Book Review:

The ‘1492’ Conspiracy

(Assem Akram, Three-Horned Lion, USA, 2006, $24.95)

The ‘1492’ Conspiracy is the title of the newest book written by the young Afghan author Assem Akram. Akram, born in 1965 in Kabul and raised in a well-known and highly educated Afghan household, holds a Ph.D. in History from the Paris Sorbonne University and has written two books about History in French and Dari (one of the two main languages of his native country Afghanistan) and one fiction. The ‘1492’ Conspiracy is Assem Akram’s first book written in English, showing his perfect grip of political and linguistic nuances of the English-speaking world.  The story laid out in the book is a timely feat of Real Politik sprinkled with stinging jabs of sharp and fast-working political humor and satire. Although in the disclaimer, the author, as a consequence of his typical Afghan humility and politeness, asserts that “all situations in this book are fictional,” similarities of the fictional situations with real-world situations as we know them are too obvious to lend support to the disclaimer.

The theme of the book revolves around the wicked plan of a secretive, exclusive club of politico-religious fanatics who, in the words of one of the book’s leading characters “have reached a point of no return in our commitment. If all goes as planned, we will be celebrated Ubris et Obris, in this world as in the next one, as saviors, as true Christians who have heard the word of Jesus and, as his devoted disciples, have taken upon themselves to finish spreading it in order to bring about the implementation of the Pax Universalis.” The group running this secretive, exclusive club consists of men of power, who dominate the executive-legislative-military complex of the country where the story unfolds, supported and moved by the power of money and dogmatized, commercialized ideology. The plan of this self-centered, misguided group is to achieve Reconquista. 

In telling the story of the wicked plan of achieving Reconquista, Assem Akram takes the reader to the dramatic scenes of political horse-trading among the legislative and executive branches of the government, the exploitation of human weakness by greedy politico-business interests, hidden disrespect for one’s superiors and peers common among men of power, the astonishing story of the encounter between Leonid Brezhnev and the late Afghan nationalist President Daud, about whom Assem Akram has written a book, and last but not least, the sexual perversities and imaginations of an expert of international affairs.

In writing this book, Assem Akram has achieved a perfect portrayal of the true nature and face of politics as it works in the most advanced nation of the world. The book is a timely reminder, perhaps warning, to those who are complacent to the destruction of the walls of separation between religion and politics, between moderation and extremism, and between rationality and revelation. The “1492” Conspiracy is a good reading for people of any country, any ideology, and any rank.

Jan Qarabaghi   

On the web:  

http://www.threehornedlion.com

http://www.assemakram.com