan, Egypt, and TunisiaThe Arab Spring all started when a young Tunisian fruit seller set himself on fire in protest of a government official confiscating his apples and slapping his face The aftermath of that one personal protest grew to become the Middle East movement known as the Arab Spring a wave of disparate events that included protests, revolutions, hopeful reform movements, and bloody civil wars The Fires of Spring is the first book to bring the post Arab Spring world to light in a holistic context A narrative of author Shelly Culbertson s journey through six countries of the Middle East, The Fires of Spring tells the story by weaving together a sense of place, insight about issues of our time, interviews with leaders, history, and personal stories Culbertson navigates the nuances of street life and peers into ministries, mosques, and women s worlds She delves into what Arab Spring optimism was about, and at the same time sheds light on the pain and dysfunction that continues to plague parts of the region The Fires of Spring blends reportage, travel memoir, and analysis in this complex and multifaceted portrait. Read The Fires of Spring – kino-fada.fr A good overview of six Middle Eastern states in the aftermath of the Arab Spring protests The missing states are notable Libya, Algeria, Iran, Syria, etc , but the profiles of political figures and public intellectuals provide a view of the Middle East not seen in American media Culbertson is not the best writer, but she did her homework and sought out a nuanced picture of each country, and pointedly sought to give voice to Middle Eastern citizens as opposed to posing herself as the Civilized A good overview of six Mi...The Fires of Spring provides a view from the ground of six countries in the Middle East in a way that we can t get from news stories The author has had time to dig into the history and the people shaping the events today It is presented as a travelogue, though one that is not necessarily chronological There are what I can only describe as postcards from the various countries describing what she sees as she moves around I now know a lot about what is sold in shops in all these countries The Fires of Spring provides a view from the ground of six countries in the Middle East in a way that we c...I didn t know much about the Arab Spring beyond something something Libya andtroops in Iraq, so to me this came off as an excellent primer in the basics, and a well rounded series of interviews with people who had been presences in the Arab Spring or otherwise well qualified in the politics of the relevant country.While journeying through different countries, there are two central questions which are consistently addressed What was the nature of the protests peaceful, violent, sectarian, I didn t know much about the Arab Spring beyond something something Libya andtroops in Iraq, so to me this came off as an excellent primer in the basics, and a well rounded series of interviews with people ...Excellent read.It s hard to tell what kind of book this is part history, part political analysis, part travel writing, Culbertson does a splendid job encapsulating each country s revolution, and crystallizing their individual situation and political social economic landscape It s like she s taken a map of the region and colored it in multiple dimensions.This book is the second in a row to suggest that Arab Spring might be a misnomer whereas Shirin Ebadi s Until We Are Free makes this clai Excellent read.It s hard to tell what kind of book this is part history, part political analysis, part travel writing, Culbertson does a splendid job encapsulating each country s ...Full Disclosure I won a copy of this book in the Goodreads giveaway program.Awesome book The author gives a great outlook at the differences that occurred in the 6 countries She interviews people on different sides of the political sides She does all this without showing any of her own bias I wish the American media was this open and honest in its reporting This book gives hope that extremist ideology can be defeated I believe it also gives insight into why the 2016 U.S Presidential ra Full Disclosure I won a copy of this book in the Goodreads giveaway program.Awesome book The author ...I received this book from Goodreads First Reads in exchange for an honest reviewThis was a solid, informative read that was well thought out, well organized, and well written The author interviews multiple people across the middle east, and manages to pack a ton of knowledge and information into this book, without through into any of her personal opinions.That being said, this book did become a snooze fest after several chapters It became harder and harder for me to finish the further I wen I received this bo...I was convinced that I would give this book just two stars through the time I was reading it The first few chapters I read were an unbalanced mix of research and travelogue as if the author didn t know which of these two she wanted the book to be But then in the last half ...Broken up into chapters focused on several countries Qatar, Tunisia, Iraq etc Culbertson interviews the populace to better understand the causes and ramifications of the Arab Spring movement in each country S...Shelly Culbertson travels through a region in the aftershocks of upheaval and change She paints a picture of time and place, of political history alongside personal recollections Part travelogue, part current events in the wake of historical tremors, The Fires of Spring is comparat...Full Disclosure I won a copy of this book in the Goodreads giveaway program.Excellent review of The Arab Spring events Thoughtful and concise.

The Fires of Spring
  • 24 May 2017
  • Hardcover
  • 384 pages
  • 1250067049
  • Shelly Culbertson
  • The Fires of Spring