The prince of the marshes
Subtitle: and other occupational hazards of a year in Iraq
By: Rory Stewart
Edition: 1st ed.
Publisher: Harcourt, Inc.
Published: 2006
Place of publication: Orlando
Language: eng
Number of pages: 396
ISBN-13: 9780151012350
Subjects: Iraq War, 2003-; Social life and customs; Description and travel; Coalition Provisional Authority; British Personal narratives; Travel; British
Description: "Iraq. September 2003; it's six months after the US-led invasion, and the country is in anarchy - the infrastructure has collapsed, terrorist attacks have begun and the coalition has decided to rule directly via the Coalition Provisional Authority (CPA). Rory Stewart, a young British diplomat, is appointed as the coalition deputy governor (CPA deputy governorate coordinator) of a province of 850,000 people in the southern marshland. There, in the cities of Amara and then Nasiriyah, he and his colleagues confront gangsters, Iranian-linked politicians, tribal vendettas and a full Islamist insurgency, in which Stewart is besieged in his compound under continual fire, struggling to keep his staff alive. They negotiate hostage releases, appoint Iraqi governors and police chiefs, patch up the shattered infrastructure and, in June 2004, hand over sovereignty to the Iraqi government." "Stewart's almost colonial role may never exist again. His insider's account reveals a side of Iraq hidden from most foreign journalists and soldiers and raises questions about the whole project of 'state-building' in the twenty-first century."--BOOK JACKET.
Table of contents: title: Capitalist-imperialist-crusader; title: Waking up dead; title: Mordor; title: The prince of the marshes; title: The British camp; title: Regeneration; title: Title TK; title: Affairs; title: Persia; title: Ice cream; title: Title TK; title: Pagoda; title: The supervisory committee; title: High command; title: Death of hero; title: Friday prayers; title: And would not stay for an answer; title: Resolutions; title: Blood money; title: Resignation; title: Summit; title: Iraqi pastoral; title: Al-Mutanabi street; title: Rural rides; title: Deputy; title: The paths that lead to destruction; title: Import substitution industrialization; title: Jobs; title: Mutiny; title: Sheikhs; title: Precautions; title: The Islamic call; title: Sadrines; title: Majority and minority; title: Our successors; title: Departures; title: Trust; title: A new chief; title: Death by the office wall; title: Credibility; title: Nasiriyah; title: Arrivals; title: Morning meeting; title: A second governor; title: Sage of the assembly; title: Mudhif; title: Ali Zeidi; title: Police; title: Echoes from the frontiers; title: Kidnapped; title: Rewarding friends; title: Foreign elements; title: Return to the Green Zone; title: The rule of law; title: Besieged; title: The quick reaction force; title: Kabul; title: Reprise; title: Final days; title: Ali Zeidi; title: Last days in Amara; title: Handing over; title: Afterword; title: Acknowledgments; title: Dramatis personae; title: Timeline.