A Lens Through Saddam Hussein Books

By Ines Flores


He was born in 1937 and died in 2006.He became supreme ruler of Iraq in 1979. Saddam Hussein was famed for strengthening Iraq military and the entire oil industry. In addition, he is known and remembered for brutality in the effort to maintain power. For these crimes, he was executed in 2006 by the Iraq government after he was found guilty and charged of genocide and crimes against humanity. He was also an author having written four Saddam Hussein books.

In the list of books written by Saddam include four novels and a few poems. The novels include Men and City, Begone, Demons, Zabibah and the King and also The Fortified Castle. They were anonymously published using the pen name of the author. Some of these materials became part of the curriculum for schools in Iraq. Others became best sellers after his death.

Zabibah and the King is a romance novel written by Saddam Hussein and published anonymously in 2000. The characters include Arab, the protagonist, Zabibah, Zabibahs husband, Hezkel, Shamil and Nuri Chalabi. Although the novel has a romantic theme, it is intended to be as an allegory with the protagonist being Hussein. Zabibah is a poor woman unhappily married who the Arab seems to like. She represents the people of Iraq.

The relationship between Zabibah and her husband is unloving and cruel. At one point he rapes her, which is believed to represent Iraqs invasion. As a result, the husband is an allegory to the United States. Hezkel, Nuri and Shemel represent other perceived enemies of Iraq such as Israel, Jews and merchants. The novel sold over a million copies and proceeds donated to charity.

Men and the City is another of his novels published in 2002. Its the third of his books to be published. This particular book is more of an autobiography that tells the story of how his grandfather battled the Ottoman Empire. Although it is rumored that the book was ghostwritten, there is evidence that Hussein might have written it.

The third novel by Hussein is the Fortified Castle. Like almost all the others, its an allegory as well as a political metaphor. It was published in the year 2001 and tells the story of a delayed wedding. The protagonist is an Iraq war hero called Sabah getting married to a Kurdish girl. The war hero participated in the significant Iran-Iraq war and was left wounded.

Begone, Demons, a basically a translation of Get out of here while Cursed You is the fourth but also last novel authored by Saddam. It was written in 2003 in anticipation of the Iraq war. It got published much later in 2006 in Tokyo by a Japanese-based publisher. Since then, it has only been translated into Turkish and no other translations exist.

The four books written by Saddam Hussein are very significant to him, his era and Iraq. They were all authored at a time when his political career had begun to die. Also, it represents a troubling period for him and Iraq citizens. Lastly, they are a demonstration of hope, strength and a bit of ignorance for a person who considered himself a hero.




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