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The Fall Of Baghdad
by Jon Lee Anderson


8.0

based on 14 reviews
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Official Publisher Site

From New Yorker contributor Jon Lee Anderson comes The Fall of Baghdada "masterpiece" of literary reportage about the experience of ordinary Iraqis living through the endgame of the Hussein regime, its violent fall, and the troubled American occupation. [Penguin Press]

Penguin Press, 389 pages
09/01/2004
$24.95

ISBN: 1594200343

Nonfiction
Current Events & Politics

All reviews are classified as one of five grades: Outstanding (4 points), Favorable (3), Mixed (2), Unfavorable (1) and Terrible (0). To calculate the Metascore, we divide total points achieved by the total points possible (i.e., 4 x the number of reviews), with the resulting percentage (multiplied by 100) being the Metascore. Learn more...

Houston Chronicle Tony Freemantle

Engrossing. Its value lies not so much in the gripping, first-person account of the "shock and awe" with which the end came but in the insight it offers into the thinking of the Iraqi people who were first Saddam's victims, then war's casualties.

Kirkus Reviews

First-rate frontline reportage, full of luminous and eye-opening details.

Library Journal John F. Riddick

Rendered in compelling and lucid prose, this story of deceit, terror, death, and searing religious hatred evokes a great sense of despair and a deep sadness. [1 Oct 2004, p.98]

Publishers Weekly

A thoughtful document of war, written with stunning precision.

Village Voice Joy Press

A riveting book that retains the visceral immediacy of the original pieces while also building cumulative resonance.

Washington Post John Whiteclay Chambers II

The great value of this book is that Anderson takes us beyond sound bites or official statements to hear the authentic voices of thoughtful, educated Iraqi civilians in interviews and vignettes that capture the chaos of wartime and its aftermath.

Los Angeles Times Carol Brightman

Among three new books on U.S. involvement in today's Iraq, The Fall of Baghdad by Jon Lee Anderson comes closest to hinting at the regional implications of the election's outcome.

The New York Times Janet Maslin

[Anderson] has too willing an ear for the man on the street who proclaims: ''Middle East peace should not be secured on the backs of the Iraqi people. The Americans should see us as human beings, not only as oil.'' However heartfelt such declarations may be, they have a practiced sameness on the page.

Booklist Vanessa Bush

This is a riveting look at the ill-conceived strategy to topple a dictator and reduce terrorism. [1 Sept 2004, p.41]

Boston Globe Brian MacQuarrie

Anderson's personal history of this fascinating time gave me a richer, broader understanding of how "the other side" experienced and endured the conflict.

New York Review Of Books Chris Hedges

The best reporters, such as Anderson or the New York Times correspondent John Burns, were masters at slipping in enough details and writing with enough irony to remind us where they were reporting from. But I am not sure their work can be considered great reporting.

The Guardian Ewen MacAskill

On the whole, though, there is not enough in the book about the Iraqis, especially the poorest, in part because western journalists' contact with the Iraqi population was often so difficult.

Salon Ann Marlowe

Anderson never fails to give a brief description of what everyone he runs into looks like, but he rarely goes beneath the surface to show us how they feel, or how they make him feel.

The Globe And Mail [Toronto] Paula Newberg

Without a clear interpretive lens, Anderson opts for a trudging chronology -- moving hotels, fiddling with phones, interviewing one's driver when time moves too slowly -- that too often places the reporter himself at the centre of the story.

The average user rating for this book is 8.0 (out of 10) based on 1 User Votes
Note: User votes are NOT included in the Metascore calculation.

Loyd S gave it an8:
John Lee Anderson has a very unique perspective to bring regarding the events that have occurred in Iraq over the years. He is able to track people's lives before, during and after the U.S. invasion. What stands out is not the overwhelming death and destruction that has occurred but the way his aquaintances have dealt with it. Many in the book are Sunnis who supported the regime of Saddam Hussein. Anderson shows that many of them were also victims, both of Saddam and of the invasion. One experiences vividly how these people try to cope with the situation they find themselves in. Also, one thing that comes through is that though some Iraqis in the book were Baathists, they were not necessarily the "evil-doers" many have used to categorize their lot. Some truly believed the principles of the Baath were based on making society more secular, educated and progressive. Anderson is able to vividly explore some of the consequences experienced by many Iraqis. One prevailing theme I found was that most people did not want Saddam to stay in power, but they did not want the Americans to stay for a long time. They warned that if the Americans stayed all Iraqis would fight them. The book is not a definitive treatise on the invasion but gives a great, personal account of what it was like for Anderson and the people he interacted with went through. It's also very readable.

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The Fall Of Baghdad by Jon Lee Anderson

The Fall Of Baghdad
by Jon Lee Anderson