More than one million Americans have served in Iraq and Afghanistan, but fewer than 500 from this group have earned a Silver Star, Navy Cross, Air Force Cross, Distinguished Service Cross, or the Medal of Honor. These Americans have demonstrated extraordinary courage under fire?in the worst of circumstances. They come from all branches of the military. They also come from all over the country and all walks of life, representing the entire spectrum of races and creeds. But what unites them are...
The House of Wisdom is a true story of Ishaq a young boy in ninth century Baghdad. More than a house more than a library more than even a palace The House of Wisdom was the very centre of the new ideas that flourished in Baghdad. It was here that thousands of scholars gathered to read to exchange ideas and to translate the dusty manuscripts that were brought by camel and ship from all over the world. Lyrical prose and beautiful illustration capture the splendour of Baghdad when it was th...
A book written by an Iraqi about Iraq and Iraqis to make them comprehensible. It explains the diversity and the lingering antiquity that shape the country in simple terms and through facts and anecdotes. It looks at the occupation, the chaos and lawlessness that followed and their effect on the lives of people and individuals. It also provides a look into the "Triangle of Death" -- one of the most volatile regions in the country -- from the inside, showing some of the intricacies of tribal re...
The follow-up to the internationally acclaimed The President's Gardens"Al-Ramli is a remarkable storyteller, and in Daughter of the Tigris he creates a dynamic, intricately plotted narrative, brimming with stories and a host of memorable characters" Susannah Tarbush, Banipal On the sixth day of Ramadan, in a land without bananas, Qisma leaves for Baghdad with her husband-to-be to find the body of her father. But in the bloodiest year of a bloody war, how will she find one body among thousands?...
This sensational book reveals the true and compelling story of the Special Force units of the Coalition, such as the SAS, SBS and Delta Force who worked in the shadows, often unseen, unheard and unsung. It describes their missions behind the lines from the early days, well before hostilities opened formally. It was an open secret that groups were deployed probably operating in the western desert against Saddam's forces and the Scud missile threat. What was actually going on is revealed here and...
This is a harrowing, yet inspiring portrait of a tormented consciousness struggling for reconciliation and peace. Anthony Swofford's grandfather fought in World War II, his father fought in Vietnam, and he, a directionless, testosterone-battered teenager, became a scout/sniper in the US Marines and fought in the Gulf War. His account of that time is also part of a lineage - after Wilfred Owen, Norman Mailer, Michael Herr and Tim O'Brien, it brings the raw and searing tradition of soldiers' tales...
James Verini arrived in Iraq in the summer of 2016 to write about life in the Islamic State. He stayed to cover the jihadis' last great stand, the Battle of Mosul, not knowing it would go on for nearly a year, nor that it would become, in the words of the Pentagon, "the most significant urban combat since WWII." They Will Have to Die Now takes the reader into the heart of the conflict against the most lethal insurgency of our time. We see unspeakable violence, improbable humanity, and occasional...
My Father's Rifle is a beautiful narrative about the life of boy named Azad and his coming-of-age in Iraq during the 1960s and 1970s. Azad is born into a vibrant village culture, to a family that is proud of its Kurdish past. He loves his mother's orchard, his cousin's stunt pigeons, his father's old Czech rifle, and his brother who is away fighting in the mountains. But before he is even of school age, Azad has experienced strafing and bombing, he watches as friends and neighbours are assassina...
Ever wondered what members of the Special Forces did after they left the services? This story starts with five guys organising an undercover road trip across worn torn Iraq in the spring 2003. Discover how they used their unique military skills to create a successful security company with over 300 employees during the early days of the occupation. See how Iraq was torn apart from the inside from someone who was there and get an insight into what it took to rebuild a country ripped apart by war a...
Poppies of Iraq is Brigitte Findakly s nuanced tender chronicle of her relationship with her homeland Iraq, co-written and drawn by her husband, the acclaimed cartoonist Lewis Trondheim. In spare and elegant detail, they share memories of her middle class childhood touching on cultural practices, the education system, Saddam Hussein s state control, and her family s history as Orthodox Christians in the arab world. Poppies of Iraq is intimate and wide-ranging; the story of how one can become sep...
Iraq's Road to War
Twice in a decade, Iraq marched to war: in 1980, invading Iran to start an eight-year war; and in 1990, seizing Kuwait in a crisis, pitting it against America and an international coalition. These actions have brought Iraq to the centre of world attention. Asking what forces and factors set Iraq on its course, this book shows how President Saddam Hussain's decision-making and Iraq's domestic politics, economics and foreign relations combined in a volatile mix. It points to how Iran's Islamic rev...
Since 2003, Iraq has rarely left the headlines. But less discussed is the fact that Iraq as we know it was created by the British, in one of the most dramatic interventions in recent history. A cautious strategic invasion by British forces led - within seven years - to imperial expansion on a dizzying scale, with fateful consequences for the Middle East and the world. In When God Made Hell, Charles Townshend charts Britain's path from one of its worst military disasters to extraordinary succes...
Sayfo - an Account of the Assyrian Genocide (Alternative Histories)
by Adeb Mshiho Neman
This text is one of the few surviving eyewitness sources on the Assyrian genocide, written by a seminarian living in greater Tur Abdin (the southeast of today's Turkish state). The perspective is one that is little known and less discussed. Translated and annotated by a master of Syriac with an in-depth knowledge of modern Assyrian history, this text creates a unique opportunity for new and progressive scholarship. The Assyrian genocide is one of the forgotten atrocities of the 20th century. The...
A Short History of the First Gulf War (The Lowdown)
by Dr Robert Johnson
Poetry has long dominated the cultural landscape of modern Iraq, simultaneously representing the literary pinnacle of high culture and giving voice to the popular discourses of mass culture. As the favored genre of culture expression for religious clerics, nationalist politicians, leftist dissidents, and avant-garde intellectuals, poetry critically shaped the social, political, and cultural debates that consumed the Iraqi public sphere in the twentieth century. The popularity of poetry in modern...