Product Description
some wear on cover, otherwise in excellent condition ... Read more

Customer Reviews (13)

Yes Iraq had WMD's ???
This is a very well done and well documented text. Unfortunately it was well forgotten when the US went back into Iraq in 2003. Not only did the US and the British arm the Iraq and Saddam to the teeth. There were massive amounts of loans funneled through BNL bank and BCCI. This book is raw proof Saddam was built by the intelligence agencies.

Thrift Books Rocks!
Thrift books packaged their book well and it was received on time.Great people to deal with.

Both Bush administrations weave a tangle of lies and deceit
Contrary to one reviewer who said it was poorly researched, Mr. Friedman is an award winning journalist, who did indeed do his research and under the freedom of information act, acquired documents to back up his writings. He reveals the corruption and deviousness of our past and present foreign policy with respect to allies who became enemies, in the pursuit of so called "American national interests". Mr. Friedman could possible do a superb job as well on further exposing our present administration's lies.

The 'Devil Theory' of History-
is a quick, cheap device for brushing facts under the rug by historians. Conspiracy; the basic accepted theory for antitrust laws in the market place. If this can start an investigation of the market place why not for politicians?

An excellent book with facts, figures, and names, references. All leading up to 911 and Iraq.

Mass Amnesia?
This book, published in 1993, details Reagan's and Bush's (41) involvement in supplying Iraq with technology, funding, and weapons of mass destruction.Duplicity and illegal tactics were used to support the regime of Saddam Hussein nearly up to the day he invaded Kuwait, at which point the Thatcher and Bush administrations realized their horrific mistakes, for which they refused to take responsibility.
One of the reviewers on Amazon.com described the book as a fabrication.This charge is not credible, as Friedman has extensively supported his assertions with information collected from FOIA inquiries and the media.Selected excerpts of his detailed source material (memos, transcripts, original sources) are reproduced in appendices.
Friedman states:
"There is plenty of evidence, however, that in the first half of the 1980s the White House illegally armed Iraq and that in he latter period, running up through 1990, the tilt veered so far out of control, and so beyond reason, that it led to the willful abuse of taxpayer-funded programs and, after Operation Desert Storm, to efforts to hide the truth about U.S. policies toward Baghdad.
The author states this was not a conspiracy, neither in the US, nor Britain, nor Italy (who were each involved - Italy through the BCCI - Bank of Commerce and Credit - International) - but the outcome was indefensible and illegal, and the history has been obfuscated.This is a story of deceit and "manipulation of the truth at the highest levels of government."
Perhaps if more people read this history, the public would not be so trustful of their elected and appointed government servants, and there would be more advocates for full and open government communication.It is vital for any democracy to be supported by well informed voting public.The author makes the point that the public must not abdicate its responsibility to understand the foreign policy issues and activities of its government.He states with prescience:"If so telling a chapter of twentieth-century history is swept under the rug- ... Policy-makers, the public, and all those who believed in honesty in government will be the real victims."
... Read more

Product Description
Rageh Omaar reported from Iraq for six years prior to the conflict in 2003. He evaded the official minders to meet ordinary Iraqis, finding out how they lived under Saddam's brutal regime. Then war came, and instead of retreating he chose to stay in Baghdad, to see firsthand the country he loved crumble beneath the Allied onslaught. His shocking account of the years of siege, of the war that followed and its terrifying fallout is a heartbreaking and fascinating testament to a people enduring deprivation and destruction, told by the man who was there before, during and after. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

IN THE BEGINNING
If, like myself, you have read several books and acreages of newsprint devoted to the development and outcome of the recent war in Iraq, you may find it helpful, as I have just done, to `rewind' to the start of the matter and check your recollections. If you are new to the topic and want to start at the beginning, then this book is about the beginning of it, whereat to start. Rageh Omaar was there. He had been Iraq correspondent for the BBC for several years prior to the invasion, he chose not to leave and was in Baghdad throughout the shock-and-awe phase, the fall of Saddam's regime and the immediate consequences. He does not even mention the report that many will particularly remember him for: he was on the plinth of Saddam's statue in Firdoos Square after it was pulled down and the London anchorman said `Rageh, raise you arm so that we can see you.' The correspondent, who is tall, walked across the plinth waving as he walked, and the sense of authenticity was unforgettable. He left for a while to see his family, but he went back, and his postscript offers his own assessment of what it all amounted to.

This book is in the best tradition of BBC reporting. Facts are paramount, and the occasional inferences are strictly related to his observations. He not only saw, he listened as well. Rageh Omaar speaks English in the impeccable tones of an expensive English education, but he was born in Somalia and speaks Arabic, several dialects of it, apparently. He was able to converse with Iraqis and he lets us know what they said without either interpretation or embellishment. He does not lecture or preach or moralise, and if he does not give us much in the way of hypothetical `better news' that I have heard the BBC accused of not reporting, it is quite obvious that this is because there was next to no better news to report. THIS is what it was like, and this is someone who did not have to rely on second-hand opinions.

He describes some early bombardment of civilian areas by the coalition, as well as the coalition bombing of the HQ of both Al Jazeera and Reuters, the co-ordinates of which were known to the coalition forces. He quotes coalition allegations in this context about `human shields' purportedly used by the regime, but in these cases there was nothing of the kind, nor does he ever mention any others. (I should say that he was no enthusiast for Saddam's regime, which he depicts as being one of thugs and gangsters.) He is particularly enlightening regarding the looting that followed immediately on the air strikes. Ransacking of the luxurious apartments of members of the hated regime was one thing, but the wholesale vandalism was something else, and too organised, he says, to have been anything except a pre-planned scorched earth policy. He cites the coalition protection of the Oil Ministry and Ministry of the Interior while the rest was neglected as a glaring error, and he traces the start of the Iraqi public's disenchantment with the occupation from that gaffe onwards.

There is, naturally, a good deal about the life of a reporter in such conditions, and it is highly informative in its own right. However this is an Arabic speaker, and the best things of all are his reports of what `ordinary' Iraqis told him. The picture that comes across is of a people repressed by a brutal and sadistic regime who briefly entertained hopes of genuine `liberation', hopefully leaving them to run their country as they desired. The number of ways in which we find that to be not the case are more various than perhaps we realise, and any reader who gains an overall impression of brainwashed ignorance, arrogant dishonesty and doublespeak, and downright incompetence on the part of the occupiers will have no trouble in gaining it, but this reporter is too professional and self-controlled to spell it out (if it is even what he thinks).

After a short absence he came back, this time starting in the south at Basra and some smaller locations. As before, he is first and foremost a reporter, but this time he offers rather more analysis, and it is mainly analysis of a catalogue of errors, pre-eminent among those being Bremer's almost incomprehensibly stupid policy of de-Ba'athification. At the start, Rageh Omaar had described in thoughtful detail the disastrous impact of the UN sanctions, that followed by the dissolution of the army which turned loose a whole population of unemployed, dispossessed and humiliated citizenry, resentful, vengeful and armed. Now here was Bremer consummating this process of total annihilation of the state apparatus which had always been relied on by the people under Saddam but whose fundamental importance to them had been immeasurably increased by the sanctions.

It's not clear to me how any significantly different picture could be obtained by any fair-minded and attentive reader, but that's my own view and it may not be yours. However you see it, check your basic understanding of what actually happened from this book, and see how other versions hold up against it. It doesn't get more honest than this. ... Read more

Product Description

Customer Reviews (7)

An good read from an excellent writer.
Over the past several years I have become familiar with Mr. Chatterjee's writing on the topic of the privatization of war, so I was interested to see what a full length book would provide.
I was not disappointed. I found Mr. Chatterjee's breakdown of some of the companies involved in the privatized military world to very informative and well researched. I would have liked to have seen more on the military's thoughts on the privatization of thier tasks and slightly less exposé style writing, but overall the questions he asks are answered in the book. I would recommend this book to anyone wanting to learn more about the industry and its affect on the world at large.

A "must-read" expose for anyone studying the recent war in Iraq and its aftermath
Written by award-winning investigative journalist Pratap Chatterjee, Iraq, Inc.: A Profitable Occupation is a scathing indictment of how the American occupation has proven immensely enriching to private corporations - at the expense of American taxpayers and the freedom, safety, and economic stability of the Iraqi people. Chapters discuss the scams and frauds involved in reconstruction, the constant threatening presence of military men, militiamen, and civilians with guns, and the questionable and arguably unstable "shadow government" being set up. The author concludes his words in July of 2004, in fear of the future of Iraq. America and Iraq both need desperately to grapple with the difficult issues and outright larceny in order to promote the transformation of Iraq as a place where people can live without fear, and seek their destiny without the burdens of economic poverty or the hovering threat of violence. A "must-read" expose for anyone studying the recent war in Iraq and its aftermath.

Level-headed insight
I worked in Baghdad for an NGO outside the "green zone" and later worked for a British contractor that bid for reconstruction projects in Iraq on the basis there'd always be substantial Iraqi participation in all projects and decision-making. Chatterjee's Iraq, Inc is a well-researched, fair analysis of the deep involvement of big business and vested interests in the post-invasion management of Iraq, and provides striking insight as to why the last two years of occupation have gone disastrously wrong for both the US occupation authorities and the Iraqi people. Nothing in this book contradicts my experience of the sad implosion of post-invasion Iraq, changing Iraqi attitudes to the occupation and the reconstruction gravy train. A must read for those who want to understand where management of the post-war period has gone wrong; and for current green-zone employees who still haven't quite appreciated what they've contributed to in their blinded, do-gooding pompousness. A fascinating and sometimes (sadly) comic read.

Looking at the world through smoke covered glasses....
The author is a passionate speaker, as evidenced in a recent C-Span Radio interview on his new book, listened to by yours truly while sitting in the Green Zone, Baghdad.I couldn't believe what I was hearing from this "writer".Complete fabrications, sensational accusations based on misinterpretations of the most innocuous events, and a fundamental lack of understanding of the urban street war that exists in Iraq.He brags about all the places he's been, reporting on "Burger Kings in Kosovo...Starbucks in Afghanistan"

Well, I've been everywhere he's been (and more), and unlike his casual left-skewed tourist trips, I'm STILL in Baghdad.I understand everything he talks about and at the risk of sounding like a right-wing "nut"; I can tell you that his reporting is not even good enough for Fox News.He demonstrates extremely poor writing through unfounded conclusions, with no real understanding of the issues he makes so accusatory.It strikes me as a hatchet job for the leftists, bemoaning Big Business which obviously is a front for Satan, and piloting a careening world to Doomsday all for a buck...with Bush and Cheney at the helm.NOT!

Unfortunately, Chatterjee really lacks fundamental reporting skills.Why?Because he set out to tell a story, and was not swayed by the facts.Honestly, I cannot speculate as to whether he's got a strong third-world liberal bias, or whether he's just not very intelligent...but this writing project is better suited for one of those throw-away papers you get in the seamy areas of LA, New York or San Francisco...you know the ones with all the sex ads in the back?At least there you are sure you're reading the output of a fringe writer who could otherwise not be employable in a mainstream journalistic position.

Unfounded accusations against the US, major Corporations, policy decisions...Amazingly, he found nothing good about the Iraq situation, and attributes it all to American Imperialism and, at the end of it all, suggests that it was all a Republican plot to revive the economy.

I'm surprised he does not discuss space aliens, geodesic domes, mental telepathy and the importance of eating Chicken Karma everyday.

Frankly, Chatterjee is an extremely poor journalist, writing about a sensitive, easily misinterpreted subject that will sell books no mater how bad the writing.

Folks - this is bad writing. The down-side is that he misconstrues events, makes sweeping generalizations without substantive fact-finding, and simply fails to understand.Avoid it, and read Google News.Whatever your political persuasion, you'll still have that sense of honor or umbrage, but you'll have saved $15 that's much better spent in church, or in the Salvation Army kettle, or even at the Kosovo Burger King...but don't give it to this guy - simply to reward bad writing & prejudiced behaviors.That does no one any good - no matter what side of the issue you're on.

All About War Profiteering
Everyone knows that war is evil, deadly, horrible, etc. However, what some may not know is that war is also very mercenary - much of war is about a relatively few making huge amounts of money. The author writes a book explaining the war profiteering and corruption behind the war in Iraq. The author recently did an author event on C-Span2 BookTV which was very enlightening and added to the information in the book. ... Read more

Product Description
Told from the perspective of the grunts living and dying in the sand, Blood Stripes takes readers behind the headlines into the thick of the fight against the insurgency in the streets and back alleys of western Iraq. From February through September 2004, these Marine warriors deployed to Al Anbar province, a chaotic and confusing world of rocket-propelled grenades, roadside bombs, ambushes, and snipers. Foreword by Steven Pressfield, author of "Gates of Fire" (9780553383683). ... Read more

Customer Reviews (24)

Good read
Well written book that details the importance and impact of the Marine NCOs. The book does a good job of describing the day-to-day issues of combat without making a political statement. Well worth your time of you want some insight into front line action and descision making.

Iraq War as Experienced by NCOs
For an idea of "the action" in Iraq this is a worthy book. Paul Rieckhoff's "Chasing Ghosts" sharply detailed the disastrous post-invasion planning and Colby Buzzell's "My War: Killing Time in Iraq" chronicled mundane Army life punctuated by some moments of terror. But David Danelo's "Blood Stripes" gets into the side of the war that most Americans are nearly oblivious to: the nasty and brutal war fought in Iraq's streets by young soldiers and Marines (in this book, exclusively Marines).

Inside are the stories of the enlisted noncommissioned officers who lead the squads and platoons day in and day out in Iraq. These are the stories of IED attacks on patrols, running gun battles with shadowy "Muj" and "Hajjis" in the streets, up close and personal recollections of killing the enemy and the loss of battle buddies. The young NCOs interviewed within--sergeants and corporals, the guys who make things happen--are not just driving convoys or sitting in guard towers, these are the men who engaged in the grinding fighting that gets little or very sterile media coverage back home.

The author's writing is a bit too simple at times. The pop-culture prism of looking at the Marines as inheritors of the Spartan legacy can sometimes read like a recruiting pamphlet. But the stories within are well-told, and scenes like the one of the dreaded visit by Marine officials to the parents' home are poignantly captured. Some of the young men in the pictures did not come home, and they were all their mothers' sons. "Blood Stripes" captures a war fought by enlisted warriors who traditionally don't get much of the spotlight, even though these Marines live right where the axe meets the grindstone.

BLOOD STRIPES
To my knowledge there has never been a military officer that chronicled or even considered writing this kind of enlisted men's narrative of war.I consider it the best recall of war ever written.Every American should read it.It tells better than any audio-visual could convey what it is like to fight in Iraq.

Insightful about the Corps
Blood Stripes:The Grunt's View of the War in Iraq by David Danelo is a straight punch to the gut of the American people who pay lip service on supporting our troops without ever knowing what that means.Blood Stripes is an on the ground, in the dust and heat and thick of battle account of what it means to be a United States Marine in Iraq.

Danelo does a wonderful job of telling the stories of the Marines he served with.In my opinion, Blood Stripes is a masterful job of relating what its like to be shot at and how Marines are taught to overcome obstacles that often keep other units from meeting their mission.Mission is everything.

Well done and a must read for those who want to be informed.

Semper Fi

Real People, Real War
BLOOD STRIPES, as you learn in the book, are the red stripes that an NCO in the Marine Corps is permitted to wear on the outside of their blue pants. You also learn how they came about - and I'm not going to give it away. What I will say is that this book teaches you things about the Marine Corps and the men who are the backbone of the Corps - the Grunts - that you could only learn by going through boot camp. You feel like you are living the war with them and you come to care deeply for and about them. These are REAL People, with all their bravado, fears, warts and deep humanity. You come to understand the "brotherhood" of the Corps. Most of all you understand the disconnect between those who politically support or oppose wars and those who fight them.

The best book I have read in a long, long time. Buy it - READ it!

Bobby Michaels ... Read more

Product Description
Intelligence specialist Leigh Neville identifies, describes and illustrates the Special Operations Forces (SOF) of the US and other Allied (Coalition) forces committed to war in Iraq since 2003, providing a fascinating insight into specific operations, detailing weapons, equipment and experiences in combat. With a surprising amount of recently declassified material from government departments that are yet to be published in the mass media, this is a ground-breaking analysis of the largest mobilization of Special Forces in recent history.

With extensive first-hand accounts providing an eyewitness perspective of the fighting on the ground and including information on the US Delta Force, the British SAS, Australian and Canadian special forces as well as CIA and MI6 operational units this book provides a crucial study of their skills and success in Iraq from the Battle of Debecka to storming the safe house of Uday Hussein. In a controversial war that has been plagued by high fatalities and military blunders, this book highlights the successes enjoyed by Special Forces operatives. This book serves as a companion volume to Elite 163: Special Forces Operations: Afghanistan. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (3)

Not as good as I had hoped
On the positive side, a lot of good stories about SOF in Iraq and how they have been used throughout the campaign there. Beautiful illustrations in this book, very well executed. The photographs are very good and relevent. On the down side, the text is not as well organized as I would have liked. There is only one map, which shows a few key cities in Iraq and distribution of minorities within the country. It does NOT show the borders of the various Multi-National Divisions, which corresponds (more or less) with the areas in which various SOF task forces worked. There is no organizational diagram showing how SOF units worked in relation to each other or upper-echelon special operations headquarters.

It is obvious that the author knows the material... so well in fact that he uses a lot of terms that are probably familiar to someone who deals a lot with the SOF world but are not common to those outside special forces. Many weapons are discussed but never illustrated. There are a couple of simple but grating mistakes (on page 63, for instance, the 160th SOAR is described as a USAF asset) which should have been caught before publication. A good effort, but not the best effort.

Good book, but it's limited by the nature of it's subject matter.
There's only so much you can write in an Osprey covering current SF ops in Iraq because of the fact that OPSEC isn't going to allow you to write everything. But, within those constraints, Mr. Neville has done a good job and has given a small view on a very quiet community that is rarely in the news.

good for a short summary
Considering this is about a 50 page, small format book I think it does a good job of covering SOF in Iraq.It covers a variety of topics in short summary.I was a little surprised at the amount of B & W photos however. I own a number of books on this subject and there were quite a few new photos which was good to see. I also own several other Osprey books and this is typical of what they put out in terms of quality and information.I have to commend the author as he seems to have been one of the few people to explain the letter / number combinations ('zap' numbers or patch) found on the shoulders of many Delta operators.I personally feel the large hard cover books by Eric Micheletti from Historie & Collections on SOF in the Middle East are better. ... Read more

Product Description
This is the first analysis in any language of the religious, philosophical and folkloristic content of Ibn Waḥshiyya's (d. 931) Nabatean Agriculture.

This enigmatic book, said to have been translated by Ibn Waḥshiyya from Syriac into Arabic, contains much material on Late Antique Paganism in Iraq and semi-learned reception of Greek philosophical thought.

The first part of the present book studies the question of authenticity, authorship and context of the Nabatean Agriculture, dated by the author to around 600 AD. The second part consists of 61 translated and annotated excerpts of the Nabatean Agriculture, until now available only in the Arabic original, as well as introductions to the world view of the text. ... Read more

Product Description

This volume provides a collection of insightful essays on all phases of the Iraq War: both US-led major combat operations to defeat the Ba’athist regime as well as efforts to reconstruct the country and defeat the insurgency.

Product Description
The Iran-Iraq War was one of the longest and most destructive wars of the twentieth century. Global interest in the Middle East and dependence upon oil supplies from the Persian Gulf led to widespread and intense international interest in the war, which coincided with a rise in Islamic militancy and political instability in the region. (20030501) ... Read more

Customer Reviews (1)

A very informative look at the Iran-Iraq War of the 1980s
The fact that the Iran-Iraq War was the longest continuous war between two countries in the 20th century certainly was a surprise to me.If I had been asked the question I probably would have talked about the war between the Vietcong and the French that predated American involvement in the Vietnam War, but that would not have been tossed out there with a high degree of confidence.In this volume for the World History Series author David Schaffer looks at "The Iran-Iraq War" and tells young readers about the history of the conflict that was waged from 1980 until 1988 in the global hot spot of the Persian Gulf and its far-reaching repercussions.Schaffer underscores the idea that the Iran-Iraq War marked a fundamental shift in thee way foreign powers related to the nations of the Middle East.

"The Iran-Iraq War" is covered in seven chapters: (1) Conflict Evolves and Emerges looks at the centuries of confrontation that reemerged as a territorial conflict during the late 1970s; (2) Militants Take Power: War Breaks Out covers Iran's radical new course once the Shah was replaced by the Ayatollah Khomeini while Saddam Hussein rose to power in Iraq; (3) Settling into Stalemate saw Iraq's early battlefield gains reversed by Iran; (4) Boldness and Backlash: The World Takes Sides looks at who around the world supported each side, with some countries supporting both and others neither; (5) War Frontiers Expand looks at the Iranian Fao Offensive from February 1986 to April 1987; (6) Iran and the United States Face-to-Face covers ground that would be familiar to teachers but not young students, with the Iran-Contra Scandal of the Reagan Administration and the shooting down of Iranian Air Flight 655 by the USS "Vincennes;" and (7) War's Last Gasps and an Uneasy Peace deals with the involvement of the United Nations and the death of Khomeini, that saw the end of the Iran-Iraq War, which was the point where Saddam Hussein turned his attention to Kuwait, which was invaded and occupied by Iraq in August 1990.

This book is supposedly intended for grades 5-8, although I have to say my reaction is that it skews higher in terms of the amount of information and the level of sophistication Schaffer is providing for his readers.Given that most of those readers will have some understanding of the American invasion of Iraq in the Second Gulf War, Schaffer does a nice job of showing how the impact of personalities such as Hussein and Kohmeini were mainly responsible for a lot of what happens, using lots of quotes to show the war rhetoric of each.Looking at the animosity between Hussein and both of the presidents Bush, teachers and readers will see strong parallels and have an appreciation for the impact of a leader on world events.However, I have to say that most readers are going to find a lot of information here (perhaps too much).

The volume is illustrated with black & white photographs of most of the major players and some of the events involved and throughout the book there are sidebars on interesting details, such as the verse of the Koran justifying jihad and the freedom movement in Iran.The back of the volume has detailed notes, a decent Glossary, Works Consulted as well as thsoe For Further Reading, and an Index.Other titles in this series look at long periods like "The Age of Feudalism," large topics like "The History of Slavery," ancient civilizations like "The Byzantine Empire," and specific events like "The Battle of the Little Bighorn."I will be interested to see how many have as much information as this volume. ... Read more

Product Description
Iraq's contemporary image provides few clues to the magnificence and power of her past. Known as Mesopotamia ("land between the two rivers"), Iraq, which lies between the Tigris and Euphrates rivers, was probably the earliest center of human civilization. Here emerged the earliest scripts, the earliest architecture, and the earliest sciences. But Mesopotamia has always been in upheaval, down to the present day. The past hundred years have progressively closed to western access the land of ancient Mesopotamia. Yet Gilles Munier has been able to travel extensively in this war-torn country, and he brings a refreshingly compassionate vision of the land that was once the cradle of humanity. A sumptuously illustrated and impeccably documented history of the country whose borders include the ruins of ancient Nineveh, Chaldea (Abraham's birthplace), Babylon, and Samara. Embark upon a voyage of discovery to the place where writing was first invented, to the city that was the center of the Arab Golden Age. ... Read more

Customer Reviews (4)

If it's your only choice... pass it by
I was in the PX at Camp Arifjan looking for a book on Iraq before heading there, just so I can learn a little more about the people I'm going to be working with and training. There was only one selection, and although I have been able to gleam some useful information between the anti-American diatribe every other paragraph, I wish I had not wasted my money and passed it by. And I wish the PX had a better selection of books on Iraq.

A Brief Guide to Iraq Historial Sites
Two earlier reviewers have already noted the Frenchman author's anti-American bias in condeming the ousting of Saddam Hussein in Gulf War II, and in blaming the looting of Iraq's museums on the American soldiers, rather than on the Iraqi civilians themselves.Regarding Gulf War I, the author leaves the impression that the Allied Coalition set Kuwait's oil fields afire rather than Saddam.This paperback does profile many historical sites (most of them just mounds of rubble nowadays), but there are just a couple of rough travel-guide maps as to how to get somewhere. This paperback has a few photographs, but it should not be considered a major (let alone a minor) photograph book on Iraq. While the paperback details some city's importance 1500 years ago, the author fails to mention whether or not the city still really exists today and if anything remains even to be seen there. Based on this paperback, one would hate to drive out into the desert for many miles, only to find merely a pile of broken mud-bricks and no petrol to return.As a more important companion book, one needs to carry along "Iraq: The Bradt Travel Guide" for information regarding maps of cities, and possible hotel and restaurant accomodations.

Great Photographs - Pity About the Text
This guide to Iraq has some wonderful photographs, but the text is larded with anachronistic assertions and factual errors. For example, on page 11, Munier gives the dates for the Sumerian civilization as between 3500 to 2350 BCE, and then a few lines later says that the Sumerians had "agricultural knowledge that produced an improved, iron plow". That's pretty amazing, since the Iron Age and the smelting of iron in the region didn't begin for another 1100 years! It's the equivalent of saying that the MP3 player was introduced in the Middle Ages. Other absurdities abound, especially when Munier begins covering the more recent history of the country and his admiration for the former regime begins to show. If you want good photographs, it might be worth the money, but ignore the text: let's hope better guidebooks to Iraq are soon produced!

Disappointing
Did you know that every bad thing that's ever happened to Iraq in its 8,000-year history is the fault of the United States? You would think that if you read this book. It seems as if every other page has to find something to make an anti-American comment, especially concerning the damage and destruction to historical sites and artifacts. The author even blames the United States for the looting of a Basrah Museum during the Gulf War One in 1991... which, as I recall, was never occupied by the Coalition during that conflict.

While the book has great facts about many of Iraq's ancient sites, almost everyone one of these is punctuated by a line about "gunfire damage" or "bomb damage" or "looting" at these sites. Even the Mongols don't get as bad a treatment and they made pyramids out of the skulls of Baghdadis when they invaded Iraq. Yes children, before America Iraq NEVER was invaded or harmed by outsiders.

The historical summary is helpful but a chronology of the main period of Iraq's dynastic periods would have been helpful as well.

The book includes a whitewashed bio of Saddam, which fails to mention the killing fields, his televised purge of the government, or even his role as secret policeman during the first Ba'athist revolution in 1963.

The book even whitewashes the now totally-discredited food-for-oil program, failing to mention why sanctions were in place.

The only saving feature of this book are some of the great photos. There definitely better books out there. ... Read more

Product Description
This book is about the metamorphosis of national ideology in Ba'thist Iraq. By "ideology" the reference is to a very broad sense of the term, closer to a "collection of political proposals...somewhat intellectualistic" than to a comprehensive world view or an interpretation of history fully, systematically and rigorously thought out, presented and elaborated. Speeches by leading politicans, historiography and the writings of intellectuals in regard to Iraq's political community, are considered here as ideology, even if these ideas do not constitute a complete "politico-social programme". This book is an attempt to follow and analyze the change in the Ba'th party's perception and representation of Iraq as a political community. By resurrecting and imbuing with great national significance elements previously rejected, ignored or downplayed in Ba'th ideology such as territory, race and local pre-Islamic and pre-Arab historical epochs, the Ba'th regime of Iraq has sought to re-shape the collective identification of its countrymen.In several cases, this reshaping took the form of re-enforcing and fully legitimizing an already existing identification that hitherto the party had looked upon unfavourably. ... Read more

Product Description
The Palestine conflict constitutes one of the most prolonged and complex disputes of the twentieth century.It has consistently dominated Arab-Jewish relations and has in turn been affected by social, political and ideological tensions and struggles within the Arab states as well as within Israel.This book describes the influence and the functions of the Palestine conflict in the history of a modernizing Arab state. ... Read more

Product Description
Drawing upon original source documents, Mosul before Iraq paints a portrait of the region during the turbulent nineteenth century. What emerges is a picture of citizens less focused on Europe or Istanbul and more on centuries-old relationships among its economic and social spheres. By arguing that the region belongs to a broader geographic, economic, and political space which crosses current national borders, the book explains the continuing conflict over the status of Mosul.

Like bees building unconventional cells, Mosul's people innovated during the nineteenth century. They worked to incorporate new methods, new products, and new interactions into networks that they had already constructed in their crafts, their commerce, their city, and their region. ... Read more

Product Description
For over 6,000 years civilization has existed in the area of southwest Asia now known as Iraq. The earliest known cities and military and political power centers of the world existed there, and there have been times when Iraq has been a major force in shaping governments and religion through a large part of the world. However, Iraq's history is also rife with conquest and domination by foreign powers, as well as intense internal conflict. This history has contributed greatly to making Iraq the turbulent hot spot itcurrently is. ... Read more

Product Description
This is a facsimile reprint of the trail-blazing book by David Oates, originally published by the British Academy in 1968 and out-of-print for too long. It is primarily the report of his survey and excavation of sites in northern Iraq between 1954 and 1958, but it is at the same time a memorial to the great explorer, Sir Aurel Stein, whose pioneer fieldwork on the Roman frontiers in Iraq in 1938-39 provided the initial stimulus. ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Iraq," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Iraq in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Iraq when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Iraq, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more

Product Description
This is Vol. XXV - Nos. 1 & 2 - 1969. The first half is in English and the second half is in Arabic. It is approximately 400 pages. ... Read more

Product Description
Webster's bibliographic and event-based timelines are comprehensive in scope, covering virtually all topics, geographic locations and people. They do so from a linguistic point of view, and in the case of this book, the focus is on "Iraq," including when used in literature (e.g. all authors that might have Iraq in their name). As such, this book represents the largest compilation of timeline events associated with Iraq when it is used in proper noun form. Webster's timelines cover bibliographic citations, patented inventions, as well as non-conventional and alternative meanings which capture ambiguities in usage. These furthermore cover all parts of speech (possessive, institutional usage, geographic usage) and contexts, including pop culture, the arts, social sciences (linguistics, history, geography, economics, sociology, political science), business, computer science, literature, law, medicine, psychology, mathematics, chemistry, physics, biology and other physical sciences. This "data dump" results in a comprehensive set of entries for a bibliographic and/or event-based timeline on the proper name Iraq, since editorial decisions to include or exclude events is purely a linguistic process. The resulting entries are used under license or with permission, used under "fair use" conditions, used in agreement with the original authors, or are in the public domain. ... Read more