A History of Iraq / Edition 3

by Charles Tripp

Overview

To understand Iraq, Charles Tripp's history is the book to read. Since its first appearance in 2000, it has become a classic in the field of Middle East studies, read and admired by students, soldiers, policymakers and journalists. The book is now updated to include the recent American invasion, the fall and capture of Saddam Hussein and the subsequent descent into civil strife. What is clear is that much that has happened since 2003 was foreshadowed in the account found in this book. Tripp's thesis is that the history of Iraq throughout the twentieth-century has made it what it is today, but also provides alternative futures. Unless this is properly understood, many of the themes explored in this book - patron-client relations, organized violence, sectarian, ethnic and tribal difference - will continue to exert a hold over the future of Iraq as they did over its past.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780521878234
Publisher:	Cambridge University Press
Publication date:	08/30/2007
Edition description:	Revised
Pages:	386
Product dimensions:	6.34(w) x 9.02(h) x 1.10(d)

About the Author

Charles Tripp is Professor of Politics with reference to the Middle East at the School of Oriental and African Studies, University of London. He is the General Editor of the Cambridge Middle East Studies Series and author of Islam and the Moral Economy: The Challenge of Capitalism (2006) and The Power and the People: Paths of Resistance in the Middle East (2013).

Table of Contents

Introduction; 1. The Ottoman provinces of Baghdad, Basra and Mosul; 2. The British Mandate; 3. The Hashemite monarchy 1932-41; 4. The Hashemite monarchy 1941-58; 5. The republic 1958-68; 6. The Ba‘th and the rule of Saddam Husain 1968-2003; 7. The American occupation and the parliamentary republic; Conclusion; Notes; Bibliography; Further reading and research.

Editorial Reviews

A political history of Iraq in which the primary historical force is seen as the relationship between the central state and the narratives used by Iraqis to justify their political engagement over time. Through the eras of British mandate, tribal monarchy, Arab nationalism, and the control of the Saddam Hussein's Ba'ath party has been a tendency for politics to be seen mainly as way of disciplining the population to conformity with the rulers' visions of social order, argues Tripp (political studies, U. of London, UK). He looks at relationships between the state and competing visions of Shi'i politics, Arab nationalism, communist parties, Kurdish separatists, and others. Relatively less attention is paid to the impacts of outside powers. Annotation c. Book News, Inc., Portland, OR (booknews.com)

Booknews

'Charles Tripp provides an information-packed handbook.' BBC History

'… by far the best and most serious history of Iraq to date.' Reviews in History

'… the work's incisive analysis of making of a modern state and how it creates its own distinctive political field will be of interest to academic specialists, journalists, foreign policy makers and to all those concerned with Iraq's complex past and its uncertain future.' Archiv Orientalni

'A History of Iraq provides a clear, dispassionate and knowledgeable view of its complex subject. It gives excellent background information for its intended readership, and some thought provoking ideas on how people are actors in the creation of their states.' Journal of Imperial and Commonwealth History

From the Publisher