Gripping, authoritative, compassionate and perceptive, The Best Kind of American is a vital contribution to our understanding of the recent history of the Middle East and of today's conflicts that continue to cause such tragedy and suffering. Ghattas draws on her deep knowledge and understanding of Lebanon, Iran, and the US, to tell an important story with the energy and rigor it deserves. This book should be required reading for scholars and general readers alike.

Jason Burke, author of 'The Revolutionists' and International Security Correspondent at The Guardian

By centering her narrative on the murder of Malcolm Kerr, the president of the American University of Beirut, Ghattas has written both a geopolitical whodunit and a masterful investigative history of the forces that have torn apart Lebanon for the past 50 years. The Best Kind of American is not only a riveting book, but a very important one by one of the most astute chroniclers of the modern Middle East.

Scott Anderson, New York Times bestselling author of King of Kings and Lawrence in Arabia

It's rare to read a book about the complex and fraught recent history of the Middle East and your first reaction is: I can't wait to see the movie version. Kim Ghattas, a masterful writer, brings to life the compelling stories of fascinating, often remarkable people and makes us care about them deeply. A triumph.

David Rothkopf, author, columnist, and former editor of Foreign Policy

A miraculous achievement. Ghattas takes you inside a murder mystery and then reveals, layer upon layer, the maddening complexity of the ongoing wars of the Middle East. This is essential reading for anyone concerned about the region's tragic trajectory. But it is also a counterintuitive story of hope for both Lebanon and the whole region's best and brightest, symbolized by intellectuals like Malcolm Kerr and Samir Kassir, martyrs to the liberal possibilities of the modern Arab world. A deeply moving and brilliant book.

Kai Bird, Pulitzer Prize-winning biographer and Director of the Leon Levy Center for Biography at CUNY's Graduate Center

Kim Ghattas is one of best informed, most intelligent and eerily prescient writers on the Middle East, remarkable for her ability to bring clarity to the most complex scenarios. She is also a wonderful storyteller. The Best Kind of American is a brilliant, tightly focused and intricately plotted piece of non-fiction, a Levantine In Cold Blood. It is not just essential reading for anyone who wants to understand the toxic confluence of rival forces at work in the region, it is also that rarity: a hugely enjoyable non-fiction thriller.

William Dalrymple, historian and author of 'The Golden Road: How Ancient India Transformed the World'

This is a brilliant and ambitious book, compulsory reading for everyone who wants to understand the Middle East and its recurring nightmares and wars.

Kim Ghattas delivers with skill and verve, weaving the story of one American family's tragedy into the tangle of connections between ruthless leaders, religion, nationalism and war - and the consequences for all those swept up in forces that radiate out from the Middle East to the rest of the world. She expertly contrasts the life and death of Malcolm Kerr - the best kind of American in the title - with the catastrophic consequences of the worst kind of American blundering.

The Best Kind of American deserves comparison with A Bright Shining Lie, Neil Sheehan's masterly account of America's disaster in the Vietnam War. With this book, Kim Ghattas has cemented her reputation as one of the most acute and essential analysts of the world's most turbulent region.

Jeremy Bowen, BBC International Editor and author of 'The Making of the Modern Middle East'