Occupational Hazards

‘Wonderfully observed, wise, evocative’ – The Observer By September 2003, six months after the US-led invasion of Iraq, the anarchy had begun. Rory Stewart, then a young British diplomat, was appointed as the Coalition Provisional Authority’s deputy governor of a province of 850,000 people in the southern marshland region. There, he and his colleagues confronted gangsters, Iranian-linked politicians, tribal vendettas and a full Islamist insurgency. Occupational Hazards is Rory Stewart’s inside account of the attempt to rebuild a nation, the errors made, the misunderstandings and insurmountable difficulties encountered. It reveals an Iraq hidden from most foreign journalists and soldiers, a rare and compelling insight that remains just as important today. ‘Beautifully written, highly evocative . . . a joy to read’ – John Simpson ‘A marvellous book . . . a devastating narrative’ – Simon Jenkins ‘Strikes gut and brain at once’ – James Meek ‘An extraordinarily vivid tale’ The Guardian