Supplemented by interviews with Donald Rumsfeld and General Tommy Franks, a narrative history of the Iraq conflict provides updated information on the war, ranging from a discussion of the murderous reign of Saddam Hussein and the diplomatic upheaval that preceded the invasion to a look at the campaign and its causes, costs, problems, and potential implications. Author of the acclaimed the Face of Battle, and, most recently, Intelligence in War, John Keegan now brings his extraordinary expertise to bear on perhaps the most controversial war of our time. The Iraq War is an urgently needed, up to date and informed study of the ongoing conflict. In exclusive interviews with Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and General Tommy Franks, Keegan has gathered information about the war that adds immeasurably to our grasp of its causes, complications, costs and consequences. He probes the reasons for the invasion and delineates the strategy of the American and British forces in capturing Baghdad; he examines the quick victory over the Republican Guard and the more tenacious and deadly opposition that has taken its place. He then analyzes the intelligence information with which the Bush and Blair administrations convinced their respective governments of the need to go to war, and which has since been strongly challenged in both countries. And he makes clear that despite the uncertainty about weapons of mass destruction, regime change, and the use and misuse of intelligence, the war in Iraq is an undeniably formidable display of American power. The Iraq War is authoritative, timely and vitally important to our understanding of a conflict whose full ramifications are as yet unknown. The 2003 Iraq war remains among the most mysterious armed conflicts of modernity. In the Iraq War, John Keegan, the best military historian of our day, offers a sharp and lucid appraisal of the military campaign, explaining just how the coalition forces defeated an Iraqi army twice its size and addressing such questions as whether Saddam Hussein ever possessed weapons of mass destruction and how it is possible to fight a war that is not, by any conventional measure, a war at all. Drawing on exclusive interviews with Donald Rumsfeld and General Tommy Franks, Keegan retraces the steps that led to the showdown in Iraq, from the highlights of Hussein's murderous rule to the diplomatic crossfire that preceded the invasion. His account of the combat in the desert is unparalleled in its grasp of strategy and tactics. The result is an urgently needed and up to date book that adds immeasurably to our understanding of those twenty one days of war and their long, uncertain aftermath.

"With a new postscript"--cover. Includes maps of: Mesopotamia; Iraq, an Outpost of the Ottoman Empire; League of Nations Mandates in 1920; Iraq and Its Near Neighbors in 1960; Saddam's Iraq; Eve of War; Advance through Iraq; Investment of Basra; Advance into Baghdad.

A mysterious war -- Iraq before Saddam -- Saddam Hussein -- Saddam's wars -- The crisis of 2002-03 -- The American war -- The British war -- The fall of Baghdad -- The war's aftermath -- Postscript to the Vintage edition, 2005.