Banking on Baghdad: Inside Iraq's 7,000-Year History of War, Profit, and Conflict

by Edwin Black

Book Overview

New York Times and international bestselling author Edwin Black uncovers Iraq's hidden economy and the companies that profit from its upheaval Big business and global warfare have long been fiery and symbiotic forces in Iraq. Banking on Baghdad tells the dramatic and tragic history of a land long the center of world commerce-and documents the many ways Iraq's recent history mirrors its tumultuous past. Tracing the involvement of Western governments...

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 047167186X
• ISBN13: 9780471671862
• Release Date: October 2004
• Publisher: John Wiley & Sons
• Length: 471 Pages
• Weight: 1.84 lbs.
• Dimensions: 1.5" x 6.4" x 9.3"

Customer Reviews

Iraq; Center of the Political Universe?

This is a well researched, fascinating historical summary of the history of Mesapotamia, particularly Iraq. Edwin Black traces the internal and external influences on the region for the past 7,000 years. Those influences include imperialists, dynasties, geography, wealth, Islam, Christianity, holy men, holy warriors, fratricide, homicide, despots, slavery, conquerors, traitors, treaties, agreements, broken promises, barbarism, savagery, Sunnis, Shias, local politics, international politics, intrigue, war, profit, oil, financiers and much more. Baghdad's history has affected everyone. The weave runs through the likes of the Mongols, Muhammad, Lawrence of Arabia and Churchill, from Constantinople to Hitler, right down to the U. S. infantry soldier on the ground there today. Black has taken on a project of epic proportions. In the book's introduction he confesses that a complete study of Iraq history would fill volumes and volumes. While he has tried to reduce the vast data to a readable portion, he hopes that you are spurred to your own investigation and study if so inclined. Nevertheless, you will be appropriately dazzled by the exhaustive research done by Black's world wide teams. The unprecedented access to private, university and governmental archives bestows Black's study with a unique, meticulous, scrupulous originality and veracity. Clearly, oil has dictated the steps of Iraq in the modern era. Black makes that point convincing, not partisan. It is an obscure, murky trail that he follows and in the middle of the book Black bogs down in too much detail about the oil business, fraught with broken political and economic agreements. Particularly when he traces the involvement of shadowy C. S. Gulbenkian in the discovery and development of Iraq's vast oil deposits. Here Black had too much information and too much detail. His point was to illuminate the intrigue that infests every aspect of dealing with the various stakeholders in the area. This takes up a large portion of the middle of the book, but it is tedious and leaves you feeling the story is going off track. That is the only drawback. Still, I had to give it the highest rating. There are marvelous similarities in today's headlines and past events in the area. Previous Jihad against Britain covering the same towns you read about today - Mosul, Najaf, Karbala. Brutal butchery, beheadings, dragging corpses through the streets. Sunnia against Shia. Retribution for cooperating with foreigners and infidels. Discouragement at civilian and military losses. Invasion, conquest, loyalty, treachery. Payout, sellout, locked out. It is all there. This book should be read by every U. S. politician wrestling with the issues facing us in Iraq and it should be in every public library. You cannot understand today's headlines and events without this book. But caveat emptor..I found this book discouraging in predicting any democratic success for Iraq. I don't think Black intended to be discouraging at all.

Connected All the Dots

How is it possible that the full story about Iraq has never been presented as it finally has been in this extraordinary book. Clearly, Mr. Black has conducted exhaustive research within the oil company archives and governmental records, revealing the real reason we have been in Iraq for 90 years--and that is: oil. The Red Line Agreement printed on the inside front cover is reason enough to purchase this compelling book, which I admit, I could not put down. Banking on Baghdad connected all the dots for me, and the picture was not pretty.

The Truth About Iraq's History

Edwin Black has done it again, placing 7,000 years of Iraqi history into extraordinary perspective, reminding us of the truth and revealing the newly discovered facts to create an indispensible chronicle of that troubled land and its relation to Britain, France and the United States. That said, the book is really devoted to the last 150 years, when the importance of oil sprang upon the world and Iraq slowly rose to the top of the western nations' agenda as the greatest petroleum source of the new 20th Century. Black's access to heretofore secret oil company archives and his resurrection of forgotten military accounts reveals that Iraq has been desired by the west only for one thing: oil. This book changed my entire thinking and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to understand how we got into Iraq and whether we can ever get out.

Banking on Bagdad

Incredibly well researched and written - ties the past history to the current situation and includes corporate wrangling and corruption all leading to oil and money as reasons for being in Iraq - first such book out there

Goose bumps to tragic horror; thoughtful, gripping

Iraq's present is a painful recapitulation of its past. Certainly it is history not forgotten but repeated none-the-less in sweeping rehearsals across 7,000 years. Edwin Black brings people to life with crisp reality, from our goose bump inspiring contemporaries struggling to keep the peace, like Lt. Col. Chris Hughes, to Genghis Khan, whose only interest was retaliation and retribution which he meted out with gruesome methodical dispatch. Iraq's history is that not only of those who began life there, but often of others who sometimes accidentally and sometimes deliberately became entangled there--sometimes as a cross roads and sometimes as a destination. Award winning author Edwin Black brings an exacting demand for verified and original source materials -- indisputable facts -- together with the richness, complexity and idiosyncrasies of the major players into a comprehensible and well founded look at what it is that we are doing in Iraq today, within a 7,000 year understanding. Both the scope and detail combined to make this a very special experience. What better way to prepare for thoughtful consideration of our nation's future relations and role in Iraq?