This is a heartbreaking and thought-provoking look at the first year of the American occupation of Iraq. The author tells the stories of the civilians - their fears, their frustrations, their deprivations. It's a balanced account, representing people with varying views on life under Sadaam and the 13 years of sanctions before the war. Unfortunately, even the most wildly optimistic and pro-American Iraqis,become disheartened by the inability of the Americans to provide security or even the most basic of services.

The author also chronicles the rise in religious extremism and the role of the occupation in fueling this extremism and anti-Americanism.

The epilogue is written in 2005, and to think that the families featured in this book- and all the Iraq people are - more than 5 years later - still living with an tenuous present and uncertain future, is truly sobering.

A responsible piece of book journalism. Shadid writes fluently and precisely about a scale of the Iraqi war experience that no one else seems to have heeded at all. The opening chapters depict a Baghdad echoingly silent and tense in the days before the invasion that feels at once real and almost too perfectly foreboding. Shadid's self-awareness is critical to the effect of the novel. Time and again, he stumbles over the things he himself didn't see or didn't read correctly. He gets humbling lessons even for himself out of events that he have lost track of in the litany of mistakes in the early days of the occupation: yes, disbanding the army was horribly wrong-headed, but so was our ignorance (even Shadid's own, as a great familiar of Baghdad life) of the significance the first time we heard the name Sadr or when we heard that Saddam had emptied the prisons. Even those who saw tragedy approaching didn't see the nuance of it. Shadid captures just this.

A brilliant journalist and writer but to much was known about Iraq before I read this to make it feel as eye opening as I hoped. His death this year was a true loss to the field of journalism.

Daję trzy gwiazdki, bo lektura bez wątpienia warta przeczytania, ale stanowczo jest za długa. Czułam się jak przy "Zakochanym jeńcu" Geneta i to nie jest komplement.
Irakijczycy są tu irytujący, Amerykanie nieudolni a nad tym wszystkim unosza się opary "opium dla ludu", czyli nieszczęsnej religii - całość nie mogła skomponować się w pokój. Do tego wszystkiego widziałam w tym portrecie Irakijczyków butę i besserwisserstwo podobne Polakom i to spostrzeżenie doprowadziło mnie do niewesołych refleksji.
Warto przeczytać by zrozumieć, dlaczego Europejczycy i im podobni nigdy nie ogarną Bliskiego Wschodu.

I really enjoyed this. Shadid tries to be very balanced, and for the most part, succeeds. He sees problems with both the Americans and Iraqis, admitting that the divide between the two groups might just be too wide to cross.

My only complaint, if it can even be called that, there are so many people that I sometimes got them mixed up. Once I figured out who they were, I appreciated the different views. My heart went out to Amal, a young teen-age girl who shared her diary with Shadid. If only more people (not just Iraqis) thought like she thinks. I hope she is still writing...

Moving, disturbing view of the war from the people suffering the most--from Oklahoma Pulitzer Prize winner at the New York Times--terrific journalism

This isn't a political book as much as it is an exploration of the people of Iraq and the problems they face. The invasion by the USA didn't help and just added to their misery and made their problems worse. Very sad at times and I feel much compassion for the people. Guilt by association since I am an American.

not very well written, and he's a journalist. But provides good on-the-ground Iraqi perspective. of course, it is dated now, but good glimpse of the climate during that period of the occupation.

The good first. It was good to hear Iraqis' opinions about the war. However, I didn't like the opinions. The brewing hate and blame against US and Israel dominates. Saddam Hussein was a tyrant whose acts harmed not only Iraq but also other nations--Kuwait, Kurdistan, Israel, etc... . Iraqis should take responsibility for their own history and culture instead of blaming others.

i’ve unfortunately never been too educated on the 2003 american occupation of iraq, so when my good friend maryam recommended this book, i was quite eager to learn.

shadid does a great job of explaining the many different forces in the war (of which there are many), the sentiment of the iraqi people at the time, the disparity between the american and iraqi cultures, the miscommunications between… everyone.

on top of being concisely educational, the book is largely based on interviews with an incredible variety of people, and built on top of the factual framework, the interviews ground the human aspect of it all—the anger, the disillusionment, and the sorrow in the face of war.

the complexities can’t really be captured in a review, and i’m planning on reading other accounts just to get a more rounded perspective, but if you happen to read this, i’d love to discuss :))

I would hope that US officials get around to reading this

It's amazing to me that we're lucky enough to have a reporter who can get this close to Iraqi people during the war and who can write this well. Every American should read this.