Author Description

The Story of Mahmoud helps you see the world from the perspective of a child growing up in the Middle East. It is a must read for those wanting to understand the Middle East and build bridges of reconciliation. With grace and power, Jon Rose sweeps the reader through 10,000 years of Middle Eastern history in the ancient country of Mesopotamia, now Iraq – the hub of the Middle East. He hovers with a lamplight over the fused life of a present-day individual in one of any families racked by tragedy. Walk with Mahmoud through his childhood in the picturesque river city of Rawa, the years of deadly sanctions, the bombings, the grim scenes of Abu Ghraib prison, and much more. Today, the author and the real Mahmoud work together at the borders of war-ravaged Syria, helping the helpless, building the broken. Some say one thing we learn from history is that we never learn from history. For these men at least, that is not true. The Story of Mahmoud captures the voice and the heartcry of the silent majority of the hundreds of millions in the Middle East that are not often heard in mainstream Western media. Sad to say, the bad, the dramatic, the sensational is what grabs most of the world’s attention. How often do we hear about the teachers, the doctors, the nurses, the day workers who trudge along day after day living and working for peace in the world and a safe place to raise their children? From the twisting and squeezing of the lives of so many refugees through decades of hardship and suffering comes a sweet perfume, a determination to build a better Middle East, a better World, upon the ruins of the present. The backdrop for “The Story of Mahmoud” is based on documented historical events. Mahmoud is a real person, but his story as presented here is a composite of the experiences of numerous individuals who were affected by the same events. This is the uncensored story of people growing up and living through terrible times, of a