social sciences

摘要

Part memoir, part real-life thriller, Al Samawi's breathtaking account begins in Sanaa, Yemen, where the author was born and raised and led a typical life as a Zaidi Shia Muslim. In college, he begins to meet people from other cultures and to question his childhood learnings. This new awareness creates a desire to work in interfaith matters fostering a commonality among Jews, Christians, and Muslims. These efforts, however, result in death threats, and when the civil war in Yemen intensifies, Al Samawi reaches out to friends to help him leave his home country. Over the course of two weeks, through the use of social media, they create a network of U.S. Senators, Indian officials, and others to get the author aboard a boat to Djibouti in East Africa. Throughout, readers learn about Yemeni history, doctrinal differences between Shia and Sunni Muslims, geopolitics of the Middle East, and Al Samawi's family. VERDICT This debut memoir is engaging and tragic yet full of hope as a worldwide effort is undertaken to save Al Samawi's life. A triumphant work that will appeal to a broad general readership.