Bengio (Middle East studies, Tel Aviv U.) celebrates the rise of Kurds in northern Iraq from what she characterizes as Saddam Hussein's brutal campaign that verged on genocide, to become a self-governing entity that can be courted by neighboring governments hostile to Iraq and Iran. She draws on archival British and Baathi documents, newspapers, public speeches, official declarations, and secondary sources in a number of languages. Annotation ©2012 Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)