1/30/2015

All About Saddam Hussein Books

By Ines Flores


Born in 1937, Saddam Hussein ruled Iraqi as president from 1979 to 2006. He is most remembered for nationalizing the Iraqi oil industry and military. Also, he was a brutal leader, using force to maintain power. The brutality cost him his life as he was found guilty of crimes against humanity and genocide. For the offences, the Iraqi government executed him in 2006. Another thing he is remembered for is four Saddam Hussein books he wrote.

There is a total of four books and several poems published by Saddam. All his work was anonymously published under the pen name-the author. The list of his works includes Men and City, Begone, Demons, Zabibah and the King and The Fortified Castle. Some of his works found their way into the Iraqi schools curriculum. After his death, most of them became best sellers.

Zabibah and the King is a romance novel written by Saddam Hussein and published anonymously in 2000. The characters include Arab, the protagonist, Zabibah, Zabibahs husband, Hezkel, Shamil and Nuri Chalabi. Although the novel has a romantic theme, it is intended to be as an allegory with the protagonist being Hussein. Zabibah is a poor woman unhappily married who the Arab seems to like. She represents the people of Iraq.

Zabibahs husband is depicted as cruel and unloving who represents the United States. Him raping Zabibah is an allegory to the invasion of Iraq by the US. Other characters are an allegory to Israel, Jews and others whom the author considered enemies of the state. After publishing, it sold over one million copies with royalties going to charities.

Men and the City is the third book authored by Hussein. It was published in 2002 and its style is a little bit different from the styles of the rest of these books. Men and the City is more of an autobiography telling the story of rulers grandfather against the Turks of the Ottoman Empire. It is believed that the story was ghostwritten but others claim that there is evidence to disprove this.

The third novel by Hussein is the Fortified Castle. Like almost all the others, its an allegory as well as a political metaphor. It was published in the year 2001 and tells the story of a delayed wedding. The protagonist is an Iraq war hero called Sabah getting married to a Kurdish girl. The war hero participated in the significant Iran-Iraq war and was left wounded.

The fourth and last novel by Saddam is Begone, Demons that is a loose translation of Get out of here, Cursed You! Written in 2003, it is an anticipation of the 2003 Iraq war. It was published in 2006 in Tokyo by a Japanese publisher. It is a work of fiction but with political metaphor. It was initially in Japanese and later translated to Turkish.

Saddam Husseins books are significant in the historical period in Iraq during the time they were written. In addition, they are significant to the former leader and his country since they were written when his demise had already begun. They are an outpour of strength, hope and ignorance.




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