Iraq
Last updated: October 09, 2026
We have a plethora of material on Iraq at five books. There are a couple of general interviews dedicated to the country. Colin Freeman offers his best books on Iraq, and the civil rights campaigner, Kanan Makiya, recommends his best books on the history of Iraq.
Patrick Cockburn gives his best books on the Iraq war,  and others look at particular aspects of the conflict, its causes and its consequences. May Witwit chooses the best books on Life in Iraq during the invasion, while Nabeel Yasin looks at democracy in Iraq. Chris Abbott on global security, Jeremy Greenstock on diplomacy  and Mary Habeck on terrorism all discuss the invasion and its consequences, as does Jason Burke with his best books on Islamic militancy.
Lorraine Adams on the truth behind the headlines and Darius Rejali on violence and torture both touch on some of the more controversial aspects of the lead up to the war in Iraq and the occupation of the country in their broader discussion of these themes. Stephen Armstrong on private armies and Hugh Gusterson on drone warfare look at controversial aspects of the actual fighting.
There are numerous interviews that touch on the politics and ideology that led to the decision to go to war. E J Dionne's choices on the appeal of conservatism include The neoconservatives: the origins of a movement by Peter Steinfels.   Yosri Fouda includes Against All Enemies by Richard Clarke in his best books on 9/11. John Gray discusses the Iraq crisis in his best critiques of utopia and apocalypse and Lawrence Kaplan puts the Iraq war in a longer political perspective with his best books on US intervention. Venkatesh Rao discusses related themes in his best books on how the world works.
Other interviews look at Iraq as the cradle of civilisation. Diarmaid MacCulloch chooses his best books on the history of Christianity and recommends The Church of the East by Christoph Baumer as essential to understanding the role of Christianity in the Middle East. Peter Atkins talks about early Mesopotamia in his best books on the emergence of understanding and Amira Bennison talks about the central role played by Baghdad in her best books on science and islam.  Robin Wilson touches on the role of ancient Mesopotamia in his best books on the history of mathematics and  Stephen Cave recommends the ancient Mesopotamian epic, Gilgamesh, in his best books on immortality.
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Assyria: The Rise and Fall of the World's First Empire
by Eckart Frahm -
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In the Land of Ninkasi: A History of Beer in Ancient Mesopotamia
by Tate Paulette -
3
Weavers, Scribes, and Kings: A New History of the Ancient Near East
by Amanda Podany -
4
Ancient Mesopotamia Speaks: Highlights of the Yale Babylonian Collection
Edited by Agnete W. Lassen, Eckart Frahm, Klaus Wagensonner -
5
Enheduana: The Complete Poems of the World's First Author
by Enheduana & Sophus Helle (translator)
Books about Mesopotamia, recommended by Moudhy Al-Rashid
Books about Mesopotamia, recommended by Moudhy Al-Rashid
Mesopotamia, the fertile region between the Tigris and the Euphrates, is a hugely significant part of human history, yet has often been left out of the classical civilisations curriculum. Here, Moudhy Al-Rashid, author of Between Two Rivers: Ancient Mesopotamia and the Birth of History, recommends five recent books about Mesopotamia that shed light not only milestones of history, but on individual lives thousands of years ago.
The best books on The Iraq War, recommended by Patrick Cockburn
The veteran Middle East correspondent gives us his tips for the best reading about the US-led invasion and occupation, and explains why the West shouldn’t have intervened in Iraq in the first place
The best books on The History of Iraq, recommended by Kanan Makiya
The Iraqi democracy and civil rights campaigner says the Iran-Iraq war is one of the single largest unappreciated great events of modern Middle Eastern history. He chooses the best books on Iraqi history.
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My Year in Iraq
by L Paul Bremer III with Malcolm McConnell -
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The Assassination Attempts against President Saddam Hussein
by Barzan al-Tikriti -
3
Cultural Cleansing in Iraq
by Raymond W Baker, Shereen T Ismael, Tareq Y Ismael -
4
The Old Man and the Sea
by Ernest Hemingway -
5
A Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens
The best books on Life in Iraq During the Invasion, recommended by May Witwit
The best books on Life in Iraq During the Invasion, recommended by May Witwit
Iraqi academic May Witwit tells of the horrors of US-occupied Iraq: “We were being shot at, and for three days a body lay at my front gate and nobody dared to move him”
The best books on Democracy in Iraq, recommended by Nabeel Yasin
The Iraqi poet chooses books on civil and human rights. “I want to spread the word. I want people to get more involved in the political process here in Iraq”
The best books on Iraq, recommended by Colin Freeman
The Sunday Telegraph’s chief foreign correspondent on the dangers of being a journalist in the Iraq war. “When a little of group of kids wandered up and said, ‘Hello mister, how are you?’, it was time to leave”
