  | Book Details Title: Father of Lions: One Man’s Remarkable Quest to Save the Mosul Zoo |
Book DescriptionReview “This is an unexpectedly funny and moving book. You might not expect to laugh when reading about ISIS-held Mosul, but through the story of a man who loves both lions and life, Louise Callaghan shows how humour and defiance can counter cruelty, and why both humans and animals crave freedom.” –Lindsey Hilsum, International Editor, Channel 4 News and author of In Extremis: the life of war correspondent Marie Colvin.”Callaghan knows her way around a war. Her portrayal of a city under siege is many-layered and brilliantly told.” — Sunday Times “When ISIS took over a sprawling park near his home in Mosul, Iraq, Abu Laith was confident he could protect his pregnant wife and their 13 children. . . He wasn’t so sure about the zoo animals. . . But Abu Laith was determined to save them.” –New York Post “Powerful and equally inspirational. … Outstanding.” –Psychology Today “An engaging yet heartbreaking narrative that reads like fiction.” –Kirkus Reviews“Callaghan’s intense story of saving a zoo serves as a human look at life in a war-torn city.” –Publishers Weekly“Callaghan’s first book is a true page-turner.” –School Library Journal, starred review“Father of Lions is a captivating and timely read.” –The Buzz Magazines Read more About the Author Louise Callaghan is the Middle East Correspondent for the Sunday Times (UK), one of the youngest ever hired by the paper. She has had long-form pieces published in The Sunday Times Magazine, Vogue, and the Times Literary Supplement. She won the Marie Colvin Award for British Journalism, New Journalist of the Year at the 2016 British Press Awards, Young Journalist of the Year at the 2017 British Journalism Awards, and made Forbes’ 30 under 30 in media 2018 list. Father of Lions is her first book. Read more Customers Review: This is the story of Abu Laith, an animal lover who managed to keep some of the animals from the Mosul zoo alive during the war in Iraq. Mosul is in the part of Iraq that was taken over by Isis and eventually reconquered by the Iraqi army. Abu Laith is a well-off car mechanic who worked to build up the Mosul zoo. He is especially fond of a lion cub he named Zombie (after Simba in The Lion King, via some incorrect subtitles). Abu Laith has a large family, at least ten children, including stepchildren and children from two wives. The story is indeed pretty amazing. It’s hard to believe it was possible to keep animals alive in a war zone for years at a time, when humans were finding it tough to survive and find food. Abu Laith had plenty of help, including a young man named Hakam who helped bring attention to the plight of the zoo animals in Mosul, and Dr. Amir, a vet with an international rescue organization for zoo animals.The book appears to support the idea that the U.S. invasion of Iraq was pointless. However, not much attention is given to the Iraq war overall.The best part of the book is its description of life under Isis. Abu Laith and his wife Lumia are interesting people, as are Hakam’s family. I really enjoyed getting to know the history of these Mosul families and understanding their experiences during the war. It isn’t exactly easy to cook dinner when a bullet can come through the kitchen window at any moment, but if you’re hungry, sometimes you have to do that. It’s surprising what you can get used to. The book is lively and often funny, especially when Abu Laith is trying to deal with religious fanatics who know nothing about wild animals. On the other hand, Abu Laith’s obsession with the animals often seems nutty.I would have liked a broader focus to the story. Abu Laith clearly loves lions, and often dreams for Zombie to live in the wild. He understands that there’s something degrading and unnatural about keeping a lion in a cage. There’s no connection made here between the immense ecological footprint of humans and the plight of wild lions. Abu Laith’s large family bothers me. He continues to have children during the Isis occupation. There’s no evidence of any pushback on this from his wife, relatives, friends or neighbors. My understanding of the history of Iraq is that its landscape is extremely deteriorated, with very poor soil. This is a result of overpopulation, combined with overgrazing and deforestation. These problems go back many centuries, but have greatly worsened recently. Climate change is only making matters worse. Until these problems are addressed, both in the Middle East and elsewhere, it seems likely that the Middle East will have continued instability. For more on this, see the books “Dirt: the Erosion of Civilizations” by David Montgomery, and “Move Upstream” by Shragg.There was a happy ending here for a couple of zoo animals. It’s much less clear that there will be a happy ending for Iraq, a happy ending for the world’s wildlife, or a happy ending for humanity on the Earth. | |
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