Review Stephen Mansfield, The Miracle of the Kurds, A Remarkable Story of Hope Reborn in Northern Iraq, Worthy Publishing, 2014

Mansfield, Stephen, The Miracle of the Kurds, A Remarkable Story of Hope Reborn in Northern Iraq, Worthy Publishing, 2014

 

The Miracle of the Kurds, A Remarkable Story of Hope Reborn in Northern Iraq by Stephen Mansfield is meant to be an introduction to Kurdistan for an American audience. The author first met Kurds working for Christian charities helping the community after the Gulf War and fell in love with the people and culture. Unfortunately his book often reads like an ad for Kurdistan rather than a serious book.

 

The first half of the The Mircle of the Kurds is the worst because of how shallow it is. It goes over Mansfield’s general impressions of the Kurds. You get things like how he believes they are a generous people who don’t want to be part of the rest of Iraq, and that they have an ancient history. Then it goes into the inane like they love bright colors and that they are open to foreign investment and doing business with the West. He constantly refers to the “Kurdish miracle” which was the thriving economy of the region at the time. It reminded me of a Thomas Friedman piece in the New York Times when he gets “great insights” from riding around in a taxi except Mansfield had even less depth.

 

Then there are sections that are obviously aimed at selling the Kurds to an American audience. For instance he mentions that there was a large Jewish community in Kurdistan and after most left for Israel in the 1950s many synagogues were maintained. This is to show that they don’t hate Jews. He also talks about how some of the first Christians were Kurds and all the missionary work that American Christians did in Kurdistan. It’s a not so subtle way to distinguish Kurds from Muslims and Arabs who many Americans believe were bad after 9/11.

 

The second part is somewhat better because it’s more about the history of modern Kurdistan. It has a chapter on how cruel Saddam Hussein was which leads to another on the chemical attack upon Halabja and then the Anfal campaign where the Iraqi government tried to destroy the Kurdish opposition parties. Even then he goes over the history three separate times which seemed pointless.

 

If one wants an introduction to Kurds there are far better books. The general lack of depth and obvious pandering to an American audience are annoying. Mansfield obviously loves the Kurdish people but he could’ve done more than just be a cheerleader.

 

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