And Then All Hell Broke Loose by Richard Engel

Review by: Meagan Dashcund

The short
Richard Engel and the Last Crusade

The long
A lot of this book is just Richard Engel becoming my idol. He takes us through his career from a college grad to a war correspondent, expertly leading the reader through two decades’ worth of regime change. From Morsi to Mubarak in Egypt, tensions in Jerusalem, the Lebanese War, shooting in Iraq, Libya’s Gaddafi, and getting captured in Syria, there is nothing this book doesn’t cover. It’s one thing to read about these events in a textbook, but it’s a whole other level to follow Engel as he discovers MENA with courage, insight, and a sense of humor in even the tightest of spots.

To read or not to read?
Go into this adventure knowing you won’t want to put the book down until it’s completely over. You’ll get a complete overview of the past 20 years of MENA politics while diving into the life of a war correspondent and the coming of age complexities that accompany post-undergrad life. Can’t recommend this one enough.