Rating: 
Summary: A great book!!
Review: This is a fantastic book. I did a report on Jordan in High School so this book caught my attention. Also I have always respected the woman, she deserves to be honored by the Kennedy Center. And to those people who criticized the book, face the facts. Palestine(Israel) belongs rightfully to the Palestians, not the Israelis(Jews). Just like the United Sates belongs rightfully to the Native Americans. Since reading this I have even more respect for this amazing lady!
Rating:
Summary: An honest history of Jordan and her life with King Hussein
Review: I have only started to devour this book but already I am completely enraptured by it. I think Queen Noor's account of Jordan's history so far is very honest. At first I was a little confused by the course the text was taking as she was getting more and more into Jordanian history, but now I am completely taken by this book. It is very important for the world (especially the US) to understand what has happened in this part of the world and how it contributed to where we are today and I commend her for attempting to educate the world.
Rating: 
Summary: Not really an autobiography but a good historical account
Review: I agree with some other reviewer who said this book doesn't offer as much insight into who Queen Noor is, but rather a solid and detailed account of the Middle East conflict. She writes with honesty and conviction about Jordan and its neighbors, and in the process may have offended some Americans. However, I think she's telling the truth and sure, some feathers are ruffled in the process. Anyway, I liked the book, but I was disappointed on how she basically sugarcoated the personal elements of her life, i.e. her troubled relationship with her stepchildren only covered 3 pages of a book that contained well over 400 pages! As much as she resented people portraying her marriage as "storybook", she's guilty of doing the same. She was guarded, and I had hoped she wouldn't be in her own memoir.
Rating: 
Summary: A romantic apologist misleading unsuspecting readers
Review: One finds it hard to review this book, as it really is two stories wrapped in one. The first is a rather simple romantic, King and I story about an American girl swept up into royalty like Grace Kelly. Sweetly, we hear how Noor, formerly known as Lisa Halaby, is courted and eventually married by the dashing young king Hussein, more than a decade here senior. While this part of the book has considerable appeal, the second book, buried within the first, is far spottier.Noor presents a one sided view of the Middle East that is at shockingly shallow, ignoring facts and making up new ones in pursuit of her goal of painting the more than 200 million Arabs as victims of fewer than 6 million Israelis. The contortions she engages in to prove this thesis might be laughable, where it not for the fact that this book is being so widely marketed and read to readers for whom this will be there only exposure to the Middle East and the Arab Israeli conflict. A few facts, ignored by Noor stand out as remarkable. * No one doubts her husband; King Hussein was a great man who eventually came to be a man of peace. However, in her effort to paint him as a moderate, she ignores the fact that he launched an aggressive attack on Israel in 1967, when he had not been attacked nor threatened or his willingness to let terrorists based in his territory murder dozens of innocent civilians in terrorist bombings. * Blaming Israel for the plight of the Palestinians, without considering that her Husband and his uncle the former king ruled the West Bank from 1948-67 without showing any interest in giving the Palestinians a state of their own. Her husband's killing of thousands of Palestinians in the so-called "Black September Massacre," is likewise ignored. * Ignoring the well-documented overtures Israel made in the 60's to return most of the West Bank to Jordan in exchange for Peace. Overtures ignored by her late husband who was too weak politically to make peace with Israel. * Blaming Israel for the 22 Sheiks, Kings, and Despots who rule the 22 Arab countries including her husbands, rather than laying some of the blame on the Arab populations who so recently lionized a butcher like the Saddam Hussein. * Glossing over her Husband's strong support for Saddam Hussein in the '91 Gulf War. The greatest obstacle to modernization in the Middle East is the ability of the Arab media and culture to construct new fictitious realities when the reality on the ground does not suit them. Thus Israel is blamed for wide spread Arab poverty rather than corrupt regimes and suicide bombers who murder children can be easily labeled heroes. Noor would do a far greater service speaking the truth to Arabs, including those who live under her son, the current King's, "enlightened" despotism, instead of presenting rehashed propaganda to American audiences. Sadly, her loss of perspective is a loss to those who she claims to champion. The Middle East is awash in poverty and tyranny; being at the top of the marble tower for so many years clearly distorts her view of the squalid street.
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Summary: Norma Khouri Author of Honor Lost
Review: I am also from Jordan, and know very well the political history of the region, and so regardless of whether i agree with the point of view taken in this book or not I will give it five stars because she is, after all, my homelands beloved Queen. I am however very saddened by the fact that Queen Noor, as one of the only representatives for the women of the country, does not take a more active role in creating awareness of the injustices, and atrocities committed in the kingdom to the women of the kingdom. Queen Noor, as much of the royal family, lives in a world so vastly different to that of every day life in the kingdom, for the majority of people in the kingdom. She is well aware of this fact, and also very well aware of the inequality of women in Jordanian society, and the Human Rights abuses being condoned by our government in regards to women's rights...as in the cases of Honor Killings! And so, while i applaud her efforts, I am very saddened to see that our Queen is not taking full advantage of her noteriety and position to be more actively involved in defending women's rights in the country she claims to love so dearly. As a Jordanian woman...who had lost someone i loved dearly to the barbaric practice of Honor Killings...I appeal to our Queen to help us in abolishing articles 340, 98, and 97 which are used to sanction these types of murders and protect the perpetrators of these crimes...Please remember Queen Noor, that with fame, notoriety, and freedom, comes great responsibility....the women of Jordan need your active and constant support in abolishing these articles, and granting them true equality....as outlined in the countries constitution. Jordan is in direct breach of many of the conventions and Human Rights agreements it has ratified with the UN over the years by allowing these articles to continue to exist......How many more innocent Jordanian women must die in the name of honor? How much more innocent blood must be spilled in our streets before the government (mainly the lower house of parliament) realizes that Jordan as a country has lost its honor...by allowing and condoning the barbaric murder of it's women! And so, regardless of how wonderful and honorable a picture of Jordan my eloquent Queen Noor attempts to portray....I for one do not see it that way...and I am certain if you speak to many Jordanian women still sitting in Jordanian prisons for their own protection (victims of rape, and rumors that can get them killed by members of their own families, in "in so called "honor killings" which are sanctioned by Jordanian laws) they also will not see it that way...speak to the many sisters or friends of the thousands of victims over the years...they also will not see it that way. Speak to the average Jordanian woman...struggling with the daily inequalities...who is speaking out on their behalf??? While you are so eloquently trying to show the world how wonderful and honorable Jordan has been??? Again, I say...I am saddened, by the lack of acknowledgment of the struggles the Jordanian women are facing, and the lack of active involvement by Queen Noor, and Queen Rania. It is not enough to just say that you do not condone it...you must do more....your female citizens lives...and quality of life depends on it! So much more emphasis I believe should have been placed on a woman's perspective (from a leadership position) on the position of women in Jordanian society...after all you are a woman....you are our representative...but instead you spent the majority of the book explaining King Husseins position and political battles...what about your own voice, and your own battles as a woman...watching the women in your country struggle for basic human rights???
Rating: 
Summary: Leap of Faith: The Autobiography of Jordan
Review: I found this to be a well written and fact filled historical documentary on Jordan, America and the Middle East during Queen Noors marriage to the King. However, I was very dissapointed to not learn more about her personal life and her personal adjustments to life in the Middle East after being reared in the US. I was also dissapointed to read how readily she adapted to the Muslim culture, particularly visiting with other Muslim dignitaries who had more than one wife. How could an American woman agree with that? I was also dissapointed to not learn more of how she adapted to raising her children with the combination of her more modern and western background in comparison to her husbands Muslim and more traditional background. True, she covers very nicely by bringing many, many, many historical facts into the book. But unfortunately, I already am well aware of these facts (thanks to CNN, MSN, etc.). I was looking for more of a human interest story - a story of HER life. Perhaps she should have retitled the book - "The Autobiography of Jordan." I then would have been better informed of the content before my purchase.
Rating:
Summary: An interesting read for those with a critical eye
Review: As a biography, history and general middle east buff, I was impressed with the books balance between Noor's personal experiences and her explaining the politics of the region. Naturally, she gives the Arab point of view of history and its relationship to the present situation, and I do not understand, frankly, how anyone would expect she would do otherwise. This book, and indeed all books, especially about the middle east, need to be read critically. There is enough fault in this conflict to go around for BOTH sides. All in all, I would recommend this book for those who love biographys.
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Summary: Quest for Peace and understanding
Review: Queen Noor's book talks about a most romantic love story between a young ordinary American and a dashing Arab king. It also talks about the regional and world politics in a story telling fashion, which makes them easy to understand. She goes back and forth between her personal life and major world events, explaining in a simple fashion the historical background for each event. It depicts clearly and honestly the historical events in the Middle East, as well as the late King Hussein's un-relenting quest for peace. I found the book most fascinating because she talks about events that shaped my life as a Chechen living in Jordan. What's more fascinating to me is that the perception of a queen didn't differ than mine who is an ordinary citizen. I strongly recommend this book to every American who would like an easy, fun reading about the conflict in the Middle East, the mind of the Arab, and the country of Jordan from an American perspective.
Eiman Jafar, RN, PhD
Rating:
Summary: Read first, then decide...
Review: It is understandable that Her Majesty Queen Noor, as an American living for decades in an Arab culture, tries hard to communicate her sympathetic perspective in a way that makes sense to Westerners. No doubt the reason for this book's being on the New York Times Best Seller list at the moment is avid curiosity -- but not, certainly, a vote of agreement with the entire content. Queen Noor believes that once upon a time the Arab countries were all budding democracies which were sadly and unnecessarily derailed by the U.N.'s vote to create the state of Israel, and she asserts that that is somehow Israel's fault. The entire region, of course, was stormily ruled by a British occupation force until the U.N. finally voted in 1948 to create a Jewish state within Palestine (soon re-named Israel). It is less well known -- but key to the matter -- that the U.N. simultaneously voted to create a SECOND Arab Palestinian state as well (the first being the much larger British-occupied "Palestine Trans Jordan," now simply called "Jordan" -- Noor's home). After the vote, the British pulled out, gladly and summarily. If only the drama had ended there. Unfortunately, an army of half a dozen Arab nations attacked the new Jewish portion of Palestine on the heels of the departing British "peacekeepers," then lost the war, and, what's worse, muddied the U.N.-mandated borders. Noor could have played peacemaker here, suggesting that the United Nations vote on behalf of the international community was probably the best, most legitimate global moment to let peace on earth reign and draw a line in the sand. Instead, Noor declares oddly that the U.N.'s creation of Israel snuffed out the beginnings of democracy all over the Arab world, implying the U.N. is at fault for mandating a Jewish segment of Palestine at all. She too conveniently ignores the role of Trans Jordan as 75% of British-held Palestine, as well as the U.N.'s proposed second Arab Palestinian state (which Israel initially agreed to, by the way). I wish that Queen Noor of Jordan (which is historically Palestine Trans Jordan PLUS the famous West Bank) had spent a bit more time taking note of the international community's role via the U.N. in 1948, and the golden opportunity lost there, especially since she would like us to empathize with the Arab people whom she loves so deeply. After all, the Romans never declared Jesus of Nazareth to be "King of the Arabs," nor did Moses lead Arab slaves out of Egypt to a land over the Jordan River.
Rating:
Summary: Left me wanting more
Review: First of all, I liked this book very much. However, if you are expecting a tell-all kind of book this isn't it. Queen Noor writes very carefully about her life. One gets the sense that she is a very private person who is very aware that what she says may be hurtful to others. Therefore, we never really get the whole story. She writes very little of her children beyond stories of their birth. She writes only a superficial description of her relationship with her husband. According to her, she had no clue King Hussein was interested in her romantically until he mentioned calling her father. Had they even shared a first kiss, held hands, etc? We'll never know as she writes nothing of their romantic life, concentrating more on their shared commitment to Jordan and it's people. If you want to read about Noor the Queen of Jordan, this book is for you. If you want more insight into Noor the wife and mother, then you will probably be disappointed. If you want to know about Queen Noor's point of view as a co-leader of an Arab nation, this is the book for you. If you want insight into the feelings and opinions of an American woman in a Muslim world, you will probably be disappointed. Queen Noor, out of respect for her position, her late husband, her children and her religion, refrains from getting too personal. In the end, this book is an interesting look at an interesting life. And while I greatly respect Queen Noor for her character I can't help but wish she had shared a little more of herself with the reader.
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