'It's a bloody mess' -- How it all started -- Arrival -- Baghdad : the Green Zone -- Adapting to ground reality -- Life in the provinces : Basra, Al Muthanna, Dhi Qar, Maysan -- Bugs and bodyguards -- A Tower of Babel? : the challenges and delights of multinational operations -- Civvies and soldiers : a 'ticket out'? -- Plans are nothing -- Promoting security and the rule of law -- Repairing the wreckage : the realities of reconstruction -- Big-picture politics -- Epilogue.