Victoria Clark (1) (1961–)

This book details the rise of Christian Zionism, starting in 1621 during the reign of James I of England. The goal of returning the Jews to Jerusalem, and returning Jerusalem to the control of the Jews, is a long lasting one, and has traveled far. Now rare in England, it has become a common phenomenon in the US, and many of the leaders of the Christian Zionists are not far from the corridors of power. The first half of the book is a history lesson, from 1621 to 1948. with the establishment of the state of Israel. The remainder of the book deals with the current Christian Zionists, many familiar names (at least if you follow the works of the fundamentalist Christians, the creationists, and the rich televangelists). For many who wonder why the Christian Right has embraced Donald Trump so eagerly, even though he would appear to violate all their moral precepts, this book can be an eye-opener. Even for someone who has followed a lot of the labyrinth of fundamentalist politics, there were some things in this book that helped explain the Trump phenomenon. Somewhat out of date now, because it was written during the Bush years, so some of the names are now on tombstones rather than letterheads, but it is still valuable and relevant.… (mere)

In the Introduction to Yemen: Dancing on the Head of Snakes, Victoria Clark states her goal: to write for western readers "an accounting of the roots and growth of jihadism in the wildest and most remote part of the Arabian peninsula." And this she has done. The book first gives an overview of Yemen's turbulent history from 1538 through 1918 - tribal culture, the clashes with other Arab countries, notably Egypt and Saudi Arabia and the British Protectorate at Aden. The rest of the book is about the next approximately 100 years, from 1918 to about 2010.

Clark is British but was born in Yemen when her father was a foreign correspondent. It is this fact that gave her entree to talk with many players in Yemeni politics and society. What emerges is a portrait of a nation that exists in symbiosis with powerful, and oftentimes, rivaling tribal leaders. According to one leader, Yemen is "a nation and tribes" and it appears these two are mutually exclusive. Tribal interests are in money and land; bribes, violence and nepotism are their hallmarks. They are so ingrained that when the Republic of Yemen emerged in the latter part of the 20th century the elected Parliament took a back seat to the tribes. The President described making deals deals as "dancing on the heads of snakes;" hence the title of this book, and the conclusion of Clark that the large number of jihadists in the country was farther down on government list of priorities, giving them a chance to thrive.

Yemen is, of course, a Muslim country. Although I haven't mentioned religious tension here, it is threaded throughout its tribal history. However, it isn't the main focus of this book.

This book provides a good background for our understanding of Middle Eastern politics. But it was slow reading for me. There is a lot of detail - be prepared to have Google maps and Wikipedia handy!… (mere)

This book written by a self-described British agnostic is a gem. I am a Christian and some years ago was an ardent defender of dispensational theology. The author is well versed in the history of Zionism both in terms of Christian Zionism which is so rampant in the USA today, and its earlier proto-type in England and other places. I enjoyed reading about the encounters that Clark had traversing various places to get insight into the movement among North American fundamentalist religious evengelicals. She is fair in her presentation for the most part. I was slightly perturbed by her constant reference to the SBC as the Southern Baptist Conference, instead of the well-known largest protestant denomination, the Southern Baptist Convention. Also, Clark misapplied a catch all label to amillennial eschatology as being allegorical/idealist, which is not necessarily the case. But these are minor inaccuracies in a well written book. Anyone that has dealings with Zionists may want to read this book to get into the psyche of these unconditional carte blanche defenders of Israel!… (mere)