Review: Every Man in This Village is a Liar: An Education in War

Every Man in This Village is a Liar: An Education in War by Megan K. Stack
My rating: 3 of 5 stars

While this book is subtitled "An Education in War", a more accurate subtitle might be "An Education in The Islamic World". For, other than some in-the-shit reporting from the 2006 Lebanon War, this is largely a non-military journalist's memoir. The reportage of dealing with translators, handlers, and citizens covers also Jordan, Egypt, Iraq, an ex-pat community in Saudi Arabia, and even Yemen where Stack had an almost Zelig-like ability to be on the group during key moments of conflicts. From this travelogue of interactions with people largely overwhelmed with uncaring governments, tense conflicts with locals on the group segues to the sad tale of murdered journalist Atwar Bahjat. One is left with the feeling that the author could easily have gone down the same path as Bahjat.

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