A well-argued, accessible commentary on one of today’s most complicated geopolitical issues.
Chowdhury analyzes the intertwined foreign politics of America, Israel, and Iran.
As a college graduate seeking to start a career on Wall Street in 2003, Chowdhury was appalled by his classmates’ reactions to the buildup to the war in Iraq, which went far beyond policy disagreements. He observed how they “uncritically consumed…the propaganda pouring out of Washington” and embraced a binary view of “good versus evil.” While the domestic context is different, he sees a similar movement toward war with Iran, particularly following the Trump administration’s attack on its nuclear facilities in June 2025. Seeking to “humanize a country” often treated in Western media as a continual global threat, the author emphasizes the ways Iranians—from librarians who maintain archives of “ancient Persian tolerance” to disillusioned students whose censored critiques are ubiquitous on social media behind virtual private networks—defy Western stereotypes. While critical of the official government stances taken by Israel, Iran, and the U.S., the author extends similar nuance to Israel’s internal debates, which he argues are “fractious, layered, and intensely contested” despite the lack of journalistic attention to dissident voices. Per the book’s convincing analysis, America’s hardline stance against Iran’s nuclear program—whose roots lie ironically in Dwight Eisenhower’s “Atoms for Peace” initiative in the 1950s—is problematic due to its inherent double standard, which confirms American hypocrisy in the minds of many Iranian officials. With an eye toward peace, Chowdhury argues that war with Iran could intensify regional instability (similar to the way the invasion of Iraq preceded decades of violent chaos), and lasting peace “demands a fundamental shift in how each side sees the other.” The book’s informed analysis, backed by a network of research endnotes, is balanced by an engaging style written by a skilled author who has penned both nonfiction books and historical novels. Its nuanced analysis will challenge the preconceptions of readers on all sides of the debate, prioritizing the inherent humanity that transcends geographical, religious, and political boundaries.
A well-argued, accessible commentary on one of today’s most complicated geopolitical issues.Pub Date: July 31, 2025
ISBN: 9798898528911
Page Count: 406
Publisher: Fabrezan & Phillipe
Review Posted Online: Sept. 18, 2025
Review Program: Kirkus Indie
A dauntless, moving account of a kidnapping and the horrors that followed.
Enduring the unthinkable.
This memoir—the first by an Israeli taken captive by Hamas on October 7, 2023—chronicles the 491 days the author was held in Gaza. Confined to tunnels beneath war-ravaged streets, Sharabi was beaten, humiliated, and underfed. When he was finally released in February, he learned that Hamas had murdered his wife and two daughters. In the face of scarcely imaginable loss, Sharabi has crafted a potent record of his will to survive. The author’s ordeal began when Hamas fighters dragged him from his home, in a kibbutz near Gaza. Alongside others, he was held for months at a time in filthy subterranean spaces. He catalogs sensory assaults with novelistic specificity. Iron shackles grip his ankles. Broken toilets produce an “unbearable stink,” and “tiny white worms” swarm his toothbrush. He gets one meal a day, his “belly caving inward.” Desperate for more food, he stages a fainting episode, using a shaving razor to “slice a deep gash into my eyebrow.” Captors share their sweets while celebrating an Iranian missile attack on Israel. He and other hostages sneak fleeting pleasures, finding and downing an orange soda before a guard can seize it. Several times, Sharabi—51 when he was kidnapped—gives bracing pep talks to younger compatriots. The captives learn to control what they can, trading family stories and “lift[ing] water bottles like dumbbells.” Remarkably, there’s some levity. He and fellow hostages nickname one Hamas guard “the Triangle” because he’s shaped like a SpongeBob SquarePants character. The book’s closing scenes, in which Sharabi tries to console other hostages’ families while learning the worst about his own, are heartbreaking. His captors “are still human beings,” writes Sharabi, bravely modeling the forbearance that our leaders often lack.
A dauntless, moving account of a kidnapping and the horrors that followed.Pub Date: Oct. 7, 2025
ISBN: 9780063489790
Page Count: 208
Publisher: Harper Influence/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Aug. 15, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Sept. 15, 2025
A powerful reiteration of principles—and some fresh ideas—from the longest-serving independent in congressional history.
Another chapter in a long fight against inequality.
Building on his Fighting Oligarchy tour, which this year drew 280,000 people to rallies in red and blue states, Sanders amplifies his enduring campaign for economic fairness. The Vermont senator offers well-timed advice for combating corruption and issues a robust plea for national soul-searching. His argument rests on alarming data on the widening wealth gap’s impact on democracy. Bolstered by a 2010 Supreme Court decision that removed campaign finance limits, “100 billionaire families spent $2.6 billion” on 2024 elections. Sanders focuses on the Trump administration and congressional Republicans, describing their enactment of the “Big Beautiful Bill,” with its $1 trillion in tax breaks for the richest Americans and big social safety net cuts, as the “largest transfer of wealth” in living memory. But as is his custom, he spreads the blame, dinging Democrats for courting wealthy donors while ignoring the “needs and suffering” of the working class. “Trump filled the political vacuum that the Democrats created,” he writes, a resonant diagnosis. Urging readers not to surrender to despair, Sanders offers numerous legislative proposals. These would empower labor unions, cut the workweek to 32 hours, regulate campaign spending, reduce gerrymandering, and automatically register 18-year-olds to vote. Grassroots supporters can help by running for local office, volunteering with a campaign, and asking educators how to help support public schools. Meanwhile, Sanders asks us “to question the fundamental moral values that underlie” a system that enables “the top 1 percent” to “own more wealth than the bottom 93 percent.” Though his prose sometimes reads like a transcribed speech with built-in applause lines, Sanders’ ideas are specific, clear, and commonsensical. And because it echoes previous statements, his call for collective introspection lands as genuine.
A powerful reiteration of principles—and some fresh ideas—from the longest-serving independent in congressional history.Pub Date: Oct. 21, 2025
ISBN: 9798217089161
Page Count: 160
Publisher: Crown
Review Posted Online: Oct. 21, 2025
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 15, 2025
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