It was "Shake and Bake Time" when I rode into battle in Iraq with the First Marine Division's lead assault battalion. I saw Operation Iraqi Freedom in March 2003 from the backseat of a Humvee in Counter Mech Platoon, 1st Battalion, 5th Marines. The first night was frightening as we crossed through "No Man's Land" between two sand berms that separate Kuwait from Iraq, its warring neighbor to the north. Three weeks later we arrived in the Iraqi capitol of Baghdad, bloodied, but not broken. "No better Friend, no worse Enemy" is the motto of the First Marine Division. And the author had no better friend in the military than Mattis who signed the American flag Simpson carried in his helmet liner before he left 1MarDiv's headquarters in Baghdad and headed home to Northern Virginia. Their enduring friendship over three decades is why Mattis, the best-selling author of "Call Sign Chaos," a book about learning to lead, graciously agreed to write a few words about Backseat To Baghdad. "Today's unsung heroes are those young men and women who look past today's political rhetoric and volunteer their lives to defend America. In Backseat To Baghdad, Ross shows those troops in combat with all their humanity and humor and the tragedies and triumphs of young men coming of age when "they were soldiers once, and young." Keenly portrayed thanks to his man deployments alongside them. In this book, Ross reveals the extraordinary character of our citizens serving as soldiers, sailors, airmen and Marines." Jim Mattis.

“An unflinching memoir . . . [that] offers insight into international events and the challenges faced by the journalists who capture them.” —The Washington Post War photographer Lynsey Addario’s memoir is the story of how the relentless pursuit of truth, in virtually every major theater of war in the twenty-first century, has shaped her life. What she does, with clarity, beauty, and candor, is to document, often in their most extreme moments, the complex lives of others. It’s her work, but it’s much more than that: it’s her singular calling. Lynsey Addario was just finding her way as a young photographer when September 11 changed the world. One of the few photojournalists with experience in Afghanistan, she gets the call to return and cover the American invasion. She decides to set out across the world, face the chaos of crisis, and make a name for herself. Addario finds a way to travel with a purpose. She photographs the Afghan people before and after the Taliban reign, the civilian casualties and misunderstood insurgents of the Iraq War, as well as the burned villages and countless dead in Darfur. She exposes a culture of violence against women in the Congo and tells the riveting story of her headline-making kidnapping by pro-Qaddafi forces in the Libyan civil war. As a woman photojournalist determined to be taken as seriously as her male peers, Addario fights her way into a boys’ club of a profession. Rather than choose between her personal life and her career, Addario learns to strike a necessary balance. In the man who will become her husband, she finds at last a real love to complement her work, not take away from it, and as a new mother, she gains an all the more intensely personal understanding of the fragility of life. Watching uprisings unfold and people fight to the death for their freedom, Addario understands she is documenting not only news but also the fate of societies. It’s What I Do is more than just a snapshot of life on the front lines; it is witness to the human cost of war.

Road Through Kurdistan is an enthralling story, packed with adventure, of one man's determination in the face of adversity. In 1928, A.M. Hamilton travelled to Iraqi Kurdistan, having been commissioned to build a road that would stretch from Northern Iraq through the mountains and gorges of Kurdistan and on to the Iranian border. Now called the Hamilton Road, this was, even by today's standards, a remarkable feat of engineering and remains one of the most strategically important roads in the region. In this colourful and engaging account, Hamilton describes the four years he spent overcoming immense obstacles – disease, ferocious brigands, warring tribes and bureaucratic officials – to carve a path through some of the most beautiful but inhospitable landscapes in the world. A classic of travel writing, Road Through Kurdistan is also an invaluable portrayal of the Iraqi Kurds themselves, as well of the Kurdish regions of Northern Iraq.

Now with a new chapter! “Everywhere militants were blowing up Christians, their churches, their shops. They threatened them with kidnapping. They promised to take their children. The message to these ‘infidels’: You have no place in Iraq. Pay a penalty to stay, leave, or be killed.” Sweeping from Syria into Iraq, Islamic State fighters (ISIS) have been brutalizing and annihilating Christians. How? Why? Where did the terrorists come from, and what can be done to stop them? For more than a decade, journalist Mindy Belz has reported on the ground from the Middle East, giving her unparalleled access to the story no one wants to believe. In They Say We Are Infidels, she brings the stark reality of this escalating genocide to light, tracking the stories of real-life Christians who refuse to abandon their faith—even in the face of losing everything, including their lives. As Reading Lolita in Tehran did for Iran and We Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families did for Rwanda, They Say We Are Infidels shines light into the Middle East through the stories of everyday heroes and heroines who will not be silenced. A must-read for anyone seeking a firmer grasp on the complex dynamics at play in war-torn Iraq and Syria, They Say We Are Infidels is the eye-opening and revelatory testimony of a journalist who heads into a war zone—and is forever changed by the people she encounters there.

Contains a diverse compilation of major speeches, congressional testimony, policy statements, fact sheets, and other foreign policy information from the State Dept.

Story of Water and Fire is a captivating account of the joint life of two prominent figures in the Iraqi art scene, poet and art critic May Muzaffar and artist Rafa Nasiri. This book offers a glimpse into the social and artistic milieu of Baghdad from the 1960s to the 1990s, as well as the couple's travels during this period and their years of exile in Amman and Manama. Through vivid descriptions and rarely seen photographs, May Muzaffar provides insights into their position in the Arab and international art scenes. The book serves as a guide to the archival material that al Mawrid Arab Center for the Study of Art at NYU Abu Dhabi has digitized and made available for researchers, creating an expanded space for exploration and understanding of the remarkable work of this generation. MAY MUZAFFAR (*1940, Baghdad) is a poet, short story writer, art critic, and translator. Having graduated in English literature from Baghdad University in 1961, she has published seven collections of poetry and five collections of short stories in Baghdad, Beirut, and Amman. She authored books on art and artists, and has also edited several books on Rafa Nasiri's art. She is the sponsor of Rafa Nasiri's art heritage and organizes an annual award for graphic arts in his name, since 2014.