Nonfiction That Makes the Grade: Iraq (Countries of the World) by Charlie Samuels

In his foreword to National Geographic Countries of the World: Iraq (NG Countries of the World), Shakir Mustafa gives credit to the land which gave us the first system of writing, code of law, and even the first cookbook. In contrast, author Charlie Samuels aptly terms Iraq a country "living on the edge," pointing to the long succession of empires--the Sumerian, Akkadian, Babylonian, Assyrian, Persian, and British--which have flowed over this land, destroying and creating new cultures--with new forms of writing, new laws, and, indeed, new foods--for millennia.

On the boundary between a fruitless, sparsely inhabited desert and the fertile Mesopotamian cradle of civilization, constantly divided and redivided by rulers from Sargon of Sumeria to the British Empire to Saddam Hussein, torn between the Arab and Persian hegemonies for centuries, Iraq is still a country on the edge. It is a land where ancient ties of family, clan, and tribe still widely encourage cousin marriage as a means of preserving wealth and social control and yet finds itself awash in new international ideologies--Islamicism, Al Quaida, and modernism. Within this theme, Samuels does a good job of summarizing the geography, ancient and modern history, and politics of the people within Iraq's man-made borders.

Special attention is given to the need to protect Iraq's fragile natural environment, from the forests of the northern mountains to the Arab marshes in the south. Concern is also expressed for the need for preservation of Iraq's historic sites and artifacts, from ancient city ruins of Babylon to the ziggurats and mosques which dot the landscape. Samuels provides a succinct discussion of Iraq's recent modern history since World War II, which although brief, provides more information than most American adults share. His chapter, "Traditions and Troubles," explains the challenges to nationhood which currently face Iraq. As Samuels says in his closing,

Their country has undergone many changes over the centuries. The Iraqi people have always proved resourceful at coping with change. When the final troops leave Iraq, a new generation of Iraqis will be set to make the most of whatever new situation faces them.

Illustrative photos, maps, graphs, and tables dot the chapters and extend the text, and extensive backmatter adds a glossary, an appendix which steers the student through report-writing with extensive source web sites, a bibliography, and an index. In addition to timelines distributed through the individual chapters, a complete chronology of Iraqi history is provided in the endpapers.

Other titles in National Geographic's Countries of the World series are National Geographic Countries of the World: Iran (NG Countries of the World), National Geographic Countries of the World: Kenya, (Countries of the World), National Geographic Countries of the World: India,(Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: Cuba, (NG Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: Peru, (Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: South Africa, (NG Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: Italy, (Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: United Kingdom, (Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: Nigeria, (Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World:Poland, (NG Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: Australia (NG Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: Germany, (NG Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: South Korea, (Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: China. (Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: Afghanistan,(Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: Vietnam, (NG Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: Canada, (Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: Mexico, (Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: Japan, (Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: Egypt, (Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: Israel, (Countries of the World) National Geographic Countries of the World: Russia, (Countries of the World) and National Geographic Countries of the World: New Zealand. (Countries of the World)