Iraq War (America at War) - Hardcover

Rodney P. Carlisle earned his B.A. in history from Harvard and both his M.A. and Ph.D. in history from the University of California, Berkeley. He is a former chair of the history department at Rutgers University, where he taught for more than 30 years, specializing in 20th-century history, in particular military history. Carlisle is now professor emeritus there. He has also written many articles and more than 10 books on history, including Facts On File's Encyclopedia of the Atomic Age and Persian Gulf War.

Grade 9 Up–The war is defined as the three-week military campaign beginning in March 2003 and ending with the capture of Baghdad in April 2003. Introductory chapters discuss events leading up to the invasion, going back to the breakup of the Ottoman Empire after World War I, Saddam Hussein's rise to power and the origins of the Baath Party, the Persian Gulf War of 1991, and September 11 and the subsequent actions in Afghanistan. The book concludes with a discussion of the occupation as of May 2003. Average-quality, black-and-white photos appear throughout. There are a number of sidebars on subjects such as the famous deck of cards featuring pictures of major wanted Iraqi leaders, the hunt for WMDs, and the Al-Jazeera news agency. The analysis of this controversial war is fairly evenhanded, but the tone of the book is dry and academic. Purchase this detailed and thorough treatment where additional materials on this subject are needed.–Kathleen E. Gruver, Burlington County Library, Westampton, NJ
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