Men and the City

Saddam Hussein, the former ruler of Iraq, published four books in total. All of his works were published under the pen-name 'the author' probably to preach his ideology. Although the Iraqi government included the books on the nations' syllabus for Iraqi schools, after the war the Saddam's books enjoyed something of a renaissance, with official copies and bootleg copies of his last book selling out.[1]

Men and the City
First edition cover
AuthorSaddam Hussein
CountryIraq
LanguageArabic
GenreHistorical fiction novel
PublisherIraqi government
Publication date
2002
Media typePrint (Hardcover)
Pages320
Preceded byZabibah and the King (2000)
The Fortified Castle (2001) 
Followed byBegone, Demons (2003) 

Details

Men and the City (Arabic: رجال ومدينة‎ rujjāl wa-madīna) is a 320-page[2] novel by former Iraqi leader Saddam Hussein[3] which was published in 2002. The work was largely autobiographical in nature and describes how Saddam Hussein's grandfather fought the Turks during the Ottoman Empire.[1] It also focuses on the rise of the Ba'ath Party and several of Saddam's relatives including his uncle.[4] It was the third work which Saddam published.[5] The hero of the novel is a character named Saleh but it is widely assumed that the novel is a thinly veiled autobiography of Saddam himself.[6]

Although there are some suggestions that the text was ghost written, a review of Men and the City by Sa'adoon Al-Zubaydi, Saddam Hussein's presidential translator, confirms that Saddam was indeed the author:

Often the text is illegible. It must be rewritten, clarified. It is not true, however, that the texts were written by his secretary, as has been insinuated. I have seen all of the original manuscripts. They were written in Saddam's typical orderly handwriting, with few deletions and many repetitions. When he stumbled upon a new word, especially a complicated one, he would become fascinated with it and use it again and again, almost always inappropriately.[2]

Before the 2003 Invasion of Iraq, Men and the City along with two of Saddam's other novels Zabibah and the King and The Fortified Castle were put on the syllabus of Iraqi schools. Saddam's name never appeared on any of the front covers with "A novel written by its author" appearing instead.[7] The novel was like Saddam's previous literary efforts praised by Iraqi literary critics and authors upon its publication.[8]

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See also

References
  1. The struggle for Iraq: The prisoner; Banned, Then Bootlegged, Saddam Hussein the Literary Lion Roars Again - New York Times
  2. "LOST IN TRANSLATION - interview with Saddam Hussein's presidential translator". Archived from the original on 2011-01-07.
  3. Shiite books go from banned to bestsellers in Iraq : ThingsAsian
  4. Heroes and villains | Books | The Guardian
  5. Saddam in La-La Land :: Daniel Pipes
  6. Novel attributed to Iraqi leader portrays a young, fearless Saddam - AP Worldstream | HighBeam Research - FREE trial
  7. Inside Iraq Blog - Times Online - WBLG: Archived 2009-02-10 at the Wayback Machine
  8. Saddam Hussein may have written fourth book. - Free Online Library
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