Occupational Hazards

A fascinating insight into the complexity, history and unpredictability of Iraq from Rory Stewart, bestselling author of Politics on the Edge and host of hit podcast The Rest Is Politics.<BR><BR>By September 2003, six months after the US-led invasion of Iraq, the anarchy had begun. Rory Stewart, a young British diplomat, was appointed as the Coalition Provisional Authority's deputy governor of a province of 850,000 people in the southern marshland region. There, he and his colleagues confronted gangsters, Iranian-linked politicians, tribal vendettas and a full Islamist insurgency.<BR><BR>Occupational Hazards is Rory Stewart's inside account of the attempt to rebuild a nation, the errors made, the misunderstandings and insurmountable difficulties encountered. It reveals an Iraq hidden from most foreign journalists and soldiers. Stewart is an award-winning writer, gifted with extraordinary insight into the comedy, occasional heroism and moral risks of foreign occupation.<BR><BR>'Beautifully written, highly evocative . . . a joy to read' - John Simpson<BR><BR>'A marvellous book . . . a devastating narrative' - Simon Jenkins<BR><BR>'Absolutely absorbing' - Ken Loach<BR><BR>'Strikes gut and brain at once' - James Meek<BR><BR>'Wonderfully observed, wise, evocative' - Observer