Author: Unknown
•5:08 PM
By Ines Flores


Saddam Hussein is an Iraqi leader born in 1937 who became president in 1979. He is remembered for strengthening the oil industry in Iraq as well as its military. To maintain power, he often used brutal measures that eventually cost him his life at the hands of Iraqi government. In 2006, he was found guilty of genocide and crimes against humanity that he was executed for in Dec 2006. What most people do not know about him is that he was an author of several Saddam Hussein books.

In the list of books written by Saddam include four novels and a few poems. The novels include Men and City, Begone, Demons, Zabibah and the King and also The Fortified Castle. They were anonymously published using the pen name of the author. Some of these materials became part of the curriculum for schools in Iraq. Others became best sellers after his death.

Saddams first novel is Zabibah and the King that is a romance novel and in 2000 published anonymously. Although mainly a romance novel, it is also an allegory and political metaphor. Hussein presents himself as the hero, the Arab while Zabibah is the people of Iraq. Her character is a beautiful woman married by unloving man and who is also the Arabs love interest.

According to the novel, the husband to Zabibah is unloving and cruel. The husband is mean to be an allegory to the United States. When he rapes Zabibah, it is a metaphor for the invasion of Iraq. Other characters represent the relationship with Israel, Jews and other the countries which the author perceives to be its enemies. This novel managed to sell over a million copies and its royalties shared among charities.

Men and the City is the third book authored by Hussein. It was published in 2002 and its style is a little bit different from the styles of the rest of these books. Men and the City is more of an autobiography telling the story of rulers grandfather against the Turks of the Ottoman Empire. It is believed that the story was ghostwritten but others claim that there is evidence to disprove this.

The Fortified Castle is Husseins third novel. Like most of the others, it is a political metaphor and allegory. Published in 2001, it is about the delayed wedding of the Iraq protagonist to a Kurdish girl. The protagonist, Sabah is a war hero from the Iran-Iraq war. The fortified castle makes a reference to Iraq with many proposals to divide its wealth.

Begone, Demons is Saddams fourth and last novel. It loosely translates to Get out of here, Curse You! It was written before the Iraq war in 2003 and published in 2006 in Tokyo by a Japanese publisher. Although fictional, it is believed to be a political metaphor. Published in Japanese and later translated into Turkish language. No other translation is available.

The four books written by Saddam Hussein are very significant to him, his era and Iraq. They were all authored at a time when his political career had begun to die. Also, it represents a troubling period for him and Iraq citizens. Lastly, they are a demonstration of hope, strength and a bit of ignorance for a person who considered himself a hero.




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