Book Review: They Say We Are Infidels by Mindy Belz

In They Say We Are Infidels Mindy Belz goes into an in-depth explanation of the politics and people of the Middle East, focusing on the persecution of Christians by ISIS. Belz meets and becomes personally involved with different individuals in order to best tell their stories from their view. One such individual is Insaf Safou who Belz helps smuggle money to her friends and relatives in Iraq sent by exiled Christian Iraqis living in Canada. Belz tells this story and many like it, of people trying to liberate kidnapped Christians, of people trying to build a "normal" life amidst the chaos and persecution.

Belz does a wonderful job of providing a background and context for the events being covered in today's media. They Say We are Infidels  is thoroughly researched and well written. I find it a very necessary book to help those who want to go deeper than your standard news article about the middle east. That being said, I wish there were more personal stories or perhaps a more personable writing style. Belz is a journalist at heart and the book is very journalistic. I feel like I would have retained more if the book read a little more like an novel than a term paper. Overall, I found Belz's book to be very educational but not easy for the average Joe to understand,

*I was given a complimentary copy of this book in exchange for an honest review.