A reading list: Books on Iraq and related topics

By Mary Ann Gwinn
Seattle Times book editor

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Historians are still digesting the war on Iraq, but several recent books provide insight into that country, Islam and the forces that converged a year ago to send the country to war with Saddam Hussein:

"Disarming Iraq" by Hans Blix (Pantheon). This just-published account by the United Nations' chief weapons inspector about the run-up to the U.S.-British invasion is not light reading — Blix writes like a bureaucrat — but is very valuable as a historical document.

"In the Company of Soldiers: A Chronicle of Combat in Iraq" by Rick Atkinson (Henry Holt). Atkinson, a Pulitzer-winning military historian ("An Army at Dawn") and writer for The Washington Post, recounts his experiences as an "embedded" reporter with the 101st Airborne division. It's among the best you-are-there accounts.

"Ghost Wars: The Secret History of the CIA, Afghanistan, and bin Laden, from the Soviet Invasion to September 10, 2001" by Steve Coll (Penguin Press), managing editor of The Washington Post. Chronicles the CIA's involvement in the covert war in Afghanistan, which fueled Islamic militancy and spawned al-Qaida.

"The Crisis of Islam: Holy War and Unholy Terror" by Bernard Lewis (Modern Library). An unstinting look at the emergence of radical Islam, by one of the world's foremost scholars of the religion. Lewis has a new collection of essays, "From Babel to Dragomans: Interpreting the Middle East" (Oxford University Press) coming in May.

"American Dynasty: Aristocracy, Fortune and the Politics of Deceit in the House of Bush" by Kevin Phillips (Viking). A disquieting look at the Bush family's involvement in armaments, oil, intelligence-gathering and war-making over four generations.

"War Is a Force That Gives Us Meaning" by Chris Hedges (PublicAffairs). A powerful and unsentimental meditation on war by a veteran war correspondent and New York Times reporter. Published before the war, it remains an insightful look at how war becomes an addiction for those who plot it, participate in it and report on it.

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