The year that was–13 | Great non-fiction books of 2024

BEING in the legal profession, my reading is generally limited to reading books on that subject, some new and others re-read. But, then, often you feel like getting away from the deary stuff of law journals, commentaries, case laws, etc., to get into the world of politics, history and philosophy. And, yes, some good books on law too. Here are some of the books that I read last year.

Night of Power: The Betrayal of the Middle East by Robert Fisk

Robert Fisk was the foremost journalist covering the Middle East. Fisk was based in Beirut and covered the Middle East for fifty years. His most famous book Pity the Nation: The Abduction of Lebanon, is the story of the Lebanese Civil War, the Israeli invasion, the massacre of Palestinian women, children and older men at Sabra and Shatila by the Christian Phalangists aided by Israel in 1982. Pity the Nation was followed by The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East.

Night of Power was published posthumously by his partner and colleague. Fisk died in 2020. The title of the book happened by chance. The ‘night of power’ falls on the twenty-seventh day of the Muslim fasting month of Ramadan, and marks the day when the Quran was first revealed to the Prophet.

According to Muslims, “Whoever prays during this night will be pardoned for many of their previous errors.” The Muslims of Palestine, Syria, Iraq, Libya and Lebanon “continue to live in fear and horror and in the faint hope that learning about history may help us comprehend the terrible nature of the tragedy”.

Reading Night of Power is like watching history at close range— the antagonism, the drama, the horrors, the killings and the betrayals. With what’s happening in Gaza today, it is a must-read.

War by Bob Woodward