Imperial Life in the Emerald City
Bloomsbury(March 2008)
www.bloomsbury.com
From inside a surreal bubble of pure Americana known as the Green Zone, the US-led Coalition Provisional Authority attempted to rule Iraq following the fall of Saddam Hussein's regime. Drawing on interviews and internal documents, Rajiv Chandrasekaran tells the memorable story of this ill-prepared attempt to build American democracy in a war-torn Middle Eastern country, detailing not only the risky disbanding of the Iraqi army and the ludicrous attempt to train the new police force, but absurdities such as the aide who based Baghdad's new traffic laws on those of the state of Maryland, downloaded from the net, and the twenty-four-year-old who had never worked in finance put in charge of revitalising Baghdad's stock exchange. IMPERIAL LIFE IN THE EMERALD CITY is American reportage at its best.
IMPERIAL LIFE IN THE EMERALD CITY won the Samuel Johnson Prize for Non-fiction 2007, was shortlisted for the Guardian First Book Award, and is being developed as a film by director Paul Greengrass (United 93, Bloody Sunday).
"This is simply a brilliant piece of old-fashioned reportage that at times reads like surreal farce. It is a privilege to read it so soon after the events described, and it thoroughly deserves the awards and acclaim it has received." -- Nicholas Barr, Guardian
“Black comedy, set in the graveyard of the neo-conservative dream. Superb.” – John Le Carre
“Chandrasekaran...watched the policy bottom-up from within and beyond the Green Zone. The result is jaw-dropping.” – Simon Jenkins, Sunday Times
“I cannot remember a book that does more to enhance our understanding of the country than this one...devastating.” -- Spectator
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