Apparently the author is still a foreign service officer with the Department of State - how that is possible after he publishes something like this is hard to imagine. Still, his book's web site includes a disclaimer that the information there is not meant to represent U.S. policy or the Dept of State's views.

The book describes the author's year at two different Provincial Reconstruction Team sites in Iraq, talking about what it was like living and working closely with the Army, contractors, and others as well as what they tried to accomplish in reviving Iraq - which mostly he considers wasted effort (although his views are more nuanced than that).

The book takes a mostly chronological approach, starting with his decision to "volunteer" (or else) to go despite no real relevant experience (as a career consular official) because of the huge need for FSOs in Iraq. He then describes his travel there and the two different sites where he worked and what life there was like. The description of the activities to rebuild Iraq end up being less than half the book I would guess, but that reflects his time there. There are still plenty of examples of the hopeless initiatives that they funded and how they attempted to work with the Iraqis.

The book is reasonably well and consistently written, although the author adopts a kind of cynical humor that sometimes feels forced - as though he was compelled to have a cynical remarks every 200 words or something. I felt the author avoided the self-congratulatory tone that some books of this sort have, which is in his favor.

I knew most of the acronyms already, but I wonder if most readers wouldn't find this like a Tolstoy novel run amuck - a bit difficult to follow what is being discussed. Also, he jumps back and forth between the two sites where he spent his time and I sometimes lost track, although I guess it didn't matter.

I don't think there are many things out there with this kind of approach - worth a look.