Customer Reviews

A History of Iraq

5 star:		(10)
4 star:		(6)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

The previous review is grossly unfair. The book is supposed to be a concise history, not an exhaustive analysis of every single issue and event in Iraq. There is an excellent list of suggested sources should the reader wish to engage in further research on any topic. The book is erudite and well-written. It does not assume that the reader has an extensive knowledge of the Middle East. Two friends borrowed this book for coursework and I had a hard time getting it back, actually.

There are a number of works that address the history of Iraq as this ought to inform American policy there: Toby Dodge's Inventing Iraq and Liam Anderson's and Gareth Stansfield's The Future of Iraq and Christopher Catherwood's Churchill's Folly come to mind. This is another in this excellent set of works.

Tripp traces Iraqi history--and its implications--from its status as three provinces in the Ottoman Empire (Baghdad, Basra, and Mosul), the British Mandate (covered so well by Catherwood's book), the early and later Hashemite Monarchy, the very brief "republic" (which term needs to be placed in italics) from 1958-1968, and the Ba'th rule (including Saddam Husain's dictatorship).

The details in this historical analysis provide extremely useful context for understanding the country called Iraq; it also helps inform us as to the challenges of creating a unified country that can produce a sense of "nationhood."

All in all, a good volume for those who want to understand the background to where we currently stand. . . .

A must read for any who would make or influence U.S. policy in Iraq. I began reading the first printing of this book while awaiting transportation into Iraq and finished while in-country. The author's readable history of the faux nation called Iraq is essential in helping to create perspective for the new Iraq scholar or for those who believe they already know it all. The reader will most likely encounter a feeling of dejavu while exploring the British occupation post-WWI. The prominent historical role of tribal shieks and secondarily, religous leaders may surprise Westerners more familiar with elected political power, but understanding who the "real" players are in the Iraqi drama helps one to understand many of the factors that have led to the current U.S. administration's difficulties in bringing western democracy to a people who have neither experienced democracy in the past, nor who exhibit a passionate desire to embrace it for themselves. There are several rather dry sections in the work, but it is worth wading through them to get to the essence of Iraq's history.

Not shallow, not too deep. A very good short history.
As the topic is vast, this is a excelent book for a person looking for a solid framework of facts. Almost every part of it could be written in length, but this is not the point of a concise one-volume history.

Overall, I would characterize Charles Tripp's book as a chronological monologue that tells the story of what happened, starting from the beginning and going along in chronological order with meticulous attention paid to dates, and names of political figures. Reading this book often became a monotonous affair, as the author explained the names and dates of yet another coup d'état or of yet another rebellion in Kurdistan, each coup and ethnic rebellion not significantly different from the one before it. In terms of clarity of presentation that this book achieves, I would say that while it is very good at describing what happened, it is much less clear at explaining why things happened. It often presupposes that the reader possesses background knowledge of Middle Eastern politics or of other disciplines. For example, the book talks extensively about the war between Iraq and Iran, but fails to explain the nature of the Iranian revolution, and how such a revolution would affect the Shi`a in Iraq. The book talks about the Gulf War, but does not explain that the reason for US intervention was largely economic. Perhaps these questions do not pertain directly to Iraq, but I think that providing some background information about other countries' interests and situations (when these countries came in contact with Iraq) is necessary in order to understand what was going on. Another thing I found frustrating is that the book did not explain what the real difference between Sunnis and Shi'a is about, and why the Sunnis have always been in control of the Iraqi state, even during Ottoman times. Another issue that I found particularly bothersome is the lack of emphasis in the book on explaining why Great Britain chose to define the borders of Iraq to be the way they ended up being. Why was Kuwait separated from Basra? At no point does the author address this question. Overall, I would have appreciated this book more if the author spent less time talking about what, who, and when, and more time explaining why.

In terms of assessing the pedagogical value of the book, I would say that because this book doesn't make connections between histories of various developing nations, does not define general themes and trends, the book itself becomes much more meaningful when read in conjunction with another book on Third World Development, Howard Handelman's The Challenge of Third World Development, for example. When read in this way, Charles Tripp's "History of Iraq" becomes a colorful and clear illustration of the many issues that concern developing nations. From legacies of colonialism (national borders, rulers, elites, etc), to the use of patronage by third world countries' governments, to the impacts of agricultural reform, to ethnic and religious conflict, and the involvement of the military in the political affairs, this book serves as a real world illustration of the many themes that pertain to Third World development.

A solid history of modern Iraq. Good background for specialists and non-specialists alike.

I am a college student that knew nothing about Iraq before I read this. Soon after getting through Charles Tripp's text, Iraq immediatelly became clear and approachable and I now find it a much easier country to follow. Anyone who wants to obtain an immediate foundation on Iraq mustn't look any further than Charles Tripp's A History of Iraq. Take a week out of your life to read this thing and you will be much better for it. Also, Peter Sluglett's books are solid too.

This is the most important book one can read if interested in the fundamental state processes of Iraq. Reading its 300 pages is a far better alternative then laboring through Hanna Batatu's 1000+ page Iraqi Bible and is just as rich in content. His last chapter is near prophetic and its cautions were ignored and thus revealed after the invasion of `03. Had the War architects read this book before the invasion, Iraq would look much different today. Cheers to Charles Tripp and his unprecedented genius. Hopefully well versed regional experts like himself will one day have a greater impact on the formulation of foreign policy instead of being ignored by ignorant and reductionist politicians.

A Great Read about a country few in the U.S. has bothered to find out. As much as America has been involved in this country and the amount of taxpayer money that has gone into it, this is a very informative book. Highly recommended.

Content Summary: This is a good political history of Iraq from the time that the Ottoman Empire lost control of it, through (and beyond) the period of Britain's waning influence and oil interests. The book summarizes the numerous and rotating governments Iraq experienced, and ends with Saddam Hussein's Iraq, just before George Bush Jr.'s invasion. The "Second Gulf War" of Bush is not included in the second edition.

Analytical Review: This text would probably be ideal for students of politics, history, and religion (in that order). Less is said about religion than politics. Clearly the author has made painstaking efforts to identify all the regimes (and sub-regimes), including the many rotating prime ministers that ultimately led to Saddam Hussein's long, dictatorial rule. The preconditions that paved the way there are illumined fairly well.