The news from Libya is bound to spark a flood of literature about Gaddafi, Libya and the Arab Spring in general. Here is a selection of published books and forthcoming releases on the subject:
Gaddafi’s most famous work is The Green Book, which details his political philosophy. Its subjects range from breastfeeding to racial supremacy, and it has been variously described as “insane” and “surreal gibberish”. It may appear to be a psychotic symphony, but, as Andrew Roberts has noted in the Daily Beast, irrationality was Gaddafi’s leitmotif and it became an agency of his power. Christopher Hitchens touches on this theme when discussing the unstable nature of tyranny in his autobiography Hitch-22.
Veteran Middle East correspondent Ronald Payne wrote a piece for Coffee House back in February recalling his interviews with the then new and dashing leader of Libya (pictured together above). Later in the decade, Payne published The Carlos Complex, which drew on his long experience in the region and accused Gaddafi of being the “paymaster of terror”. Payne returned to the theme in the mid ‘80s when he and Christopher Dobson collaborated on War without End: The Terrorists.
John R. Bradley is a frequent contributor to the Spectator, who warns that the democratic Arab Spring is being hi-jacked by Islamists. He has particular reservations about the Libyan rebels, many of whom have ties with al-Qaeda and may have fought as insurgents against the US and Britain in Iraq. Bradley’s book on the issue is to be published in the New Year.
For a different perspective on the Middle East revolts, I recommend Karima Khalil’s photo-history of the uprising in Egypt, which was exclusively previewed on the Spectator’s books blog.
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