About the Author
Saul Silas Fathi was born to a prominent Jewish family in Baghdad, Iraq, on May 8, 1938. At age 10, he and his younger brother were smuggled out of Baghdad through Iran and eventually reached the newly formed state of Israel. He began writing a diary at age 11 and had several stories published in Israeli youth magazines.

Saul enrolled at the Israel Air force Academy of Aeronautics, a 4-year program, where he earned his high-school diploma and became certified in electrical engineering. In 1958, he worked his way to Brazil where he nearly starved. Through perseverance and luck, he started his own electrical   business and earned a patent for climate-controlled windows used in the building of Brasilia, Brazil.

In 1960, Saul came to the U.S. on a student exchange visa, studying sculpture at the Brooklyn Museum of Art and American history and public speaking at the New School of Social Studies. After 8 months, Saul volunteered to serve in the U.S. Army for three years, having been promised a college education and U.S. citizenship at the conclusion of his duties. After Basic Training in Fort Benning, Georgia, he was sent to helicopter school at Fort Bragg, North Carolina, and there enrolled at the University Of Virginia. Within a few months, Saul was shipped to South Korea where he served as Chief Electrical Technician with the 1st Cavalry Division, 15th Aviation Company, the famed helicopter division in the Vietnam War.

Back in the U.S., Saul battled the immigration department while studying at the University of Virginia, finally earning a Bachelor of Science degree in electrical engineering. This launched an impressive career as a high-level executive with several Fortune-500 companies. Later, he founded and managed three high-tech companies of his own over a 20-year period. Saul retired in 2003 and began writing his memoirs, Full Circle: Escape from Baghdad and the Return. Today, he lives in Long Island, New York, with his wife Rachelle and has three U.S.-born daughters and two grandchildren. He is also a certified linguist, fluent in English, Hebrew, Arabic, and Portuguese.

Presentations

The History of Islam and the Middle-East

* Muhammad, Life, Wives and Children, the Genesis of the Sunnis and Shia’as,
* What followed Muhammad’s death?
* Who authored the Koran and when?
* What is Jihad?
* Who are the infidels?
* The Crusaders and Saladin
* Iraq and it’s Many Occupying Powers: The Asserians, Babylonians, The Persians, The Greeks, The Romans, The   Mongols, The Ottomans, The British, The Americans.
* Iraq: Between the Great Wars, The Monarchy and the British Mandate, The Emergence of the Ba’ath Party and Saddam Hussein, The Return of the Khumeini and the 8-Year Iraq-Iran War, Saudi Arabia and Wahhabism, The Nuclear Pakistan Factor
* Outlook and Personal Perspective.

Jewish Life in Arab Countries:

* The Patriarch Abraham : Monotheism
* Egypt: Jewish Slavery and Exodus
* Moses: The 10 Commandments & The Torah (5 books)
* Joshua: Conquest of the Promised Land, Jewish Kings and Prophets, King David, Jerusalem and The Holy Temple
* Nebuchadnezzar: Jews Exiled to Babylon 597 bce, the destruction of jerusalem and the first temple 586 bce, jewish life in babylon, 2,600 years of achievements, the Talmud
* Cyrus the Great: Frees the Babylonian Jews, 538 bce returned to Jerusalem and rebuilt the second temple, jewish life under Islamic rule, Ottoman Empire (1299-1922)
* The League of Nations Mandate: French and British
* Jewish Life Under the Monarchies: The Farhood, Saddam Hussein
* Khomeini and Iran: Islamic Republic
* The Iraq-Iran War: Prospects for a Nuclear iran options
* Outlook and personal perspective.