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Books

The American who dreamed of peace for the Arabs – but was murdered in their midst

A review of The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames, by Kai Bird. One of the best nonfiction books ever written about the West’s involvement in the Arab world

31 May 2014

9:00 AM

31 May 2014

9:00 AM

The Good Spy: The Life and Death of Robert Ames Kai Bird

Crown Publishers, pp.437, £20, ISBN: 9780307889751

‘Arabist’ is fast becoming an archaism. Perhaps it is already one. These days the word conjures up enchanting visions of racy manuscripts examined over sharbat in the great domed residences of sympathetic chargés d’affaires and lone camels bumping along like single-masted cutters on a sand-dune ocean. At the age of six I dreamed of becoming one after watching David Lean’s great film for the first time.

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