Occupational Hazards (Hardcover)

A unique, literary account of the disastrous occupation of Iraq by a coalition insider. This is a powerful follow up to a remarkable debut. Following his walk across Asia, Rory served as Senior British Representative in Maysan, a province in the Marsh region of southern Iraq until the handover of power to the provisional government in June 2004. Rory kept a journal of his experiences while constantly under fire and desperately trying to negotiate some form of settlement between the rival factions of a conquered, angry people. This is an astonishing narrative of what it was actually like to try and piece together a country after invasion. Soon disillusioned with the coalition's grasp of the situation and haunted by his previous experiences of Iraq and Arab peoples, this is a moving story of danger and disappointment, of opportunities missed and ideals squandered.