About this item
In his fascinating, terrifying and often very funny book, James Hider takes his doubts about religious beliefs straight into the dark heart of the world's holy wars - from Israel to Gaza to Iraq - the birthplace that spawned so many faiths - and then back to Jerusalem. From hardcore Zionist settlers still fighting ancient Biblical battles in the hills of the West Bank to Shiite death squads roaming the lawless streets of Iraq in the aftermath of Saddam; whether it's the misappropriation and martyrdom of Mickey Mouse by Gaza's Islamists, or a US president acting on God's orders, Hider sees the hallucinatory effect of what he calls the 'crack cocaine of fanatical fundamentalism' all around him. As he meets terrorists, suicide bombers, soldiers, ayatollahs, clerics, and ordinary and extraordinary people alike, the question that sparked his journey continues to plague his thoughts: how can people not only believe in this madness, but die and kill for it too? This extraordinary and timely book takes the God Delusion debate onto the streets of the Middle East.
About the Author
James Hider is a former war correspondent who covered conflicts in the Iraq, Libya, Israel, Afghanistan and the former Soviet Empire. He was wounded in the battle of Fallujah and kidnapped in Sadr City. He currently live in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, with his wife and two-year-old daughter, where he works as the South America Correspondent for The Times
