Reading List

Al-Ali, Nadje Sadig. Iraqi Women: Untold Stories from 1948 to the Present. London: Zed, 2007. Print.

This book follows the life of the women of Iraq from 1948 until present times. It abolishes the myths and misconceptions of both Iraq and of the nearly majority population of women in the area. It is very crucial to my research in that it provides a personal account of the Iraqi women, even including diary entries and personal testimonials.

Dolberg, Eugene. Open Shutters Iraq. 2010. Print

This book reveals an intimate look at photographs and captions taken and written by Iraqi women on the ground. At the height of sectarian violence in Iraq, Eugene Dolberg published this book to expose the silenced opinions of the women of Iraq as their country came under fire and their lives altered from between photographs. Many of the photographs used throughout the website have been used from this book.

Fassihi, Farnaz. Waiting for an Ordinary Day: The Unraveling of Life in Iraq. New York: PublicAffairs, 2008. Print.

This book reveals narratives from Iraqis living in Baghdad during the height of the War in Iraq. Fassiha includes stories from a Christian family living under Iraq and attempting to live a normal life, and marry one of their sons, during a full-scale invasion. Including stories from orphans and widowed, this book distorts any media propaganda and biases through uncovering the ordinary lives of Iraqi.

Galbraith, Peter. The End of Iraq: How American Incompetence Created a War without End. New York: Simon & Schuster, 2006. Print.

Galbraith includes several photos in this book which are included on this site to provide a visual understanding of attitutes of Iraqis towards both Saddam Hussein and the US occupation. This book also provides an in depth look at the degree of sectarianism in Iraq, how it formed, and what the future of Iraq could become.

Gettleman, Marvin E., and Stuart Schaar. The Middle East and Islamic World Reader. New York: Grove, 2003. Print.

The Middle East and Islamic World Reader was provided an in-depth look at the history of Islam. It included information on the differences between Sunni and Shiite Muslims as well, which was necessary to include on my website to provide background information on my overall topic.

Golenberg, Edward M. Iraq: Forward, Backward or Nowhere? New York: Nova Science, 2010. Print.

This book outlines the history of U.S Foreign Policy in Iraq. It is important because it breaks down the intentions of the US in influencing Iraq and allows one to recognize the reasons behind the US military strategies.

Israeli, Raphael. The Iraq War: Hidden Agendas and Babylonian Intrigue : The Regional Impact on Shi’ites, Kurds, Sunnis and Arabs. Brighton: Sussex Academic, 2004. Print.

Raphael Israeli provided an in-depth history of Iraq through the themes of division and regionalism of the Iraqi people. With individual chapters on Shi’ites in the South, Kurds in the North, and central Baghdad, Israeli breaks down the regional power of each belief structure, analyzing how each group came to be a deciding factor in the security or destruction of modern day Iraq.

Klein, Naomi. The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism. New York: Metropolitan /Henry Holt, 2007. Print.

A New York Times bestseller, this book provides an interesting outlook on “disaster capitalism”, what Klain refers to as the systematic treatment of large scale diasters as market opportunities. Klain refers to Iraq often in the book, and notes how the US administration under Paul Bremer quickly began privatization in the wake of the War in Iraq. She includes quotes by Iraqis stating there had been enough shocks in the system after the US invasion to incorporate  shock therapy in the economy as well.

Marr, Phebe. The Modern History of Iraq. Boulder, CO: Westview, 2004. Print.

Phebe Marr aims to reveal an Iraq easily understandable to not only Middle East Scholars but the general audience as well. Rather than a tediously detailed history of Iraq, Marr tells Iraq’s history through grouping the book into several themes, and explains how Saddam Husain gained power, and why he was able to remain through intifadas and military upheavals. This book provided a layman syntax of an often complicated history, which was needed for the continuation of more in-depth research on the borders within Baghdad in the mid-21st century.

Pelham, Nicolas. A New Muslim Order: The Shia and the Middle East Sectarian Crisis. London: I.B. Tauris, 2008. Print.

This book provides a detailed understand of the political order of Iraq in the early 21st century. By revealing the rise of the Shias in Iraq, one can understand the divisions in government, both physical in the sense of separate parties and sociological in the minority/majority identity.

Polk, William Roe. Understanding Iraq: The Whole Sweep of Iraqi History, from Genghis Khan’s Mongols to the Ottoman Turks to the British Mandate to the American Occupation. New York: HarperCollins, 2005. Print.

This book was recommended by Duke’s Abdul Jawad as a truthful interpretation of the history of Iraq and after careful reading, is the book I return to for my information on Iraq before the US invasion as well as the sectarian violence which erupted afterwards. It provides an accurate representation of the history of the country from Ancient Iraq to American Iraq.

Riverbend. Baghdad Burning: Girl Blog from Iraq. New York: Feminist at the City University of New York, 2005. Print.

This book is a raw interpretation of Iraq through the eyes of a young women living in Baghdad. The contents of this book are also an online blog which provides unedited posts on daily struggles of living under occupation, from before the Gulf War until the late months of 2004.

Riverbend. Baghdad Burning II: More Girl Blog from Iraq. New York: Feminist, 2006. Print.

This book is the second edition of Riverbend’s blog and includes more insight into the years 2006 and 1007 in Iraq, and the sectarianism which erupted in the country. ALthough Riverbend does not identify as neither Sunni nor Shiite, she repeatledly cites the sectarianism as attempts for leaders to gain power through religion.

Stevens, Bruno, Jon Lee. Anderson, Prieto Monica. Garcia, and John G. Morris. Baghdad: Truth Lies within. Gent: Ludion, 2004. Print.

This book tells the story of the lives of the citizens of Baghdad before, after, and during the Iraq War. Through a collection of 200 photographs, this book reveals the chaos of the Saddam regime, the gruesome physical tolls of the War, and the raw emotion that accompanied the invasion. The timeline of life in Iraq is portrayed not through bland statistics or news readings, but unedited photographs.

Zangana, Haifa. City of Widows: An Iraqi Woman’s Account of War and Resistance. New York: Seven Stories, 2007. Print.

Haifa Zangana delivered a raw interpretation of life in Iraq, examining the changes in the political structure of the country and the impacts it had on sectarianism. She also includes the idea of the role of Islam in Iraq, stating it is not Islam that is the problem, but rather the corruption of the religion. Zangana is cited many times in the website to provide a unique interpretation of how Iraq has transformed through the eyes of an Iraqi exile.