In July 1950,Avi Shlaim,only five,and his family were forced into exile,fleeing from their beloved Iraq into the new state of Israel.
Now the rump of a once flourishing community of over 150,000,dating back 2,600 years,has dwindled to single figures. For many,this tells the story of the timeless clash of the Arab and Jewish civilisations,the heroic mission of Zionism to rescue Eastern Jews from their backwards nations,and unceasing persecution as the fate and history of Jewish people.
Avi Shlaim tears up this script. His mother had many Muslim friends in Baghdad,but no Zionist ones. The Iraqi Jewish community,once celebrated for its ancient heritage and rich culture,was sprayed with DDT upon arrival in Israel. As anti-Semitism gathered pace in Iraq,the Zionist underground may have inflamed it - deliberately.
This memoir celebrates the disappearing heritage of Arab-Jews - caught in the crossfire of secular ideologies.
Publisher: Oneworld PublicationsISBN: 9780861544639Dimensions: 234 x 153 x 30 mm
MEDIA REVIEWS
'This remarkable upside-down tale... A personal story,not a polemic... provocative... His personal odyssey confers on Shlaim an exceptional authority for his words; he can say things that others of us cannot... his thesis deserves to be considered with respect.'
'At the heart of this riveting and profoundly controversial book is Shlaim's investigation into the Baghdad bombings against Jewish targets in 1950 and 1951... This is a beautifully written book which artfully blends the personal with the political. The recollections of family life in both its glory and its anguished tribulations are vividly recreated. Shlaim's is a powerful and humane voice which reminds us that the Palestinians were not the only victims of the creation of Israel in 1948.'
Three Worlds,by the Oxford historian of the modern Middle East Avi Shlaim,is an often enchanting memoir of his childhood in Baghdad... A gripping account... A lost world in Iraq,which is brilliantly brought back to life in this fascinating memoir.'
'An intimate and engaging life story that forces the reader to re-examine three very different worlds - Iraq,Israel and Britain - in the middle decades of the twentieth century. A reflective and insightful plunge into the identity politics of the Arab-Jew by one of Britain's greatest public intellectuals. But also the best book I've read all year.'
'This memoir is an engrossing personal narrative as well as a historian's penetrating reflection on the misfortune of the "other victims" of Zionism: Jews exiled from their old Arab homelands where they were well integrated,and transplanted to Israel,to serve as a subaltern class of the Hebrew settler nation.'
'Three Worlds juxtaposes a fascinating family story,unfolding across Iraq,Israel,and the UK,with an intriguing historical account of Iraqi Jews during an especially calamitous period. Here the preeminent scholar of the Arab-Israeli conflict furnishes a precious personal glimpse into a past in which Arab-Jews figure prominently,generating a more subtle and multilayered picture of the partition of Palestine and its aftermath.'
'In thisdetailed,resonant account,historian Shlaim recalls the complexities of growing up as an Arab Jew in Iraq and Israel... Those interested in alternative Jewish attitudes toward Zionism will find thisilluminating.'
'Sharply observed,and without stridency,in making a case for an ecumenical Israel.'
'Brave... Well written and informative,this is a fascinating glimpse into a forgotten world.'
'Vivid... This luminous memoir... offers readers a chance to reimagine life not ruled by force,fear,deceit and exclusion.'
'Avi Shlaim's intriguing,ideologically-driven book,Three Worlds,is a bitter-sweet autobiography of an accomplished Iraqi Jew who left his homeland under duress,an impassioned look back at Iraq's lost Jewish community,and a stinging critique of Zionism and Israel.'
'Shlaim goes into great depth to ascertain what happened through conversations with nonagenarians living in Israel... This book conveys a sense of profound sadness about those who found themselves at the mercy of events over which they had no control and who have lived with a continuing anguish.'
'A wonderful book. Part heart-wrenching memoir,part historical masterwork... compelling... this book is a must... Such personal experiences are both riveting and tragic to read about.'
'While the subtitle positions the book as a memoir,it is more accurately described as a hybrid genre of political-social history,family history,and personal memoir...an insightful window into an understudied and under-researched aspect of both the modern Middle East and twentieth-century mass displacement... a compelling read in its interweaving of personal history and politics.'
'(Shlaim's)mizrahiroots and experience produce a raw nerve,the emotional and psychological wellspring of his later oeuvre and politics... His personal story is moving,and it is told with atypical,engrossing candor... Three Worldsis very readable,like everything that Shlaim writes.'
'His memoir,despite being tragic in many ways,is ultimately hopeful,because Prof. Shlaim still believes in the possibility of a country where ethno-religious binaries break down and different peoples can live side by side in a hybrid culture.'
'Shlaim's seventh and latest book is very different from his previous works but equally enlightening... Three Worldsis a captivating book. Shlaim is equally skillful in introducing to the reader the history of his family as he is when adopting the more detached perspective of the historian,which shines the brightest in his research about the bombings against Jewish targets in Baghdad.Three Worlds (is) proof of the special value to be found in the memoirs of experienced scholars that combine their personal stories with broader history.'
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