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The Wolf of Baghdad: Memoir of a Lost Homeland
In the 1940s a third of Baghdad’s population was Jewish. Within a decade nearly all 150,000 had been expelled, killed or had escaped. This graphic memoir of a lost homeland is a wordless narrative by an author homesick for a home she has never visited.
Transported by the power of music to her ancestral home in the old Jewish quarter of Baghdad, the author encounters its ghost-like inhabitants who are revealed as long-gone family members. As she explores the city, journeying through their memories and her imagination, she at first sees successful integration, and cultural and social cohesion. Then the mood turns darker with the fading of this ancient community’s fortunes.
This beautiful wordless narrative is illuminated by the words and portraits of her family, a brief history of Baghdadi Jews and of the making of this work. Says Isaacs: ‘The Finns have a word, kaukokaipuu, which means a feeling of homesickness for a place you’ve never been to. I’ve been living in two places all my life; the England I was born in, and the lost world of my Iraqi-Jewish family’s roots.’
Transported by the power of music to her ancestral home in the old Jewish quarter of Baghdad, the author encounters its ghost-like inhabitants who are revealed as long-gone family members. As she explores the city, journeying through their memories and her imagination, she at first sees successful integration, and cultural and social cohesion. Then the mood turns darker with the fading of this ancient community’s fortunes.
This beautiful wordless narrative is illuminated by the words and portraits of her family, a brief history of Baghdadi Jews and of the making of this work. Says Isaacs: ‘The Finns have a word, kaukokaipuu, which means a feeling of homesickness for a place you’ve never been to. I’ve been living in two places all my life; the England I was born in, and the lost world of my Iraqi-Jewish family’s roots.’
207 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 30, 2020
8 people are currently reading
259 people want to read
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews
June 25, 2020
As a Muslim Iraqi, when I first came across this book and found out it was from a Jewish Iraqi perspective and about the Jewish Iraqi community, I felt it was important for me to read since their history is just as much mine and yet it is actively erased and ignored.
This memoir evokes a range of emotions; nostalgia, joy, curiosity, sadness, heartbreak, a sense of loss and many more.
It’s very easy to follow and understand,
Carol Isaacs has done an amazing job with this memoir and has only urged me to learn and do more.
I highly recommend this to everyone of all interests.
ETA:
This isn’t a history book. This memoir is amplifying Jewish Iraqi people’s history in their words as they narrate their own experience and history, which I feel is extremely important in this day and age.
This memoir evokes a range of emotions; nostalgia, joy, curiosity, sadness, heartbreak, a sense of loss and many more.
It’s very easy to follow and understand,
Carol Isaacs has done an amazing job with this memoir and has only urged me to learn and do more.
I highly recommend this to everyone of all interests.
ETA:
This isn’t a history book. This memoir is amplifying Jewish Iraqi people’s history in their words as they narrate their own experience and history, which I feel is extremely important in this day and age.
January 14, 2021
Shaun Tan's The Arrival meets Marjane Satrapi's Persepolis. Interspersed with prose testimony and reminiscence, this dialogue-free graphic novel about the author's imagined return to a Jewish Baghdad populated by ghosts is a moving reconstruction of a lost society, suffused with a longing for a home that never was.
October 22, 2023
There had been a large Jewish community in Iraq since 586BC, with its members very much involved in the government, the economic and the cultural life of the country, particularly in Baghdad. In the 1950’s the Jewish population was around 150,000, in 2016 it was 5.
The graphic novel chronicles the experiences of some of the Jews (relatives of the author) who were born in Baghdad, but now live outside Iraq – a number now in London. Their stories are told through old photographs, and their quotes, and illustrated as a series of panels showing the author (?) moving through their remembered homeland. She is (most often) dressed in a black hijab, her relatives appear as transparent ghosts, emphasising that their presence in Iraq is a thing of the past.
The title comes from the superstition, that wolves offer protection to the Jews of Iraq from spirits and demons. Many of the panels have a small black wolf in them, keeping a watch over the Jews.
While the memories of life in Baghdad are good, the panels are drawn with a white or light grey background, or with blue for night scenes, and often punctuated with musical notes. But as the antisemitism (first imported by the Nazis, then taken up by the Arab Nationalists) gets worse and worse, the background gets darker and darker until it is black and menacing. The wolf howls. The Jews have no choice but to leave.
At the end of the graphic novel is a brief word about the author’s family, messages from other Iraqi Jews, and a timeline of the Jewish community in Iraq.
I really liked the way this graphic novel was written and drawn. I knew almost nothing about the Jews in Iraq before reading this, and learnt so much. It really brings home to you, how vital Israel is to the Jewish people. There has to be somewhere they can feel safe, and not worry about being expelled and murdered – as has happened far too often in the past, and in many countries. While the treatment of the Palestinians by the Israeli government often cannot be condoned nor excused, its roots and fears should be understood.
I highly recommend this book.
The graphic novel chronicles the experiences of some of the Jews (relatives of the author) who were born in Baghdad, but now live outside Iraq – a number now in London. Their stories are told through old photographs, and their quotes, and illustrated as a series of panels showing the author (?) moving through their remembered homeland. She is (most often) dressed in a black hijab, her relatives appear as transparent ghosts, emphasising that their presence in Iraq is a thing of the past.
The title comes from the superstition, that wolves offer protection to the Jews of Iraq from spirits and demons. Many of the panels have a small black wolf in them, keeping a watch over the Jews.
While the memories of life in Baghdad are good, the panels are drawn with a white or light grey background, or with blue for night scenes, and often punctuated with musical notes. But as the antisemitism (first imported by the Nazis, then taken up by the Arab Nationalists) gets worse and worse, the background gets darker and darker until it is black and menacing. The wolf howls. The Jews have no choice but to leave.
At the end of the graphic novel is a brief word about the author’s family, messages from other Iraqi Jews, and a timeline of the Jewish community in Iraq.
I really liked the way this graphic novel was written and drawn. I knew almost nothing about the Jews in Iraq before reading this, and learnt so much. It really brings home to you, how vital Israel is to the Jewish people. There has to be somewhere they can feel safe, and not worry about being expelled and murdered – as has happened far too often in the past, and in many countries. While the treatment of the Palestinians by the Israeli government often cannot be condoned nor excused, its roots and fears should be understood.
I highly recommend this book.
February 29, 2020
This is a graphic non-fiction charting the experiences of Iraqi Jews who were persecuted following WWII through to their expulsion in the 1960s and 70s. It's a period of history I had no awareness of at all, and this opened a door to yet another area which my school education failed to reference - namely that Naziism was not just confined to Europe, it extended much much further and much later in history.
While I found the content to be important and illuminating, the style was too sparse for me. There is very little narrative here, and I was left wanting so much more. This may have been due to unfair comparisons to The Complete Persepolis which had a similar artistic style and the overlap of being about Middle Eastern history, but gave a lot more narrative text.
3.5 stars for opening my eyes to an underrepresented period of history, I wish I'd been given just a little bit more information to be able to bring it up to 4.
While I found the content to be important and illuminating, the style was too sparse for me. There is very little narrative here, and I was left wanting so much more. This may have been due to unfair comparisons to The Complete Persepolis which had a similar artistic style and the overlap of being about Middle Eastern history, but gave a lot more narrative text.
3.5 stars for opening my eyes to an underrepresented period of history, I wish I'd been given just a little bit more information to be able to bring it up to 4.
May 26, 2020
An incredible book, beautiful in every way. Up there with my favourite graphic novels of all time
June 1, 2021
3.5 Stars!
“Even if we could go back to Iraq it would be as Jewish ghosts.”
We all know about the fate of the Jews in the Holocaust during WWII, but Isaacs shines a light on an aspect of the conflict which is rarely given much exposure outside of the Jewish community, the horror and misery inflicted upon the Jews in Baghdad during the same era.
“During the 1940s, Jews were a third of Baghdad’s citizens. Today fewer than half a dozen remain.”
There are a number of fragmented voices which drift eerily through this book, talking of the mundane day to day pleasures of living in Baghdad, which are contrasted with the creeping darkness that was slowly but surely closing in all around them. These are people who can trace their lineage back more than 2,600 years to Babylonian times, and yet we see how quickly it took for them to be chased and shut out of their own land.
January 15, 2024
An important part of Jewish history in Iraq that I new very little about. I liked the message and the inclusion of Jewish voices in the recollection of Baghdad before the expulsion of Jews over the 20th century. I also wanted more information or more from the artwork but that is just my personal preference.
August 3, 2023
Honestly, this is a ghost story.
A sad, silent, and wordless ghost story.
What a lonely, heart-wrenching graphic novel.
I highly recommend this, put your books and phone down, and pick this up now. You won't regret it.
My family is Jewish. Not much is said about that part of our family. It's like we just wanted to forget.
I'll take anything I can get my hands on.
Read this.
A sad, silent, and wordless ghost story.
What a lonely, heart-wrenching graphic novel.
I highly recommend this, put your books and phone down, and pick this up now. You won't regret it.
My family is Jewish. Not much is said about that part of our family. It's like we just wanted to forget.
I'll take anything I can get my hands on.
Read this.
January 29, 2020
In all likelihood, you’ll have come across a few of Carol’s cartoons as The Surreal McCoy, but you may not be aware of her heritage. Carol’s family herald from Iraq which, back in the 1940s, had a population which was a third Jewish. Within just ten years almost all of the 150,000 Jewish people of Iraq had fled.
Carol has never visited her ancestral homeland. However, through the stories and photographs of her family, she is spirited away to a time when her family lived happily and comfortably in a vibrant city. As the pages turn so the mood changes, and we witness the events that altered the lives of so many people forever.
The book is punctuated by quotes from family members to emphasize the changing times. Other than these occasional comments the entire narrative is wordless, relying on Carol’s gift of visual storytelling. Despite the lack of words the emotion and tragedy are vibrantly apparent.
Stories like this deserve to be told and read, connecting us all with a recent past that’s so easily overlooked and at risk of being forgotten. The actions of one generation ripple down the years and can still be felt and we should all take the time to reflect upon them.
Carol has never visited her ancestral homeland. However, through the stories and photographs of her family, she is spirited away to a time when her family lived happily and comfortably in a vibrant city. As the pages turn so the mood changes, and we witness the events that altered the lives of so many people forever.
The book is punctuated by quotes from family members to emphasize the changing times. Other than these occasional comments the entire narrative is wordless, relying on Carol’s gift of visual storytelling. Despite the lack of words the emotion and tragedy are vibrantly apparent.
Stories like this deserve to be told and read, connecting us all with a recent past that’s so easily overlooked and at risk of being forgotten. The actions of one generation ripple down the years and can still be felt and we should all take the time to reflect upon them.
June 29, 2020
#review | It was a fine warm morning when I sat down to read The Wolf of Baghdad by Carol Isaacs. For as long as I can remember, I haven't read graphic novels. I used to peruse them in my childhood. I didn't know what to expect now that I finally had one in my hands. I never suspected I'll end up loving it as much as I did in a span of two hours. 🌸
Set in the 1900s, The Wolf of Baghdad is a wordless narrative taking us to the ancestral home of Carol Isaacs in Baghdad where she explores the history of her Iraqi-Jewish family. After the World War II, the Jews were persecuted and expelled from Iraq. Isaacs takes the reader through the gruesome convoluted events in the wake of the war with the help of gorgeous illustrations and quotes gathered from her family members. The first half of the book is light as the author is transported via music to her homeland. She also shows us the mundane ways of living and gentle customs of the people residing there. As the pages get darker, the events get intense and the course of history changes incessantly. Isaacs says, 'The Finns have a word, kaukokaipuu, which means a feeling of homesickness for a place you’ve never been to.’ 🌌
I could not get enough of this memoir. I had a wonderful time soaking up the beautiful graphics and the few words which held so much power. I was left wanting for more. Heart-wrenching, breathtaking and deeply moving. The Wolf of Baghdad should be a mandatory read. It consumed me. I loved every single page. Thank you Myriad Editions for sending over a copy. 🌟
Set in the 1900s, The Wolf of Baghdad is a wordless narrative taking us to the ancestral home of Carol Isaacs in Baghdad where she explores the history of her Iraqi-Jewish family. After the World War II, the Jews were persecuted and expelled from Iraq. Isaacs takes the reader through the gruesome convoluted events in the wake of the war with the help of gorgeous illustrations and quotes gathered from her family members. The first half of the book is light as the author is transported via music to her homeland. She also shows us the mundane ways of living and gentle customs of the people residing there. As the pages get darker, the events get intense and the course of history changes incessantly. Isaacs says, 'The Finns have a word, kaukokaipuu, which means a feeling of homesickness for a place you’ve never been to.’ 🌌
I could not get enough of this memoir. I had a wonderful time soaking up the beautiful graphics and the few words which held so much power. I was left wanting for more. Heart-wrenching, breathtaking and deeply moving. The Wolf of Baghdad should be a mandatory read. It consumed me. I loved every single page. Thank you Myriad Editions for sending over a copy. 🌟
October 27, 2021
beautiful drawings and engaging tale of the fate of Jewish Iraqis in Baghdad, told from people's own memories - their own and stories their grandparents told them. The cartoon drawings are excellent, especially the 'ghost' images, often with the wolf (or its eyes) overlooking from a corner or benimd a chimney.
A beautiful present and excellent addition to our uderstanding of 20-th century events in Iraq, so limited to many of us to the days of Saddam Hussein and the 2 Iraq wars.
Antisemitism pre-Israel has been so much more extensive than Hitler, over many centuries ... the current Israeli government behaviour in Palestine has inflamed things so much more but none of this is new. The more we teach ourselves, the more we understand and act in support of the rights of self-determination for all peoples.
I am really looking forward to discussing this with some of my Iraqi Muslim friends - i am scared they might not be interested in this book, but I really hope thats not the case.
A beautiful present and excellent addition to our uderstanding of 20-th century events in Iraq, so limited to many of us to the days of Saddam Hussein and the 2 Iraq wars.
Antisemitism pre-Israel has been so much more extensive than Hitler, over many centuries ... the current Israeli government behaviour in Palestine has inflamed things so much more but none of this is new. The more we teach ourselves, the more we understand and act in support of the rights of self-determination for all peoples.
I am really looking forward to discussing this with some of my Iraqi Muslim friends - i am scared they might not be interested in this book, but I really hope thats not the case.
February 4, 2020
A gentle meditative immersion into a way of life long past. This pictorial memoir communicates so much with short testimonials from those left of the Jewish community that fled Baghdad at the turn of the Second World War.
What surprised me most about this book was how prosperous multicultural cohabitation once seemed to be in Iraq. In stories of war-torn countries, the sweet mundane details aren't often shared but it is so important when they are. I especially enjoyed the connecting narrative of the protagonist discovering photos from the time and being led on a journey through ethereal streets by a mysterious wolf said to protect her people. Something about exploring ancestral memory in this lonesome way really touches me.
Isaacs is a talented artist and makes great use of the graphic novel form, forgoing callout and thought balloons for musical notes and separate pages of reported speech. It is always a joy to behold the intricate detail of drawn space without the need for words, allowing illustration to speak for itself.
I recommend The Wolf of Baghdad to those interested in Jewish and Iraqi history, as well as patrons of the graphic novel's potential.
What surprised me most about this book was how prosperous multicultural cohabitation once seemed to be in Iraq. In stories of war-torn countries, the sweet mundane details aren't often shared but it is so important when they are. I especially enjoyed the connecting narrative of the protagonist discovering photos from the time and being led on a journey through ethereal streets by a mysterious wolf said to protect her people. Something about exploring ancestral memory in this lonesome way really touches me.
Isaacs is a talented artist and makes great use of the graphic novel form, forgoing callout and thought balloons for musical notes and separate pages of reported speech. It is always a joy to behold the intricate detail of drawn space without the need for words, allowing illustration to speak for itself.
I recommend The Wolf of Baghdad to those interested in Jewish and Iraqi history, as well as patrons of the graphic novel's potential.
August 21, 2021
Carlo Isaacsin The Wolf of Baghdad on tekstitön sarjakuva Bagdadin juutalaisväestöstä ja sen historiasta. Omaelämäkerrallinen historiikki kertaa kuinka 150 000 juutalaista ajettiin natsimielisen antisemitismin siivittämänä kodeistaan 1930-luvulta lähtien, ja kuinka Irakin Baath-puolue lopulta teki juutalaisvähemmistön elämästä mahdotonta. Surumielinen kertomus pohjaa haastatteluihin ja muistelmiin, joiden maailmaan Isaacsin kertojaminä uppoutuu, poukkoillen kirjaimellisesti menneisyyden varjojen ja haamujen parissa. Pieni ja vaatimaton teos tarjoaa yhden näkökulman lisää nykymaailman mielettömyyteen.
December 29, 2020
Found this fascinating. Unique way of delivering history as a ghost travelling through her ancestors homeland. I never knew Baghdad had such a big Jewish population and that nazi Germany dropped propaganda cussing them to flee their homes forever. There were 150,000 Jews in Baghdad, today there are 6. Such a sad and tragic history although them fleeing there has enriched other parts of the world. Really enjoyed being part of this exploration of the past which made me feel like I was there.
November 25, 2022
I was pretty ignorant about this area of history and as usual, graphic novels are a beautiful way of exploring and highlighting such stories. The format didn't quite flow for me but the illustrations were definitely enough, reads like a meandering visual scene-scape. I'd be really keen to see the project described by the author where this is played as a motion picture alongside live music.
March 3, 2021
A beautifully poignant account of diasporic life and the overlapping nature of identity. Well-illustrated, articulate, and meaningful, Issacs presents a thoughtful study of what it means to have a home you'll never truly hold.
March 16, 2021
Fascinating insight into a plight of the Jews in Baghdad & Iraq as a whole during the Second World War.
I loved the sense that you’re going through a dream or memory, surrounded by ghosts. There was a real sense of melancholy and longing permeated through each panel too. Eye opening.
I loved the sense that you’re going through a dream or memory, surrounded by ghosts. There was a real sense of melancholy and longing permeated through each panel too. Eye opening.
March 19, 2021
Novel approach to telling the story of Baghdad and Iraq's Jews. A poignant and heartbreaking story told simply and without drama. The images pull you in to the story, slowly at first, and then with more and more strength. Highly recommend.
March 24, 2021
I was a bit put off when I realised it was a graphic book, but I’m so glad I read it, it’s a very moving story of a Jewish family how originally lived in Iraq, I hadn’t realised Iraq used to have a large Jewish population, beautifully told history of her family,
March 7, 2020
Loved this and helped me connect with my own history.
April 19, 2020
With few words and many drawing, the author brings readers to a lost world, the world of Jews who used to live in Baghdad.
August 9, 2020
An evocation of a city the author has never visited, as conjured forth by the recollections of her relatives. I wish her drawing style were more distinctive.
October 31, 2020
Lovely illustrations, not so much of a story.
Read
June 8, 2021Beautifully drawn sketches documenting the decline of the Jewish community in Baghdad in the course of the 20th century.
July 2, 2021
Koskettava ja tärkeä tarina, piirrustustyyli ei vain yhtään minulle mieleen.
June 28, 2022
This is a beautiful book. Although there isn't much writing, it isn't easy to read.
September 25, 2022
Such a beautiful way to explore and honour one's family history. The story and illustrations bring the past back to life and you feel like you are there.
October 1, 2022
A terrible, plotless concoction that is naive at best and fails to engage with the rich history of the Iraqi Jewish community on ANY level.
September 25, 2023
10/10 haunting.
September 12, 2025
Lovely seeing my heritage brought to life!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 36 reviews