Saddam Hussein's Iraq

by James R. Arnold

Traces the rise and fall of Iraq's Saddam Hussein and describes life under his poorly planned economic programs, greed, and ruthless brutality.

160 pages, Library Binding

First published September 1, 2008

Reviews

[Seth · Rating 4 out of 5]

I read the book Saddam Hussein`s Iraq, a biography about Iraq`s most infamous dictator, Saddam Hussein, who killed millions of people. Born into abusive/poor family Saddam was abused by his father who was a common street thug. his uncle was a influence on him, took him under as a son. his uncle became the prime minister of Iraq in the 50s, but when he nationalized the oil companies in the region, he was assassinated by British backed dissidents (Britian had Colonial Rule at the time and installed a puppet monarchy to calm people.). These events made Saddam angry at the western world, he ended up joining the Ba`athsist Party, a nationalist socialist, anti Israeli, Communist Party, a Party in which was upset at the death of Saddam`s Uncle wanted revenge. In early 70s after years of revolts and coups Iraq finally had a stable government, Saddam came into power and ordered that dissidents imprisoned or executed. He ordered the invasion of his rival Iran in 1979 and engaged in a ten year war with the Iranians. The war went very badly of the Iraqis, causing their economy to collapse, justifing their invasion of Kuwait, which prompted the events of the 1st Gulf War, and the 2nd military failure of Iraq`s Army. Years later the US invades Iraq due to possible WMDs and al-qaeda terrorists and in 2005 Saddam was caputred, and following a trial, he was excuded in 2006. I found this book interesting and its content filling I feel this is a 4.5/5 because of content and several pictures.

[David · Rating 5 out of 5]

Saddam Hussein's Iraq by James R. Arnold is part of a series on dictatorships. It ties in Saddam Hussein's biography with a recent history of Iraq and the evolution of the Baath party and its plans for pan-Arabism. The author traces Saddam Hussein's early years and his path to ultimate control and power. He planned to use the recently discovered oil wealth to improve Iraqi citizen's lives but, as is usually the case with authoritarian rulers, he continued to purge rivals and threats to his power while accumulating massive wealth and control. His economic and military policies failed and ultimately brought ruin to the country. His failed attacks on neighboring countries ended up in bringing about the invasion of Iraq by the US in 2003 resulting in his ouster, capture, trial, and execution. The author exposes the inner workings of Saddam Hussein's government and the Baath party. I was impressed with the detail contained in the book and have already started reading another in this series.

[Silah · Rating 4 out of 5]

Good read. Short, yet contains much about Iraq's perils in the hands of its external foes and its internal vultures.

[Justin Ng · Rating 4 out of 5]

A simplified and short summary of the life of Saddam Hussein. Following a chronological order, the author explains how Saddam started off and paved his way up to become a dictator. Adequate illustrations were used, such as maps and photographs of various landmarks, statues and key characters.

This book is suitable for those who are interested to know more about the life of Saddam and how his actions led to the various conflicts like the Iraq-Iran War as well as the significance of the Baath Party.