Although many think of the Kurds primarily as disgruntled residents of Iraq, in fact the are a significant segment of Turkish and Iranian societies and others as well. Natali (legal and political research, Salahaddin U.) uses her 13 years of research and experience to expose the complex interrelationships in and amongst the Kurdish people; that there is nothing natural about the Kurdish national identity, that Kurdish relations with other ethnic groups in the region are not have a natural hatred for one another, that Kurdish nationalists are not inherently defiant toward their respective states, and that Kurds have not consistently differentiated themselves from Arabs, Turks or Persians. She covers the complex history behind both the real state of affairs and the misconceptions and distortions that have grown up around them, concluding that rethinking nationalism , ethnicity and the "Kurdish problem" is essential. Annotation ©2006 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)