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Title: Thieves of Baghdad: One Marine's Passion for Ancient Civilizations and the Journey to Recover the World's Greatest Stolen Treasures
ISBN: 1593978715
Author:
Publicate Date: 2005-10-26
Publish: 2005-10-26
List Price: $29.95
Average Customer Rating: 4.5
Format: Audio CD
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Amazon Lowest New Price: $1.72
Amazon Lowest Used Price: $1.50
Amazon Merchant Price: $29.95
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| Customer Review: |
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1: Thieves of Baghdad review
Book is a quick read, staccato style of writing. Author Col Bogdanos is straightforward and non-critical as he describes the way he recovered the treasures,cash and gold from Iraq. One can't help but wonder if the recovery of the treasures, like that of Iraq itself, will be sustained or just fall again when the animals take control of the zoo.
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2: The looting is the point
There were many aspects of the art recovery story that were both useful and interesting. Especially the use of the human resources of experienced police, prosecutors and the museum staff. It was regretable that so much laudatory, sometimes self evident and eventually irritating material about the author was seen as desirable. This aspect detracted from the authority of the author and the work.
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3: A quick historical review
Colonel Matthew Bogdonos did a great service by writing about his account; however, I must completely agree with a prior review regarding this egotistical author. Being a former Marine and an undergraduate in Historical Studies, he discredited his book by boasting. A book of this scope should be strengthened by facts, sources, and even personal experiences, as long as the ego can be left out of it. While I was satisfied with the book, I wouldn't recommend this book unless one could forgive the semantics.
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4: A soldier supporter
Colonel Bogdanos has a fascinating tale of the war on terror, Iraqi reconstruction, and the recovery of stolen artifacts. Unfortunately, the author's ego too often overshadows the amazing tale.
Certainly the author had the opportunity to witness history-changing events. He was a neighbor who saw the destruction of the twin towers. He visited Afghanistan and saw the trouble of rebuilding the remote country. Then he went through Iraq and finally settled in the Iraq museum in Baghdad, helping recover and protect artifacts.
Unfortunately, Bogdanos' boasting occurs early and often. He recounts how he evacuated his building in lower Manhattan after the towers fell. Reading his description makes it sound like he escorted his family through a war zone. He was packing a gun, hustling past roadblocks, and scanning for threats. My initial thoughts were "Didn't thousands of other people make this same passage safely ... and without nearly as much machismo?"
Based on his biographical overview, you'd think the author single-handedly came up with the idea of protecting the Iraq Museum, that he was the one who developed the plans to recover the stolen artifacts, and (best yet) that he was responsible for developing inter-agency anti-terror training.
My impression is that he was a part of those efforts, but that he had a lot of (understated) partners. Reading his book, you will see no such partners. Instead you will see a lot of underlings who are grateful for such a smart leader. You will see two types of supervisors: the bumbling ones who overlook Bogdanos' obvious qualifications and contributions, and the intelligent ones who give Bogdanos the authority to fulfill the mission only he can accomplish.
A good story of post-war Iraq is in this book. Unfortunately, Bogdanos' bravado distracts too much from it.
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5: Not Impressed!
This book for several reasons did not impress me. First, Bogdanos drops a lot of names of "important" people that enlist his help and vice-versa. Problem is, they're just names to the reader. I don't know these people from Adam and the author does very little to "flesh them out". Second, his need to continually quote famous historical figures to prove he is a well-educated serviceman not only shows his insecurities and self-righteousness but also slows the story to a snail's pace. While he claims to be telling a story about marines and the wonderful work they do, rather than himself, he engages in some pretty heavy self-glorification. Third, while he denies couching any of his story in political partisanship, the political theater that he participates in is filled with Republican "good ol' boys". Some of the justifications Bagdanos gives for the military's reluctance to safe guard museums and archaeological sites seems valid while other reasons do not. I saw Matthew Bogdanos at a lecture in Indianapolis this spring. His haughty demeanor did not dispel any of the reservations I feel about this bias account. On the positive side, Bogdanos does give the reader a picture of the historical significance of Mesopotamian artifacts and background on the domestic and colonial personalities that helped shape present day Iraq. His passion for history cannot be denied. He also gives some of the Western media as well as the Iraqi museum staff positive credit. However, for a truly humbling account of the "shock and awe" aftermath, please read Lawrence Anthony's "Babylon's Ark".
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