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| Children of Jihad: A Young American's Travels Among the Youth of the Middle East | 
 enlarge | Author: Jared Cohen
Publisher: Gotham
Category: Book
List Price: $25.00
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You Save: $21.42 (86%)
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Avg. Customer Rating:  (15 reviews)
Sales Rank: 323572
Languages: English (Original Language), English (Unknown), English (Published)
Media: Hardcover
Number Of Items: 1
Pages: 288
Shipping Weight (lbs): 1
Dimensions (in): 9.4 x 6.4 x 1.1
ISBN: 1592403247
Dewey Decimal Number: 915.60454
EAN: 9781592403240
ASIN: 1592403247
Publication Date: October 25, 2007
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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| Editorial Reviews:
Product Description
Defying foreign government orders and interviewing terrorists face to face, a young American tours hostile lands to learn about Middle Eastern youth?and uncovers a subculture that defies every stereotype.
Classrooms were never sufficient for Jared Cohen; he wanted to learn about global affairs by witnessing them firsthand. During his undergraduate years Cohen travelled extensively to Africa?often to wartorn countries, putting himself at risk to see the world firsthand. While studying on a Rhodes Scholarship at Oxford, he took a crash course in Arabic, read voraciously on the history and culture of the Middle East, and in 2004 he embarked on the first of a series of incredible journeys to the Middle East. In an effort to try to understand the spread of radical Islamist violence, he focused his research on Muslim youth. The result is Children of Jihad, a portrait of paradox that probes much deeper than any journalist or pundit ever could.
Written with candor and featuring dozens of eye-opening photographs, Cohen?s account begins in Lebanon, where he interviews Hezbollah members at, of all places, a McDonald?s. In Iran, he defies government threats and sneaks into underground parties, where bootleg liquor, Western music, and the Internet are all easy to access. His risky itinerary also takes him to a Palestinian refugee camp in southern Lebanon, borderlands in Syria, the insurgency hotbed of Mosul, and other frontline locales. At each turn, he observes a culture at an uncanny crossroads: Bedouin shepherds with satellite dishes to provide Western TV shows, young women wearing garish makeup despite religious mandates, teenagers sending secret text messages and arranging illicit trysts. Gripping and daring, Children of Jihad shows us the future through the eyes of those who are shaping it.
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| Customer Reviews: Read 10 more reviews...
 Disappointing June 15, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
Mr. Cohen was obviously young and naive when he wrote the book. It offers only a view of youth from a first time and young visitor, based on random encounters. It is not for the reader who wants new insight into the Middle East. And it most certainly is not a look at the youth who will be willing to wage jihad, or who are being effected by the jihadist movement.
 A New Hope April 4, 2008
1 out of 1 found this review helpful
This book is an inspiring tale of a very brave young Jewish man traveling through out very hostile lands. I found it to be a very interesting read and I appreciated the historical background given as the author travels to each country. We do need a reminder that not every person living in those countries agrees with their countries policies. There is a hope that the youth of those countries will make changes. We must be very aware of the struggles they go through and how we can help them.
children of jihad February 28, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
author cohen's courage to research and write this book is to be commended. the info he shares with us is invaluable to our understanding and compassion for the youth of the middle east. with this knowledge and our acceptance we have the chance to lend our hand to a peaceful and fruitful resolution for one of the world's most dire situations. certainly this endeavor will take much time and perseverance, but cohen's book establishes the hope and direction for such a future. i would like all my friends and acquaintances to read CHILDREN OF JIHAD to realize we are more alike than different and appreciate the fact that it is opportunity or the lack of that determines our outcome, as cohen so succinctly illustrates. if we look to our youth, we do have a future.
Provocative and bold - Cohen tells the story of the slient majority in the Middle East January 21, 2008
1 out of 2 found this review helpful
In "Children of Jihad," Cohen weaves together an honest and insightful thread of stories about his travels and life in the Middle East. But unlike many experts on the Middle East who have come before, who tend to focus on the charismatic and/or infamous leaders typically associated with the governments of the Middle East, Cohen looks to the future, to the demographic bulge of young people who will both inheret and dominate the political and cultural landscape in the Middle East.
He makes compelling arguments, through anecdotes and recollections of his travels throughout Iraq, Afghanistan, Syria, Lebanon, etc, that these young people are precisely the hearts and minds we need to be winning. The true value of his approach lies in the fact that he doesn't view his encounters through the lens of a foreign policy expert but rather as a peer, as someone who is genuinely looking for answers, and as someone who will listen to the stories that are so often left unheard and reflect on the implications for the America, the West and the World.
It's refreshing to hear an informed perspective on how the West and the Middle East can and will co-exist, despite the many perceived differences. "Children of Jihad" is a must-read for anyone who wants to attain or update an informed opinion on the current and historical issues facing this important region.
Remarkable! January 17, 2008
1 out of 3 found this review helpful
This brilliant author deserves our admiration for not just writing an extremely compelling book, but for having the courage to seek out the experiences that very few have dared to search for. I am extremely disapointed and critical of anyone who tries to detract from the significant accomplishment that this book represents, and I cannot wait to see how Jared Cohen, possibly the greatest foreign policy mind of my generation, changes the world for the better.
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