Banking on Baghdad: Inside Iraq's 7,000-Year History of War, Profit, and Conflict

Rating:
Summary: Iraqi History: Once More, With Feeling
Review: As we replay Iraqi early 20th century history--with the US playing the part of Britain--Black lays out the history of ancient Mesopotamia through recent Iraq, and makes a good attempt to explain what, who and why. He frequently allows the major players to explain themselves, quoting extensively from British government documents and oil company records. I found it fascinating.

Rating:
Summary: Not For General Readers - Heavy Going
Review: Before reading this book I had just read The Call of the Wild by Jack London, an older fiction book about 100 years old where the pages almost turn by themslves since the writing is so smooth and flowing. Then I read the present book and it seemed very slow and complicated, even though I have read a number of other books on Middle East history etc and was generally interested in the subject of Iraq.

Because of the conflict in Iraq, this book is portrayed in the US and elsewhere as a book for for the general reader to provide interesting insights into Iraq. But it is not that type of book. It is really a bit of a specialist's book, and it is slightly off the mark for most readers. In fact it is mainly a story about oil companies and oil politics around WW I, i.e.: 1900 to 1940 or so. It is not a general Iraq history book although it does have a nice 90 page review at the front of the book. It is 50-75% about WWI era and similar oil politics with a 90 page summary of early history.

This is not a quick read or easy to digest story on Iraq. It is too detailed and requires a substantial time investment to wade through the four sections and almost 400 pages of text. It is more scholarly than a popular read. I found it slow going even slower than the Stalin biography of 800 pages by Montefiore. It is better for someone interested in the details of the political history of the early oil business in Iraq. It is not a general history or detailed analysis on Iraq that brings us to current times. The book is really a sort of hybrid, part a quick history tour (to the 19th century under 100 pages) and the rest on the development of the oil resources dwelling on the corporate-political-contractual aspects through to the end of World War II, i.e: who owns what and how did they get it. The book does contain references to the modern Iraq (last 50 years) but very briefly. I found the read a bit slow and heavy almost like a text book, especially the second half, and after a while one loses interest so just 4 stars. But the research is for the most part excellent.

The first section of about 90 pages starts 7000 years ago and takes the reader through essentially every major ruling group or tribe from the origins of Iraq to the birth of Islam, the fracture into two warring factions, then the Mongols, the Turks, etc. Based on the book jacket that is what I had expected. That first 100 pages took me almost one day to read carefully - and I am a fast reader. It takes the reader to 1859, when around on the other side of the world in 1859 oil was discovered in western Pennsylvania.

Then the direction of the book changes and shifts gears from general history to the influence of oil. From general political history of the first 90 pages it switches and focuses mainly on commercial oil development, but it is not described in an entertaing way. The next 75 pages or so is a section dedicated to the early commercial developments of the oil industry in Iraq prior to World War I, and the role of corporations and European powers.

The next section takes to the late 1920's and outlines and reviews the division and the development of oil in Iraq. The final chapter is an extension of this theme through World War II.

So in some ways this is a specialist book and not of general interest, with a strong emphasis on the commercial development of the Iraqi petroleum industry. Many will find all the WWI contract stuff to be a yawn, which is too bad. It is well rsearched. But it is background information pre 1945 and does not cover say the last 50 years of Iraqi politics, except very briefly.

This is an impressively researched book but not a good read. It comes across as a bit of a hodge podge of ancient history, some modern US troop action, and mainly WWI contract negotiations, and related. It is not compelling stuff and one gets lost in all the contracts and power politics from 1860 to the end of WWII.


Rating:
Summary: The Truth About Iraq's History
Review: Edwin Black has done it again, placing 7,000 years of Iraqi history into extraordinary perspective, reminding us of the truth and revealing the newly discovered facts to create an indispensible chronicle of that troubled land and its relation to Britain, France and the United States. That said, the book is really devoted to the last 150 years, when the importance of oil sprang upon the world and Iraq slowly rose to the top of the western nations' agenda as the greatest petroleum source of the new 20th Century. Black's access to heretofore secret oil company archives and his resurrection of forgotten military accounts reveals that Iraq has been desired by the west only for one thing: oil. This book changed my entire thinking and I highly recommend it for anyone who wants to understand how we got into Iraq and whether we can ever get out.

Rating:
Summary: Farhud = Kristallnacht
Review: From the birth of wandering nomadic Mesopotamians of time immemorial to the toppling of Saddam Hussein, Edwin Black's Banking on Baghdad clearly and accurately documents the history of this intriguing land. Black's superb volume probes deep within the evolving history of the land, documenting the variation of the Mesopotamian provinces and their religions, the intricate history of the Ottoman Empire, the Nazi-Zionist alliances and how post-Ottoman Iraq grew out of a zealous international desire for control of its multibillion-dollar petroleum resources. Black's extensive use of original sources is impressive, uncovering the important and little known facts that help make up the complex and intertwining history of Iraq. Banking on Baghdad will certainly open the eyes of those who seek to learn more about this country that is at the center of the world's attention.

Black's book acknowledges that the "Farhud," best translated as "violent dispossession" which occurred in Iraq during Shavuot 1941, was related to the interactions and partnerships which existed between Hitler and Arab leadership in the Mid-East. The Farhud is to the Sephardic Jews what Kristallnacht was to the German Jews; Black is to be praised for making this information available.


Rating:
Summary: Connected All the Dots
Review: How is it possible that the full story about Iraq has never been presented as it finally has been in this extraordinary book. Clearly, Mr. Black has conducted exhaustive research within the oil company archives and governmental records, revealing the real reason we have been in Iraq for 90 years--and that is: oil. The Red Line Agreement printed on the inside front cover is reason enough to purchase this compelling book, which I admit, I could not put down. Banking on Baghdad connected all the dots for me, and the picture was not pretty.

Rating:
Summary: Banking on Bagdad
Review: Incredibly well researched and written - ties the past history to the current situation and includes corporate wrangling and corruption all leading to oil and money as reasons for being in Iraq - first such book out there

Rating:
Summary: Goose bumps to tragic horror; thoughtful, gripping
Review: Iraq's present is a painful recapitulation of its past. Certainly it is history not forgotten but repeated none-the-less in sweeping rehearsals across 7,000 years. Edwin Black brings people to life with crisp reality, from our goose bump inspiring contemporaries struggling to keep the peace, like Lt. Col. Chris Hughes, to Genghis Khan, whose only interest was retaliation and retribution which he meted out with gruesome methodical dispatch. Iraq's history is that not only of those who began life there, but often of others who sometimes accidentally and sometimes deliberately became entangled there--sometimes as a cross roads and sometimes as a destination. Award winning author Edwin Black brings an exacting demand for verified and original source materials -- indisputable facts -- together with the richness, complexity and idiosyncrasies of the major players into a comprehensible and well founded look at what it is that we are doing in Iraq today, within a 7,000 year understanding. Both the scope and detail combined to make this a very special experience. What better way to prepare for thoughtful consideration of our nation's future relations and role in Iraq?

Rating:
Summary: Great book
Review: The worst thing about this book is that it wasn't written three years ago before the war in Iraq started and read by everyone in the White House administration. Of course that isn't a valid criticism, but what is interesting about this book is how it ties together the events from Iraq's ancient past through to present day in a coherent and illuminating way to show how Iraq has arrived at its current condition and how understanding Iraq's history tells us so much about the situation in Iraq today.

A must read for anyone wanting to understand the bigger picture of Iraq.

Rating:
Summary: Iraq; Center of the Political Universe?
Review: This is a well researched, fascinating historical summary of the history of Mesapotamia, particularly Iraq. Edwin Black traces the internal and external influences on the region for the past 7,000 years. Those influences include imperialists, dynasties, geography, wealth, Islam, Christianity, holy men, holy warriors, fratricide, homicide, despots, slavery, conquerors, traitors, treaties, agreements, broken promises, barbarism, savagery, Sunnis, Shias, local politics, international politics, intrigue, war, profit, oil, financiers and much more. Baghdad's history has affected everyone. The weave runs through the likes of the Mongols, Muhammad, Lawrence of Arabia and Churchill, from Constantinople to Hitler, right down to the U. S. infantry soldier on the ground there today.

Black has taken on a project of epic proportions. In the book's introduction he confesses that a complete study of Iraq history would fill volumes and volumes. While he has tried to reduce the vast data to a readable portion, he hopes that you are spurred to your own investigation and study if so inclined. Nevertheless, you will be appropriately dazzled by the exhaustive research done by Black's world wide teams. The unprecedented access to private, university and governmental archives bestows Black's study with a unique, meticulous, scrupulous originality and veracity.

Clearly, oil has dictated the steps of Iraq in the modern era. Black makes that point convincing, not partisan. It is an obscure, murky trail that he follows and in the middle of the book Black bogs down in too much detail about the oil business, fraught with broken political and economic agreements. Particularly when he traces the involvement of shadowy C. S. Gulbenkian in the discovery and development of Iraq's vast oil deposits. Here Black had too much information and too much detail. His point was to illuminate the intrigue that infests every aspect of dealing with the various stakeholders in the area. This takes up a large portion of the middle of the book, but it is tedious and leaves you feeling the story is going off track. That is the only drawback. Still, I had to give it the highest rating.

There are marvelous similarities in today's headlines and past events in the area. Previous Jihad against Britain covering the same towns you read about today - Mosul, Najaf, Karbala. Brutal butchery, beheadings, dragging corpses through the streets. Sunnia against Shia. Retribution for cooperating with foreigners and infidels. Discouragement at civilian and military losses. Invasion, conquest, loyalty, treachery. Payout, sellout, locked out. It is all there.

This book should be read by every U. S. politician wrestling with the issues facing us in Iraq and it should be in every public library. You cannot understand today's headlines and events without this book. But caveat emptor..I found this book discouraging in predicting any democratic success for Iraq. I don't think Black intended to be discouraging at all. Simply illuminating and adding something to the historical record. However, it is never more clear that history repeats itself.

I strongly urge you to read this book.