Enemy combatant : my imprisonment at Guantánamo, Bagram, and Kandahar /

In a fast-paced, harrowing narrative that's likely to become a flash point for the right and the left, Begg tells of his secret abduction by U.S. forces in Pakistan, his detainment at American air bases for more than a year and at Guant namo for two more years as an enemy combatant. A British Muslim of Pakistani descent, Begg grew up in Birmingham and excelled at school before becoming involved with Islamic political causes and later moving to Afghanistan to become a teacher. After fighting broke out in Kabul, he and his wife and children moved to Islamabad in 2001, where U.S. operatives seized him. In March 2004, Begg was released from Guant namo under pressure from the British government, but over the objections of the Pentagon, which still considers him a potential terrorist. Despite considerable media speculation over what Begg may have left out of this memoir, it's a forcefully told, up-to-the-minute political story. Whether Begg is describing his Muslim and Asian friends fighting white supremacist skinhead street gangs in Birmingham, or telling how he shared poetry with a U.S. guard at Guant namo, his tone is assured. His work will be necessary reading for people on all sides of the issue. (Sept.) (c) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved

CIA operatives forcibly took Begg, a British citizen of Pakistani descent, from his home in Islamabad in 2002 and imprisoned him in Guant namo from 2003 until 2005, when he was released without charges. He reports in detail racist interrogations, death threats, solitary confinement, and torture and maintains that he is innocent of any crime. Written with a former foreign editor of the Guardian, this memoir also covers Begg's childhood in Birmingham, England, including attendance at a Jewish primary school, early gang fights against racist skinheads, and travels with an aid caravan to Bosnia, where he briefly visited a military training camp. Begg's explication of Muslim thought is insightful. Throughout his detention, he conveys a sense of empathy with his guards while condemning both the 9/11 attacks and the nightmarish injustice of Guant namo. Recent media reports of the book's omission of details, such as Begg's 1994 arrest owing to possession of night-vision goggles and a bulletproof vest (charges were dropped), make this title additionally controversial. Recommended for public and academic collections in memoir or international affairs. April Younglove, Linfield Coll. Lib., Portland (c) Copyright 2010. Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.