Saddam's legacy: Wrecked lives and lost identities

My Father’s Rifle, by Hiner Saleem, Atlantic, €14.40.

When the filmmaker and artist Hiner Saleem was five years old, he witnessed his cousin Mamou being tied to a jeep and dragged through the streets until he was a lifeless, bloody rag. Mamou, a Kurdish patriot, had killed several pro-government militiamen. By the end of the day, seven members of Saleem's family were dead.

My Father's Rifle is a biographical narrative of a protagonist's ...