Customer Reviews

The War in Iraq: A Photo History

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

 

 

This is essentially a photo album of Operation Iraqi Freedom which again proves the old adage, a picture is worth a thousand words. It dispenses with text and allows the reader to visually
experience the war on land, sea, and air. I think it is the best of the current spate of Iraq War books by photo-journalists.

The reason I bought this book is because there was a picture of me holding my daughter in it. The picture was very clear and I wanted to keep it as a keep sake for her of her mom before leaving Iraq. She loves it.

This could be a first: a 'history' of a war that's still being fought, thougtfully released before the end of 2003. Of course, the end of 'major' combat was announced in May 2003 (during the president's impressive photo op), so it's safe to declare the 'war' over and proceed with this coffee table book.

The book looks good, certainly. It is competing with any number of other nice, big, glossy books of pictures from Operation: Bad Intelligence.

For a book on the Iraqi conflict, we'll have to wait for some time, it seems. This book has some gorgeous shots of the leadup to war, the war itself (where the Iraqi army mostly went home to get heavily armed for Iraq War II, or III, I guess), and so on. It looks like Bush's carrier landing scene was a virtual announcement to the publishers of the world that it was time to get those 'history' books rolling. There is a solitary shot of a soldier's flag-draped coffin, giving one a reminder that many more have died since. There are also shots of Saddam's palaces, and reminders of his own atrocious behavior which we were a bit late in condemning since we indeed supported it all the way. The book needs revision, as Saddam has since been captured, reminding us that he wasn't sitting in an underground lair, stroking a white cat and planning world destruction, but was threatening the American people from his spider hole with a six-month beard and bad breath.

The book barely hints at the horrors of war the way similar photographic works have. Sure, we see some battle shots, a few wounds, dusty, blown-apart buildings in Baghdad, but the book offers nothing new on the US armed forces or on this or any other war. Actually, I expect this baby to be on sale pretty soon, just in time for the publishers to push out a new book covering 'Post-War Iraq', meaning impending civil war. Perhaps it's best that the book is light on commentary...

This book is consists almost entirely of pictures. Very litle is written about the men and women who fought and continue to fight this war. Also, although the 3rd Infantry division was the main effort during this campaign it seems like the Marines steal the show in this book. If you like pictures this is the book for you. I you want to read about the war you will be disappointed.