Banking on Baghdad

Inside Iraq's 7,000 Year History of War, Profit, and Conflictby Edwin Black Banking on Baghdad is the first history of Iraq presented in a global context. Woven through the boardrooms and war rooms of London, Paris, Berlin, Istanbul, Washington, and the other centers that set the agenda for its tragic history, Black has pieced together the corporate hegemony, oil politics, religious extremism, Nazi alliances, and intersecting global upheaval—all with a compelling, contemporary perspective. Now, with foreign troops once more occupying the “cradle of civilization,” Banking on Baghdad gives us the opportunity to consider the present and future of Iraq through the lens of its complicated and turbulent history. While demonstrating that Iraq's tribal, religious, and political turmoil has combined to punish the nation, Black does not shy away from the uncomfortable truth that foreign governments—including our own—have played a defining role in creating the Iraq we know today. With his tradema