Baghdad and Beyond. Mora Dickson. London: Dobson Books Ltd., 1961. 192 pp.

Introduction

The book I chose to review for this particular course is entitled ―Baghdad and Beyond”
by author Mora Dickson. This book describes how the state of Iraq, the land where ancient
civilizations once bloomed, looks like in the eyes of a Scottish woman who, along with her
husband, had migrated to Iraq for work (which the author deliberately did not elaborate) during
the early 1950‘s before the Revolution changed the political face of Iraq.

Summary

he book started with Chapter 1 entitled ―Baghdad‖, which the author describes
T ―…not of ancientness or earnestness but, on the contrary, of brand-new,
immaculately-dressed modernity… Everywhere new buildings were going up, new bridges being
flung across the Tigris; whole streets were pulled down in clouds of dust…and plans prepared
for better, finer, newer quarters. Baghdad was alive and changing, on the move.‖ (p.12). The city
is bustling with bazaars, goldsmiths, quilt makers, carpet shops, and traditional tea sellers
partnered by boys selling cold Coca Cola. Despite the growing modernity of the city, the old
began to be apparent, such as children and women begging in the streets, pitiful Kurdish porters,
and their women who were still kept from the public eye.
The second and third chapters are dedicated to the experiences of the author regarding the
public transportation service of the city namely the bus and the taxi. Dickson, the author, calls
herself a ‗convert‘ to the Baghdad bus service and rarely used any form of transport for the rest
of her stay there. She writes, ―…the buses, clean, punctual, well driven, had idiosyncrasies of
their own; they had added a Middle Eastern character to their native qualities of reliability an
efficiency‖ (p.31). On the other hand, she calls the Baghdadi taxi drivers as probably among ―the
world‘s least –disciplined drivers, and perhaps also the world‘s luckiest.‖ When it comes to
traffic direction, as mentioned in Chapter 5 (p. 44) she calls the police ‗hopelessly incompetent‘.
In the following chapters, Dickson shows the culture and the conventional ways and
characteristics of the Arabs in general and the Iraqis in particular. Examples are eating khobuz (a
kind of bread), eating with the hands, attending a masquf (grilled fish) near the Tigris, sitting on
the carpet, and segregation. In jobs, especially office work, most of them seem to be idle and

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unorganized. Also, the author greatly stresses her dismay on the restriction of Arab women,
although a few are gradually following somewhat liberated concepts.
In matters of religion, Dickson states, ―while most countries west of Iraq are Sunni and
east Iraq Shi‘a, Iraq itself was divided between the two.‖ (p.79). The south of Baghdad lie the
holy cities of Kerbala and Najf to which thousands of Shi‘a pilgrims come for the festival
commemorating the death of Hussein, the grandson of Muhammad. The author then narrates her
journey and the procession while wearing the aba, hiding her unambiguous tension. There are
also small groups of Christian minorities in Iraq. The Assyrians (historically persecuted people
who were driven out from their home near the Iraq-Turkish-Iran Border) were Nestorians, a
Christian sect.
To foreigners, particularly the Britons, the author states Baghdad is ―a name so deeply
associated with the Arabian Nights , the romantic East and desert inaccessibility that even the
most hardened feel a stirring at being told to work there… This erroneous, uncalled for, but
persistent feeling results in pathetic disillusionment...‖ (p. 51). She then narrates some of the
encounters of her countrymen whom she befriended and mentions the danger and difficulty of
traveling during their time. Speaking of traveling, Iraq has her own rich history, once renowned
for its ancient civilization, evident by its ancient sites and monuments which travelers and
tourists alike will no doubt be fascinated. The details of the author‘s sightseeing were elaborated
at Chapter 11, where she visited sites such as Agerguf, Ukhaidher, Samarra, the Arch of
Ctesiphon and the famous Ziggurat.
The last chapters of the book narrate the author‘s travels to the north for the holidays,
beyond the borders of the capital but still within Iraq. She traveled to a lot of places; some are
cities while others are merely villages in the vast desert. Her notable journeys are, Dujailah, Kut,
Amara (where she met the Marsh Arabs), Kirkuk, Erbil, Shaqlawa, Kurdistan, Diana, Rowanduz,
and then Aqra, where she met the Chaldeans, another Christian sect, before finally returning
back again to Baghdad. The last part, the epilogue, Dickson expressed her wonder when she‘ll
look back at her notes again, in time, ―whether I would find the views expressed out of date and
the picture presented totally false. In fact I do not think so.‖ (p.192). She concludes that in every
revolution, there are lives that changed for better or for worse; but a great portion of the majority
whose lives still remain unchanged, referring them as ―humble and unimportant, the people in
fact whom this book is written.‖

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 Critical Analysis

efore reading “Baghdad and Beyond” by Mora Dickson, I expected the book to
B explore the political side of Iraq, or at least of its capital, Baghdad. Instead, she
narrates her experiences and describes interesting events in the country once known as
Mesopotamia. In fact, there is nothing complicated about the book. I must admit I enjoyed the
book. This is because Dickson‘s composition is easy to understand. After I finished reading it, I
noticed she mostly describes the rather typical daily life of the Iraqis—poor, average, or rich.
Dickson also elaborates their surroundings, culture, customs, and traditions while providing
black and white illustrations—sketches—which the author herself drew. While the drawings
were fine and helped readers visualize, I just wished that Dickson had added more color for
emphasis.
Mora Dickson‘s ―Baghdad and Beyond” basically is a description of her stay in Baghdad,
and in the later part of the book, a narration of her journey to the north outside the state‘s capital.
She obviously shows her fascination at Arab customs, but laughs at their idleness. At times, it
was kind of biased. The author, as a foreigner in a Middle East country, questions –irreverently
at times—about their practice, especially towards women. She criticizes their practice of
patriarchal dominance and protests the un-emancipation of their women, which still persists
today. She may be right on that matter. Ironically though, in a certain incident involving a
woman in a certain festival, she wrote, “what a curiously distorted picture of western women
they must have if they imagine that none of us are content with domesticity.” (p. 95). This shows
that while the author have a different perspective about them, the Iraqi women too. Culture
shapes us, which differs one from another. Regrettably, her European mentality is conspicuous,
thinking Western culture is better. She may be right on her conclusion though. The author
implicitly describes the Iraqis as idle, traditional and patriarchal.
As a whole, this book is an optional read. The fact that a lot of important changes had
taken place in Iraq rendered this outdated book almost obsolete. However, Mora Dickson‘s
simple, humble, and uncomplicated book is still worthwhile for general readers interested on the
situation of Iraq before its industrialization, progress, tragic wars, and of course, the Revolution
which forever changed her political spectrum.

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