WILL STONE fact-checks the colourful life of Ozzy Osbourne
Courage in adversity
MARY CONWAY recommends a compelling and complex story of one Iraqi family, held together by their Jewish heritage
Or Yehuda memorial, in Tel Aviv, dedicated to the 9 Jews executed – altgether 14 were executed in public for alleged spiying for Israel including three Muslims and two Christians in Baghdad in 1969
[Avi1111/CC] 
JAMES CROSSLEY applauds a lucid biography of the German radical preacher who reemerged as a hero in the GDR
Prizes all round: the Bard hands plaudits to the Miners Gala, OT&JC, Joe Solo, Black Sabbath’s frontman and the Lionesses
Star cartoonist JAMIE BRITTON is in awe of a graphic novel of epic proportions that explores class, religion and globalisation via the strange cultivation of Ginseng in the US Midwest
GUILLERMO THOMAS is intrigued by a history of the Middle East that demonstrates how promising post colonial beginnings were snuffed out by Western imperialist interests
MARIA DUARTE recommends the intricate study of a high-performance and highly dysfuntional German family
Um-Kamal
By Fawzi Ibrahim
KFI Publishing £11.99
IRAQ, throughout history, has been a source of wonder: the cradle of civilisation, the inspiration for the Garden of Eden while, in recent times, a stain on the collective conscience of the thinking West.
But what is it really like to live there?
Fawzi Ibrahim’s debut novel is a unique insight. Starting in 1948 and seen from this century, it brings us the compelling and complex story of one Iraqi family, held together by their Jewish origin and the steadfast, unwavering strength of a mother so purposeful that she pits her simple family loyalty against a military-controlled, hostile, anti-Jewish state.
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