"A powerful study. . . . With devastating understatement, Kikhia shows how Qaddafi's rule made everything far worse than it had been under the monarchy--from the availability of water to industrial output, from personal freedoms to foreign policy. . . . In brief, this is by far the best book ever written on the Qaddafi era."--Daniel Pipes, Middle East Quarterly

"A first-rate objective analysis of the complexities of modern Libyan politics with a special focus on that country's controversial leader. . . . Thoughtful and well-researched . . . evenhanded and immensely...