"Libya's Qaddafi" by Mansour El-Kikhia is marketed as some kind
of sensational and sensationally insightful book on Libya's strongman Gaddafi
and his regime.
In reality, it's nothing of the kind.
Most of the facts found in this book can also be found in similar works by St. Ronald Bruce John and Dirk Vandewalle. "Libya's Qaddafi" is actually a basic introduction to the history of Gaddafi's Libya, the political system, the economy, etc. There is nothing particularly sensational about this volume, except that it's grossly overpriced by Amazon's third party sellers.
Perhaps El-Kikhia's book gives such an unusual impression, because he never calls Gaddafi "mad"? That may be shocking to somebody who only reads American newspapers, but no serious scholar considers the Libyan leader clinical (although he is definitely extremely idiosyncratic!).
I have nevertheless decided to give this book four stars, but it's really an introductory text, than a fantastic new angle on the problem.
Originally published when Gaddafi was still in power.
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