From Baghdad, With Love

Jan 3, 2025 9:53 PM

Author:Jay Kopelman,Melinda Roth

When Marines enter an abandoned house in Fallujah, Iraq, and hear a suspicious noise, they clench their weapons, edge around a corner, and prepare to open fire.

What they find during the US-led attack on the 'most dangerous city on Earth', however, is not an insurgent bent on revenge, but a tiny puppy left behind when most of the city's population fled before the bombing. Despite military law that forbids the keeping of pets, the Marines de-flea the pup with kerosene, de-worm him with chewing tobacco, and fill him up on Meals Ready to Eat. Thus begins the dramatic rescue attempt of a dog named Lava and Lava's rescue of at least one Marine, Lieutenant Colonel Jay Kopelman, from the emotional ravages of war.

From hardened Marines to wartime journalists to endangered Iraqi citizens, From Baghdad, With Love tells an unforgettable story of an unlikely band of heroes who learn unexpected lessons about life, death, and war from a mangy flea-ridden refugee.

Reviews

A tale of radiant joy ... The story of Lava's journey out of Iraq is exciting, but it's to Kopelman and Roth's credit that it's not nearly as harrowing as the story of what the dog left behind

—— PUBLISHERS WEEKLY

One of a handful of heartwarming tales to emerge from the war in Iraq

—— USA TODAY

With characteristic flair and passion, Dawkins has put on a stunning exhibition of the evidence for evolution. In his own words, 'Evolution is a fact... and no unbiased reader will close the book doubting it'

—— Dr Alice Roberts, Biological anthropologist, author & broadcaster

Richard Dawkins writes about evolution science with unflagging enthusiasm, wit and lucidity. This book is a wonderful addition to his already distinguished ouevre

—— Brian Eno

Dawkins's writing demonstrates once again his consummate skill as an explainer... the topics are all laid out with that combination of clarity and verve that is [his] hallmark

—— Guardian

A beautifully crafted and intelligible rebuttal of creationism and intelligent design

—— The Times

A voice of reason in irrational times, Richard Dawkins is both theorist and explainer of one of the greatest discoveries of the human mind

—— The Times

Dawkins gathers up the weight of evidence into a huge lump and hurls it at us from the highest heights his rhetoric can scale... but his grandness of vision still dazzles

—— Sunday Telegraph

Whether it's Lenski's bacteria or our own ancestors, Richard Dawkins discusses the evidence for evolution with his usual charm, style, clarity and brilliance

—— Simon Singh, author of 'Fermat’s Last Theorem'

Dawkins is the Jeremy Clarkson of biology: an effervescent and opinionated enthusiast who loves to poke fun at opponents' idiocies

—— The Sunday Times

He has lost none of his virtuosity in explanation, narration and the presentation of a clinching fact

—— Evening Standard

Dawkins remains a superb translator of complex scientific concepts ... he has a way of making the drollest details feel like a revelation

—— Publishers Weekly

This is the book Richard Dawkins needed to write and many need to read - a comprehensive account of evolution which faces the difficulties and questions his critics have raised. In it he draws on his great ability to write about science in a way that is clear, absorbing and vivid

—— Lord Harries of Pentregarth (formerly Bishop Richard Harries)

... He is an awesome thinker, a superb writer whose explanatory skills I envy, who dismisses his opponents with the thoroughness of a top silk

—— The Times

Dawkins emerges like a prize-fighter, knocking out of the ring all objections

—— Nature

Most importantly his writing radiates an intense sense of fascination. He is a great explainer, taking complex biological processes and making them accessible

—— Independent

If you want to understand evolution, I doubt there are many better at explaining it to laymen than Dawkins... A writer who is red in tooth and pen, his opponents don't stand a chance

—— Scottish Sunday Herald

An accessible, colourful and beautifully detailed look at many scientific wonders - whether it's the great variety of dogs or the sex life of orchids - and a great primer for those coming fresh to the subject

—— Irish Times

Richard Dawkin's new book... gives the fact-rejecters their just deserts

—— Daily Telegraph

The book is full of evidence, some familiar and some new. Its case is presented in a manner succinct, clear and sometimes vivid

—— Daily Telegraph

No other book currently available approaches Dawkin's comprehensive yet accessible treatment of the extraordinarily diverse and massive body of data that drives ineluctably to the same conclusion

—— National Center for Science Education

The Greatest Show on Earth is a lucid, thorough and often exciting survey of evolution and takes in rats' teeth, dogs, bacteria, the so-called missing link, crustaceans, giraffe anatomy, hummingbirds, chimpanzees, enzymes - you name it. It is informed in nearly every paragraph by Mr. Dawkins's irrepressible enthusiasm

—— Sarah Lyall , New York Times

The Greatest Show on Earth... is essential reading. I would currently rate it... as the best overall book on the evidence for Evolution

—— Marc E. Miquel , SCOPE

This is a magnificent book of wonderstanding: Richard Dawkins combines an artist's wonder at the virtuosity of nature with a scientist's understanding of how it comes to be

—— Matt Ridley, author of "Nature via Nurture"

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