Ever wonder about books on Iraq?
Wonder no more. At Michael Barone’s blog, he links to a valuable article that summarizes nearly every significant book written on any aspect of the Iraq War. What a resource.
Middle East Quarterly
Iraq in Books: Review Essay
by Michael Rubin
Spring 2007There have been three waves of Iraq-related publishing: First came the embed accounts that described the military campaign; second were examinations of prewar planning and, third, studies of the occupation. Quantity does not equal quality, though, nor does popularity correlate to accuracy. Many of the most popular books have been deeply flawed. Many authors use their Iraq narrative to promote other agendas, be they related to U.S. domestic politics, U.N. empowerment, or independence for Kurdistan. Other authors have substituted theory for fact or tried to propel their experience into the center of the Iraq policy debate. While time has already relegated much Iraq-related writing to the secondhand shelf or dustbin, several authors have produced works that will make lasting contributions, be they to future generations of war and post-conflict reconstruction planners, or scholars looking more deeply into the fabric of Iraq.
Michael Rubin is editor of the Middle East Quarterly and a resident scholar at the American Enterprise Institute. Of his twenty-two months in Iraq, nine were spent as a governance advisor in the Coalition Provisional Authority.
One of the books reviewed is The Blog of War: Frontline Dispatches from Military Bloggers in Iraq and Afghanistan by Matthew Burden, proprietor of Blackfive.
If you are looking for books about Iraq, this article is a tremendous resource. I recommend starting with Blog of War and going from there. Hear directly from the soldiers on the front lines and the families they leave behind.
When we interviewed Mr. Barone I asked him about blogs and what he said was pure joy,
If I miss a day’s Washington Post I don’t find myself too far behind but if I miss a day’s Instapundit, well, I could really miss out on something important. And if I miss Maureen Dowd, well, the fact of the matter is I miss Maureen Dowd every week of the year. I read her about ten years ago and I don’t see any need to read her again.
You can listen to the interview here.
February 23rd, 2007 at 5:36 pm
Kevin, you are probably wondering where your copy of Blog of War is– I’ll get it back to you.
An utterly fantastic read, that will remind people that no matter what you think of the war, the people in uniform are by and large dedicated to doing their jobs. And they have lives that are as interesting as any of ours, mot to mention jobs that are more, well, interesting than most of us can imagine.
I’ll get your copy back to you, promise
February 23rd, 2007 at 6:50 pm
DougH,
Considering all the jazz CD’s you burned for me, I’m not complaining.:)
I knew that you, no fan of this war or administration, would enjoy this book for what it is, a fascinating first person account of war as told by the men and women fighting and it and those they leave behind.
Honestly, I wish more liberals were like you, able to disagree without being disagreeable. I know, I know, same could be said of conservatives.
I miss our bull sessions on politics because we always saw something worthwhile in the others point of view even though we agree on little.
Kevin
February 24th, 2007 at 8:04 am
Kevin:
Stop being nice to the liberals or people will say you love terrorists.