{"product_id":"land-between-the-rivers-2","title":"Land Between the Rivers","description":"\u003cp\u003e'Elegant, erudite, ambitious, inventive - a remarkable blend of research, imagination and first-hand experience.'\u003cb\u003e Rory Stewart\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003e'\u003c\/b\u003eA sweeping and superbly written epic' \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eWall Street Journal \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A work of great ambition... an account that is informed, filled with insights and a cracking read too.' \u003cb\u003ePeter Frankopan\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIraq is where civilisation was born, where East and West have mixed and clashed since long before Alexander, and it was here by the waters of Babylon where Judaism was born and the Sunni-Shia schism took its bloody shape. Inspired by extensive reporting from the region and a decade delving deep into its history, \u003ci\u003eLand Between the Rivers \u003c\/i\u003echronicles Iraq's uniquely central role on the global stage throughout the past five millennia.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWe begin the story with ancient Sumer and Gilgamesh building the walls of Uruk ('Iraq') to make a great name for himself at the edge of historical time. We end it in 1958, as the last royal family of Iraq is slaughtered on the steps of a small palace in Baghdad, the most effervescent, free and promising capital in the Middle East.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBartle Bull's remarkable, sweeping achievement reminds us that the region defined by the land between the rivers\u003cbr\u003ehas, throughout history, played host to the contest pitting humanism against the machinations of power and fate.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Conceptual originality and laudable ambition... Inspired by firsthand experience of the region.'\u003cb\u003e \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'A sweeping and superbly written epic... He is a more compassionate, and much better informed, heir to Gertrude Bell... Throughout his account, Mr. Bull highlights the human, and humanist, threads in the political tapestry.' \u003ci\u003e\u003cb\u003eWall Street Journal\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/i\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Dazzling erudition and narrative flair come together in this superb history of Iraq... essential reading' \u003cb\u003eJustin Marozzi, author of\u003ci\u003e Islamic Empires\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e'Panoptic, fearless and beautifully written' \u003cb\u003eChristopher de Bellaigue, author of \u003ci\u003eThe Lion House\u003c\/i\u003e and \u003ci\u003eThe Islamic Enlightenment\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","brand":"Atlantic Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54410406560088,"sku":"9781838957872","price":21.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9781838957872_2ac8fcbc-96d9-4c1a-928a-ae1c7c6bbf76.jpg?v=1777896945","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/land-between-the-rivers-2","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}