A Fist in the Hornet's Nest: On the Ground in Baghdad Before, During & After the War

by Richard Engel

When war broke out in Iraq, every major U.S. network pulled its correspondents from the scene. Despite the risk, Richard Engel stayed. As our tanks entered Baghdad in April 2003, he was there, bringing the Iraqi war into American homes as a stringer for ABC news. Determined to deliver the whole Middle East story, Engel moved to Cairo in 1996 after graduating from Stanford to learn 'street' Arabic. Then to dig even deeper into the complicated powder-keg of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, he settled in Jerusalem.Now as Iraq enters its post-war phase and the Gulf region continues to dominate our nation's consciousness, more and more Americans will come to know and trust Richard Engel--especially in his current role as a correspondent for NBC Nightly News with Tom Brokaw. Both analytical and anecdotal, this book leads us through the war in Iraq, dissecting a myriad of Middle East issues, all from the vantage point of someone who is 'on the ground and in the streets' to get the real story.

Genres: Nonfiction, Middle East, History, Journalism, Memoir, Military Fiction, War

272 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 2004

About the author

Richard Engel is an American television journalist and author best known as NBC News's chief foreign correspondent. He was assigned to that position on April 18, 2008 from being the network's Middle East correspondent and Beirut Bureau chief. Engel was the first broadcast journalist recipient of the Medill Medal for Courage in Journalism for his report "War Zone Diary."

Prior to joining NBC News in May 2003, he covered the start of the 2003 war in Iraq from Baghdad for ABC News as a freelance journalist. He speaks and reads Arabic fluently and is also fluent in Italian and Spanish. Engel wrote the book A Fist in the Hornet's Nest, published in 2004, about his experience covering the Iraq War from Baghdad. His newest book, War Journal: My Five Years in Iraq, published in June 2008, picks up where his last book left off.

Reviews

[Mary · Rating 4 out of 5]

I've become fascinated with Richard Engel after watching all of his reporting from Egypt on MSNBC and NBC. I discovered he wrote two books. Just finished his first one and have started his second one. Very interesting accounts of the Iraq War from a reporter's perspective. I've gotten used to little soundbites about the war, so it was pretty enlightening to read more in-depth coverage. I think what makes this even more compelling is the fact that he has lived in the Middle East for quite some time and gives a different perspective than other reporters who just "parachuted in" for the war.

[Daniel · Rating 5 out of 5]

A Fist in the Hornet's Nest by Richard Engel is an interesting book. It is essentially a journal about his experiences being a reporter in Iraq and the Middle East in general. The book flows with time, starting as he embarks to Egypt beginning his career, and ending about a year or so after the fall of Saddam. There are stories about how he lived and worked in the region and, more importantly, how he survived. I read Richard's first book "War Journal" before this one. That book easily picks up where this one leaves off and follows the exact same format and writing style. I enjoyed this book quite a bit, the author knows how to write without overloading the reader with easily forgotten facts while maintining an interesting narrative about his experiences. A Fist in the Hornet's Nest can be painful, such as reading about him dealing with the loss of a journalist in the hotel they both worked and lived in, but, it can also be more lighthearted in a way, such as with his experience sampling the local food for the first time or about how he would leave the hotel should it catch fire or be attacked while he slept at night. As with "War Journal" I easily suggest anyone who enjoys this type of writing or interest in the war to read it.

[Cassandra · Rating 3 out of 5]

I admit, that this book was not my choice but I read it as a favor to our school's librarian. However, it was a very real accounting of what this journalist went through in the early days of the bombing in Baghdad. This is a great follow up to view after reading the book. It allows you to actually see what the author was describing.
Iraq Documentary

[Brian Bova · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good book. Great first hand accounts of the invasion Iraq from ground level from the only journalist who was brave enough to stay in Iraq when the military took over. Also showed how the Army and Marines did NOT communicate with each other when they took over separate sides of the Tigris river. Would recommend this book to anyone into first hand accounts of the war in Iraq. A++++

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

I have long appreciated Richard Engel's reports on NBC. When I heard that he had written this book, I was quick to put it on my TBR. I should have read it when I put it on my TBR.

Engel is an excellent writer. This is his story of getting out of college in 1996 and deciding that he wanted to be a foreign correspondent, so, like any intelligent, decisive young person, he took off for Egypt with lots of money wrapped in an ace bandage wrapped around his ankle and without any job prospects.

He learns the ins and outs of working and living in the middle East - who needs to be bribed, what credentials he needs and from whom. He learns the language with varying accents and becomes indespensible as a journalist and eventually is hired by ABC.

Most of this story has to do with the war in Iraq that culminated with the statue of Saddam Hussein being pulled down with the help of American troops. Engel explains the difference among Sunni Muslims, Shiite Muslims, and Kurds. He spatters with Arabic words, but always explains the meaning.

This is an easily readable book that explains much and still leaves unanswered questions. I recommend this book HIGHLY.

[Keith · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was phenomenal. It reads as both a personal story and history book and I recommend it to anyone interested in the Iraq War. His knowledge of the Arab culture (having lived in Egypt and being fluent in Arabic) was so helpful in understanding and explaining the culture. It helped me understand how Iraqi's can be celebrating the downfall of the Saddam regime by dancing in the streets one moment and then joining an insurgence the next.

Many parts were absolutely shocking and shows just how evil humanity can be. For instance, he describes how members of the former Regime would put explosives in the shirt pocket of people and blow them to pieces in the middle of the desert just for excitement, much like a kid blows up toys with a firecracker.

There were so many interesting perspectives I never thought of. For example, Iraqi's believed that the US Military was so exceptional that any mishaps, such as a stray missile killing civilians, had to be intentional. Along the same lines, they believed that the US Military could restore electrical power at the snap of the finger, or had the ability to stop the rampant looting, but choose not to.

[Anastasia · Rating 4 out of 5]

It was a very interesting and informative book written from a unique point of view. In addition I also quite enjoyed all the imagery that he used. Although some of the punctuation choices did throw me off at first.

[Claire · Rating 4 out of 5]

Interesting up until the end. I enjoyed the personal story, not the history book feel.

[Mitzi · Rating 4 out of 5]

Highly recommended so you know the whole story.

[Elizabeth Meier · Rating 5 out of 5]

terrific accounting of Engel's experience with theories of how the Iraq War went the way it did.

[Lauren · Rating 4 out of 5]

Let's start with the bad: the subtitle. After the war? Really? Published in 2004, this book came out over seven years before the actual end of the Iraq War. In other words: children born when this book was published were in elementary school when the Iraq War actually ended. In those seven years, thousands of American soldiers and Iraqi citizens died. Billions of dollars were spent. I wish 2004 had been the end.

Luckily, the subtitle is the worst part of this book by a long shot. While the writing is a bit sparse, A Fist in the Hornet’s Next is a prime example of substance trumping style. Richard Engel’s official title is the rather staid NBC News's Chief Foreign Correspondent, but that downplays what this man is willing to do to get a story (this past December, he was kidnapped in Syria and managed to escape, with his crew, five days later). A First in the Hornet’s Nest chronicles his first months in Iraq (at which point he was a freelance reporter), but calling it a memoir sells this book short. Same with labeling it a current events book – a genre which, all too often, is either partisan mind candy or written by people safely ensconced in offices thousands of miles from events.

Despite my quibble with the subtitle, that Mr. Engel wrote down his experiences and published them when they were still fresh and the situation ongoing gives the book an immediacy that makes it more than it would have been if published after the war actually ended. The narrative is not always neat, and there’s not much in the way of foreshadowing or definitive answers: instead, it’s about what one man witnessed in the days before and during the U.S. invasion. It makes for powerful reading that demonstrates the complexity of foreign relations and military action.

While reading, I found myself comparing A First in the Hornet’s Nest to Hans Keilson’s Life Goes On, which I recently finished. Despite their differences, both are invaluable first-hand accounts of much-discussed times in history. I’ve read plenty of commentary and analysis of the Iraq War, but Mr. Engel’s story stands apart because of his place within events. The closing lines of Dr. Keilson’s afterword perfectly summarize why A Fist in the Hornet’s Nest matters and will, I hope, endure as one of the most important books about the Iraq War:

It is human nature to forget, and to be forgotten. It is this fact that legitimates days of commemoration.

Literature is the memory of humanity. Anyone who writes remembers, and anyone who reads takes part in those experiences.

As we approach ten years since the start of the Iraq War, it seems more important than ever to remember and reflect, and A Fist in the Hornet’s Nest allows readers to do exactly that. Highly recommended.

[Marty · Rating 3 out of 5]

Richard Engel gives you a great seat on the ground in Baghdad before and after another very serious scuffle in the Middle East . A great primer to the local divisions that make up the Sunni/Shite conflict with Iraq and the Middle East. Who would have known how much this would affect the U.S. in today's world? I enjoyed this as a great enhancer to his other work in the Middle East. I know generations have had enlisted other old school journalists to inform us about a world away from the US ( Tom Brokaw, Walter Cronkite , Ted Koppel) lofty company I know but in terms of current day journalists I have to give it to Engel who has persevered and gives us a well informed insight to hot spots around the globe! I find his work a solid way to get a strong parse on what's impacting the world in various hot spots around the globe! Cheers

[Nick · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author does an excellent job sharing his feelings and experiences during the first couple of years in Iraq. For the most part it was more of a memoir instead of a political commentary. I especially liked that he was balanced in his view and did not seem to have an agenda. Most books which either pretend the U.S. is perfect or others that pretend Bush is the great Satan. Engel was optimistic that Iraq would take a long time but become a success, but at the same time he wasn't afraid to point out mistakes made by the U.S. and suggest his opinion on what may have worked better. If you like war memiors, or are curious about what happened during the first couple of years in Iraq then this is a book to read.

[Amy · Rating 5 out of 5]

I knew I had something of a plutonic "concerned crush" on Richard Engel long before reading this - "concerned" in that every time I saw him reporting from Fallujah or embedded within the most dangerous of infantries, I would let out an audible 'be careful Dick'. But after reading about his personal journey, my crush is much more developed and meaningful. What this guy went through just to be allowed the priviledge of telling first hand accounts that no one else had the stones to tell is nothing short of remarkable. I highly recommend this book.

[Linda · Rating 4 out of 5]

This is a carefully considered documentation of Engel's time in the Middle East leading up to and during the 2003, "shock and awe" campaign of the U.S in Iraq. Engle has a compelling writing style and this text is taken from diaries he kept and interview that he did during that time. I believe that Engel is as near to an expert in Middle East affairs that we have and that the U.S. government should pay rapt attention to his ideas and analysis of the Middle East. A good book for Middle Eastern background.

[John · Rating 5 out of 5]

This book was just absolutely fascinating to me. It’s about a journalist’s story of during and before the Iraq war. It gave me a real insight on the Middle East. But since he was only in Bagdad during the war, his report on the war was a bit narrow but otherwise great. Very interesting and well written, I enjoyed it immensely.

[Beth · Rating 4 out of 5]

Richard Engel pretty much shares his unfiltered views, in this bit of war reminiscence. I dont always agree with him, but I definitely wholly respect his opinion. He goes where others wont and shares the thoughts and feelings of people who most of us will never meet. its an interesting, read, fairly quick as well, and possibly thought provoking.

[Jeannine · Rating 4 out of 5]

He is very open & honest about what's really going on in Iraq & how this war has affected him & his relationships with family, friends, & ex-wife (due to the stress resulting from his time in Iraq, his marriage ended in divorce). He really does know how to affect readers in a deeply profound way.

[Leticia · Rating 5 out of 5]

Phenomenal just like his book, "War Journal: My Five Years in Iraq." He has seen so much and is such an amazing journalist and writer. Also has no fear to do a lot of the things he has done to get information and report the news.

[Mythili · Rating 4 out of 5]

For those who want a real, unbiased look at the beginnings of the war in Iraq this is the book to read. Kind of carries more weight given the fact we are still there 10 years later. His writing is simple, easy to follow.

[Henri Moreaux · Rating 5 out of 5]

Good read about the Iraq Gulf War II from the perspective of a journalist who was there. Covers a brief picture of his career beforehand, preparations before the war, circumstances during and an overview of after. A good read both from an entertainment and learning perspective.

[Jason Stephan · Rating 3 out of 5]

An up and down action accounts of how life effected the iraqi people during, and after the war. Also interesting on how life was prior to the fall of saddam hussian. A quicker easy read that gives a little insight on life in the Middle East.

[Stephanie Bluth · Rating 5 out of 5]

A must read if you struggle to understand the conflict in Iraq. I struggle keeping everything straight in my head, but having read this, I now have a much better understanding. I'm so thankful for that. Also, it's just a really compelling page-turner. I highly recommend it.

[Hans Hoffmann · Rating 3 out of 5]

I have read both his accounts of his time in Iraq ("War Journal") and in the middle east in general. His ability to speak fluent Arabic is a huge help in understanding the region and the people. I really enjoyed this book. In particular his analysis of the future of Iraq - positive.

[Kathy · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read this while I was waiting to read his latest book. He is a report in Iraq at the beginning of the war. Very real and interesting. Well written.

[Kristen Holland Shear · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesting read of what happened in Iraq from a veteran reporter.

[David · Rating 4 out of 5]

This guy is a brave man, and I really can't recall when I last thought that about a specific reporter.

[Beth · Rating 5 out of 5]

so many names of various factions, it was difficult to keep straight. need an entire class on the subject! Glad I read it.

[Adam Gott · Rating 4 out of 5]

An interesting, although somewhat incomplete, look at the US-Iraq war from inside Baghdad.

[Steven · Rating 5 out of 5]

A very good book.