Saddam Hussein (Major World Leaders)

A former English teacher who taught Harper Lee's novel for years, Charles J. Shields has a BA in English and an MA in American history from the University of Illinois, where he was a James Scholar. The author of many widely praised books for young people, he spent four years researching "Mockingbird" in Alabama, New York, and Kansas, speaking to hundreds of Lee's neighbors, friends, classmates, and culling facts from the archives of Truman Capote and other collections, as well as papers from the Monroe County (Alabama) courthouse and historical museum. He lives in central Virginia with his wife.

Reviewed with Charles J. Shields' Vladimir Putin.

Gr. 5-8. These entries in the Major World Leaders series introduce two names constantly in the news. Hussein is somewhat disappointing as a biography, focusing mostly on Iraq and Hussein's 30 years in power. There's little about Hussein's personal life, or about his relationship with his oldest son (and possible successor), and there's only passing reference to the horrible things Hussein has done and may do. As history, however, this is a solid choice, with extensive, informative chapters on the consequences of colonialism, the Iran-Iraq and Persian Gulf wars, weapons inspection, and, bringing the chronology up to the present, regime change in Baghdad. The final chapter considers the challenges of a war against Iraq. Putin covers events that led to the leader's coming to power: the cold war, glastnost, the fall of the Soviet Union, and the resignation of Putin's predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. Shields writes interestingly about the leader, his lifelong desire to be a spy, his family life, and how he rather surprisingly got to where he is today. Each book features well-chosen photos, a chronology, and a short bibliography. Fine additions to the biography or history shelf. Ilene Cooper
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