Inventing Iraq : The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied
Editorial Reviews
Review
"The best of the policy provocative studies is Toby Dodge's book, Inventing Iraq... Dodge argues that the creation of the state of Iraq under a mandate system represented a break with traditional territorial imperialism and signaled the beginning of the end of British international dominance." -- Judith S. Yaphe, Middle East Journal
"Dodge examines contemporary and historical experiences from macro to micro perspectives.... The parallels between current conditions in Iraq and those that shaped the interwar years provide valuable insight to a country whose troubles have origins in the flawed policies of an earlier era.... Recommended." -- Choice
"Toby Dodge correctly depicts Iraq as a failed state arising from failed British policies and administrations early in the twentieth century...The audience for such commentary is wide." -- Roger Adelson, American Historical Review
"For Dodge, the Americans running things in Baghdad have learned little from the British experience in Iraq. This book ought to be required reading for them." -- Mike Schuster, NPR, "All Things Considered"
"As postwar Iraq struggles forward, Toby Dodge's book has many lessons. Inventing Iraq is primarily a cold-eye analysis of Britain's failures as an occupying power after the first world war.... Dodge's book is a powerful warning to look at countries in their own cultural and historical context." -- Jonathan Steele, The Guardian (UK)
"Toby Dodge of Britain's Warwick University -- and author of Inventing Iraq, a superb recent book on the mandate -- points out the ways in which coalition authorities today are making the same mistakes as the British did 80 years ago." -- Michael Elliott, Time Magazine
"Toby Dodge's Inventing Iray is an excellent title for the authoritative work..." -- Roy M. Melbourne, American Diplomacy
"Dodge builds a convincing case that, should the Americans continue with prescriptions that bear little relation to where Iraq is now, they risk...denying the Iraqi people "the chance at getting the better life they so richly deserve."" -- Martin Bunton, International Journal
" Inventing Iraq is a timely book with important implications for today's foreign policy and international development communities." -- Derick W. Brinkerhoff, Public Administration
Review
"A very good piece of work in every respect: extensive research, familiarity and mastery of the secondary literature, well organised and lucid, conceptually sophisticated, with theoretical themes woven into the fabric of the substantive analysis." -- Sami Zubeida, Birkbeck College, University of London
"This fine, lucid book is absolutely essential reading for anyone desiring to understand how profoundly history shapes the current disastrous situation in Iraq, and it shows how terrible is the price for ignoring it." -- Rashid Khalidi, Edward Said Professor of Arab Studies, Middle East Institute, Columbia University
"This book is essential for an understanding of Iraqi history and the challenges that we are facing there today. " -- Senator Joseph Biden (D-DE)
Inventing Iraq : The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied
Inventing Iraq: The Failure of Nation Building and a History Denied,Toby Dodge,Columbia University Press,0231131674,History,History - General History,History: World,International Relations - General,Middle East - General,Modern - 20th Century,Modern - General,Political History,Asian / Middle Eastern history: from c 1900 -,History / Modern / General,International relations,Iraq,Postwar period, 1945 to c 2000
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