Review Return to the Marshes, Life with the Marsh Arabs of Iraq

Young, Gavin, Return to the Marshes, Life with the Marsh Arabs of Iraq, Collins, 1977

 

Return to the Marshes, Life with the Marsh Arabs of Iraq by Gavin Young is a huge disappointment. On the one hand it contains a large number of color photos of the Iraqi marshes which are very impressive. On the other hand the text adds little to the book as Young got caught up giving a history of Iraq starting from ancient times rather than just focusing upon the Marsh Arabs.

 

The reason to get this book is the photographs. There are dozens of them showing the inhabitants known as the Madan, their watery environment, their boats, the wildlife and their reed houses. Some of the latter are huge constructions with intricate weaving techniques which reminds one of an old church in some cases. They also show the transformations the community was going through in the 1970s which was the last time the author Young travelled to the area. Men can be seen carrying AK-47s, there are corrugated metal huts and some of the marshes had been destroyed to make way for fields. This is worth the price of the book alone.

 

The problem with the Return to the Marshes is that Young almost completely failed to describe the life of the Madan. Instead what he provides is a history of Iraq from Sumerian times to the monarchy era of the 1950s. Most of this writing has little to nothing to do with the marshes. For instance he seems to think that giving the history of the southern province of Basra is somehow a history of the marshes when it’s not.

 

Halfway through the book it finally reaches the modern times and it takes even longer to find an interesting chapter about how modernity was finally reaching the people. Young originally travelled through the region in the 1950s and then returned in the 70s. He noted that there were schools, people were wearing better clothes, the population had to adapt to making money which meant they were fishing with nets which used to be forbidden by tradition and were becoming farmers. That also meant people were moving to larger towns to take part in economic activities rather than being spread out between various small islands in the marshes. That chapter was the only one that was really worthwhile to read. The rest could be skipped and there would be no real loss.

 

Return to the Marshes should be seen as a picture book with some extraneous text. Just taking in the photographs is worthwhile. Little of what Young has to say is of any relevance to them.

 

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