BADHDAD is called the City of Peace, pretty ironic since
it
has been invaded over and over again throughout the years.
It has been the center of struggle in the Middle East
since
almost the start of time. Justin Marozzi begins his
historical look at BAGHDAD starting with Caliph Masur in
762 and follows all the way through to current time
including the invasions by America.
Justin Marozzi has spent countless hours researching and
traveling throughout BAGHDAD and Iraq in preparation for
writing this book and it shows in the reading. Marozzi
goes
over 1300 years of history including information about
invasions and battles from the Turks to Byzantines to the
British, the Ottoman and finally America. He describes the
rulers and their ruthlessness in controlling the people in
details he gained from old writing and stories. His
description of the acts committed by Saddam Hussein and
his
sons are shocking and disturbing.
Any student of history or just the casual reader who is
interested in the ways and whys of Iraq should read
BAGHDAD
by Justin Marozzi. They are people who have suffered
greatly for hundreds of years by ruthless men in search of
power. BAGHDAD is a well researched in depth look into a
nation that has had a massive impact on not only our
country but many over the last 1300 years.
For much of its extraordinary life, Baghdad, known for
centuries as the "City of Peace," enjoyed both cultural
and
commercial preeminence. For five centuries it was the seat
of the Abbasid Empire, a marvel of glittering palaces,
exquisite parks, magnificent mosques, and Islamic
colleges.
It was a city boasting the most accomplished astronomers,
mathematicians, doctors, musicians, and poets—it was here,
in the time of the caliphs, that the great Arabic classic
One Thousand and One Nights was set. With its teeming
markets watered by the Tigris, Baghdad was a thriving
trading emporium, attracting merchants from Central Asia
to
the Atlantic; its economy was the envy of West and East
alike.
Yet Baghdad's inhabitants have also seen many terrible
hardships, from epidemics and famines to invasions and
devastating floods. And it has also been one of the most
violent cities on earth. When U.S. troops entered in 2003,
they became the latest participants in a turbulent history
stretching back to the city's founding in 762. Over most
of
its thirteen-century history, Baghdad has endured the rule
of brutal strongmen, from capricious caliphs to Saddam
Hussein; and it has suffered violent occupations at the
hands of its conquerors, from the Mongol Hulagu, grandson
of
Genghis Khan, to Tamerlane, known as the "Sword Arm of
Israel."
Here, in this vivid new history—the first published in
English in nearly a century—Justin Marozzi brings to life
the whole splendorous and tumultuous story of what was
once
the greatest capital on earth.
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