بغداد، مدينة السلام ومدينة الدم

by Justin Marozzi, غسان مازن (Translator)

Over thirteen centuries, Baghdad has enjoyed both cultural and commercial pre-eminence, boasting artistic and intellectual sophistication and an economy once the envy of the world. It was here, in the time of the Caliphs, that the Thousand and One Nights were set. Yet it has also been a city of great hardships, beset by epidemics, famines, floods, and numerous foreign invasions which have brought terrible bloodhsed. This is the history of its storytellers and its tyrants, of its philosophers and conquerors.

Here, in the first new history of Baghdad in nearly 80 years, Justin Marozzi brings to life the whole tumultuous history of what was once the greatest capital on earth.

Genres: History, Nonfiction, Middle East, Politics, Islam, Cities, Travel

506 pages, Hardcover

First published May 29, 2014

About the author

[Excerpt from http://www.justinmarozzi.com/about/]

Justin is a travel writer, historian, journalist and political risk and security consultant. He has travelled extensively in the Middle East and Muslim world and in recent years has worked in conflict and post-conflict environments such as Iraq, Afghanistan and Darfur. He graduated from Cambridge with a Starred Double First in History in 1993, before studying Broadcast Journalism at Cardiff University and winning a scholarship to the University of Pennsylvania to read a Masters in International Relations. After working in the BBC World Service on ‘News Hour’ and BBC Westminster on ‘Today in Parliament’, he joined the Financial Times as a foreign correspondent in Manila, where he also wrote for The Economist. During his time in the Far East, he shared a Winnebago with Imelda Marcos, a helicopter with the Philippine president and his mistress, and a curry with Aung San Suu Kyi whilst under house arrest in Rangoon.

His first book, South from Barbary, was an account of a 1,200-mile expedition by camel along the slave routes of the Libyan Sahara, described by the desert explorer and SAS veteran Michael Asher as “the first significant journey across the Libyan interior for a generation”. His second, Tamerlane: Sword of Islam, Conqueror of the World, launched in Baghdad in 2004, was the best-selling biography of the world’s greatest Islamic conqueror and a Sunday Telegraph Book of the Year: “Outstanding… Justin Marozzi is the most brilliant of the new generation of travelwriter-historians.”

In 2006, he wrote Faces of Exploration, a collection of profiles of the world’s leading explorers. He has contributed to Meetings with Remarkable Muslims (an interview with the Afghan mujahid hero Ahmed Shah Massoud), The Seventy Greatest Journeys, and most recently The Art of War (essays on Genghis Khan, Kublai Khan and Tamerlane).

His latest book, published in October 2008, is The Man Who Invented History: Travels with Herodotus, based on extensive research in Turkey, Iraq, Egypt and Greece. Apart from a year working for a British security company in Iraq, an encounter with the Grand Mufti of Egypt and an investigation into outwardly religious girls performing oral sex in car-parks in Cairo, one of the many highlights of the Herodotean trail was a retsina-fuelled lunch with the nonagenarian war hero and writer Sir Patrick Leigh Fermor.

Justin is a regular contributor to a wide range of national and international publications, including the Financial Times, Spectator, Times, Sunday Telegraph, Guardian, Evening Standard, Standpoint and Prospect, where he writes on international affairs, the Muslim world and defence and security issues, and has broadcast for the BBC World Service and Radio Four.

Justin is a former member of the International Institute of Strategic Studies, a Fellow of the Royal Geographical Society, where he has also lectured, and an Honorary Travel Member of the Travellers Club.

Reviews

[Sleepy Boy · Rating 4 out of 5]

This work is clearly both a letter of love and grief to a storied city. Baghdad has both been the center of the learned world and reduced from outside forces but more often than not, at their own hands, to little more than a provincial backwater.

Early Baghdad, while far from perfect, arguably was a poster child of how religion, science, art, math, literature, and architecture could coexist in amazingly fluid form. It's astounding to learn the things in depth that Baghdad was responsible for under the Abbasid Caliphate. Those of us who consume, and study Greco-Roman philosophy owe a great debt of gratitude to the early Caliph's who sent gifts to Byzantium asking in return for copies of Greco-Roman philosopher's works. In doing so, quite a few pieces of work that would have been arguably lost to time and war found preservation in Arabic translations that enabled the west to translate them decades/centuries later in the Renaissance.

The author pulls zero punches heading into the modern era, cataloguing the absolute suffering of the people at the hands of the Baathist party and their minions (Along with the US). The aspects of the abject sadism in the form of torture are presented in a matter-of-fact way, not glorified/reveled in while still making one cringe and feel immediate empathy for the persecuted.

This is an excellent study on an incredibly storied city, though at times the presentation can be a little confusing. I found this source of confusion in the timeline jumping method of storytelling. If the author was conveying a subject that would later become a pattern or cycle, he would often jump from the current timeline to that future timeline to explain the pattern/cycle before returning.

[Stian · Rating 4 out of 5]

The story of Baghdad is one filled with destruction, death, murder, rape, pillaging, and sectarian warfare. But it is also the story of resistance, courage, and the ability to rise again from ashes and dust. It began with the fall of the Umayyad Caliphate, with the new Abbasid Caliph, Abu Ja'far al-Mansur, who needed a new capital. Not one to leave things to his subordinates or to chance, in 762 he personally selected the spot for his new, grand capital: right by the Tigris river. A strategic decision due to great trade route possibilities and its proximity to water.

Baghdad grew quickly -- indeed at a remarkable rate. It is rather incredible that it was founded in 762, and Harun al-Rashid became Caliph only in 786 -- and this is considered to be the high-point of Baghdadi history: the golden age of Islam. Marozzi writes about Harun,

"Harun's career was astonishing: a relentless whirlwind of bloodshed and conquest, pilgrimage and procreation, science and scholarship, palatial building in Baghdad and expenditure on an imperial, never-to-be-repeated scale. Just as Tamerlane adorned his capital of Samarkand with the fruits of his conquests, so Harun lavished money on the greater glory of the City of Peace. Harun's wild extravagances are well known and widely documented. Yet this was no spendthrift ruler without a care for the future of Baghdad and its empire. On his death in 809, according to Tabari, he left the treasury with 900 million dirhams."

During the Abbasid era, Baghdad was the centre of science, art, and literature. Referred to as "the Rome of the East", it was a place where poets were treated as rockstars; it was the home to what has been dubbed the 'world's first state-funded large-scale science project' in what was the first Islamic observatory; we have the House of Wisdom; and a certain Mohammed ibn Musa al Khwarizmi, whose work The Compendium on Calculation by Restoring and Balancing "bequeathed the dread term algebra, scourge of childern's schooldays for more than a thousand years, and was also a key conduit for the passage of Arabic numerals into the medieval West." As Marozzi writes, it is not unreasonable to say that Baghdad was, during the 8th and 9th centuries, the high point of human civilization anywhere on the globe.

However, Baghdad is a city that has suffered since its conception. Famine, floods, wars, sieges, sackings, and maniacal leaders. The Tigris is a gigantic mass grave: the Mongols coloured it black with ink after throwing all the books they could find into it in 1258, and Tamerlane coloured the river blood-red by throwing thousands of bodies into it not too long after. From the very beginning, "strongmen have been an inescapable part of the city's story. All-powerful Abbasid caliphs, brutal Mongol and Turkic conquerors, Turkmen tribal chiefs, Iranian shahs, Ottoman sultans and pashas, overweening Mamluks, aghas and Janissaries -- all made themselves masters of the City of Peace by shedding blood on a grand scale. Whatever their many differences, they were united in one important aspect: none suffered from squeamishness."

Justin Marozzi chronicles the bloody history of Baghdad, but it's a necessarily messy one. Writing the biography of a single person is tricky business. Writing the "biography" of an entire city is one huge undertaking. But Marozzi does a decent job of it: the book has some 40 pages of notes, and has lots of explanatory notes in the text as well. But the book does have problems: there are so many names it's impossible to keep up with it. So many caliphs, so many leaders, so many important people, so many placenames, so many remarkable stories and facts. If you don't pay attention, you will miss a lot. Did you miss what was special with that guy on page 45 with that funny name who gets mentioned again on page 120? Too bad. Gotta look that up again. And that gets tiresome after a while.

With that said, this is an excellent book. I feel like I learned so much. The current state of Baghdad is well-known to most of us, but the history of it is not as well known. It should be. It is a remarkable story, one which I highly recommend everyone to acquaint themselves with. Justin Marozzi's book is a great place to begin.

[Christine · Rating 4 out of 5]

Disclaimer: ARC via Netgalley.

Peter Ackroyd wrote the best biography of a city in his London. It is a magnificent, unsurpassable prose poem to a famous city. In some ways, Ackroyd had it easy. After all, despite Boudicca, the Great Fire, and the Blitz, London stands; it has been rebuilt, but it always stands.

Baghdad doesn’t quite stand the same way it used to.

Justin Marozzi’s book is a history of famed city that has fallen on harsh and violent times. While Marozzi’s work isn’t quite the prose poem of Ackroyd’s London Trilogy (London, The Thames, London Under), it comes very, very close when writing about booksellers or Rashid Street for instance.

This isn’t really Marozzi’s fault. It must difficult, if not impossible, to write a prose love poem that will also have to cover what Hussein did as well as the two Iraq Wars and the build up to the current conflict. While Marozzi cannot for obvious reasons deal with the current Iraq situation, he does cover underlying issues that are coming to light – the religious conflicts among others.

Marozzi traces the city from its founding to the aftermath of Gulf War II. In many ways, Baghdad does seem to constantly be the city of the title – of peace and blood. The blood comes early, not just recently (though the hardest parts of the book, the most unnerving have to do with the modern era), for some of the early rulers had a tendency to be Bluebeard before Bluebeard. It does raise the question of another source for the Bluebeard tale. The locked door even plays a part in the story.

There are some interesting facts, like the treatment of the Jewish population post-WW II, but overall what the book does, perhaps unintentionally, is though a description of a city make the current crisis in Iraq not understandable but seen as part of a boarder and large canvas, something that few, if any, American news outlets take the time to do.

This isn’t to say that the book is all heavy going. Much time is spent on the description of Baghdad as a center of learning, introducing the reader to writers and artists as well as rulers who founded them. Less time is spent on women, but Marozzi takes the time to explain why women are not as evident in the historical record, and describes in details several of the women who escape this trend for a variety of reasons. This includes not only members of the harem, but also prostitutes, one of whom was pulled though the streets by a man who blew raspberries. Western women, like Gertrude Bell, make appearances, and some of the most moving passages of the book have to do with the grave of Bell.

Marozzi might lack the poetry of that Ackroyd possesses when writing about London, but Marozzi’s passion for a city that today is only known for violence comes though quite strongly. At the very least, this book will deepen your knowledge of Baghdad and regret that visiting it is so out of reach at the moment and perhaps forever.

[Calzean · Rating 3 out of 5]

There's a lot of info in this epic analysis of Baghdad's history. It covers the rulers, the conquests, the epidemics, the destructions, the writers, the scientists, the despots and the average person over a 1500 year period of a city at the centre of a lot of events that impacted the world. The book's depth of detail is both it's strength and probably it's major weakness. But bravo to the author.

[Tamara Agha-Jaffar · Rating 4 out of 5]

Justin Marozzi’s Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood is a well-researched and well-documented history of that troubled city. Written in a style that is engaging and accessible, Marozzi peppers his sentences with occasional humor and irony. He traces the decline of a city once known as the center of the world and the cradle of civilization.
Beginning with the caliph Mansur who established it as his capital in 762 C.E. and concluding in 2007 with the fall of Saddam and the aftermath of the invasion, Marozzi shows us how Baghdad lives up to the title of his book: it rotates from being a City of Peace where scholarship, culture, and the arts flourished to a City of Blood, violence, and the massive slaughter of innocents at the hands of one conquering army after another.
Marozzi does not shy away from describing some of the horrors inflicted on various segments of Baghdad’s population throughout the centuries. In chilling detail, he also narrates some of the gruesome tortures perpetrated on Iraqis by Saddam Hussein, his sons, and his henchmen.
Marozzi concludes his history on a hopeful note as expressed by a retired diplomat: “The cycle that sees Baghdad lurching between mayhem and prosperity has been long and gory, but of course we must have hope. May the City of Peace live up to its name before we ourselves depart to eternal peace.”
To paraphrase Hamlet, "Tis a circumstance devoutly to be wished."

[Jonathan · Rating 4 out of 5]

A fun-to-read popular history of this tumultuous city on the Tigris, the new capital of the Abbasid Dynasty and the eventual capital of independent Iraq. While having been the engine of the high point of Arab Muslim culture in the 8th - 10th centuries, Baghdad suffered a long decline, and while there would seem to be plenty to see and experience, the typical violence of its inhabitants and its famously broiling climate is enough to deter me from actually visiting the place, as if being an Israeli wasn't deterrence enough. Still, I learned a lot from this book; Mr. Marozzi has the knack of being able to describe the various dynasties, conquerors, intellectuals and tyrants that adorn Baghdad's history with style and panache, and he keeps what could have been a dreary read into an armchair adventure and travel journal. The illustrations and maps are helpful.

[晓木曰兮历史系 Chinese · Rating 5 out of 5]

Rivers and civilizations accompany each other, which is a common phenomenon in the history of the development of world civilization.

In the history of the evolution of the civilizations of the Two Rivers in West Asia, Baghdad on the Tigris River is a symbol of sigh. This is an ancient city full of glory and suffering. It was once the capital of the great Abbasid dynasty in the Islamic civilization. The Abbasid dynasty "is always blown away by rain and wind." The city suffered a series of wars and rebellions, from the "destructive pilgrimage" of Mongolia and Tatar in the Cold Weapon era to the Ottoman Empire in Turkey. After the bloody conquest of the British Empire in modern times and the invasion of the United States in this century, Baghdad has passively become a "Sura Field" and bears the notoriety of a bloody city. Today, everything is still going on, Baghdad appears pale with excessive blood loss amidst painful groans, and can no longer return to its former prosperity and prosperity, and the road ahead is still at a loss.

In Baghdad, at the center of the storm of civilizational clashes, a joke like this has been popular in recent years: "Iran is desperately driving the United States out of Iraq. The United States is desperately driving Iran out of Iraq. Do we Iraqis want to leave our country and put it away? Leave it to you?" Behind such black humor, the embarrassment and helplessness of Baghdad and even the Iraqi people are at a glance. Looking back at Baghdad’s past and present, the question of fate has been around for a long time, but the Baghdad people regained their courage in suffocating despair and wrote chapters of their indomitable resistance and struggle. In the book Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood by Justin Marozzi, a British journalist, historian and travel writer, the author is dedicated to restoring a city with historical vision and realistic courage. The multiple mirror images vividly show the city’s glorious past, painful course, and bleak future in the details, which makes people think about it.

The glory and splendor of the great Abbasid dynasty
In ancient Persian, "Baghdad" means "God-given city".

The rise of this city has a distinctive strongman mark and a simple and rude idealism. In 750 AD, Abu Abbas, the first caliph "bloodthirsty" of the Abbasid dynasty, overthrew the Umayyad dynasty and opened a new chapter in the changing Islamic world. In Abu Abbas’s pursuit of falling leaves in the autumn wind, the Wumayye family was devastated, but it may have confirmed the fate of "the strong are easy to break". In less than four years, the Abbasid dynasty The founder of, unexpectedly died of smallpox in his early thirties. His younger brother Abu Jafar also succeeded to the throne of the Caliph, known as Mansour, which means "victor". A new dynasty needs a new capital. After several choices, Mansour decided to draw a big circle on the edge of the Tigris River to build a brand new capital. He finally chose Baghdad, and with his full religious enthusiasm, The harsh details of the aesthetics have injected a destiny factor into the city of Baghdad. It is noble and elegant but lacks religious tolerance. As mentioned in this book, "Mansour’s personality advantages and disadvantages are also precisely Baghdad’s personality advantages and disadvantages. A microcosm of the future direction."

Several winds and rains, spring and autumn. The new city of Baghdad finally ushered in his heyday under the rule of Harun Rashid. This period can be described as dreamlike, taking the lead among the 37th caliphs of the Abbasid dynasty. A veritable city of happiness in the Islamic world. In the book "One Thousand and One Nights", the classic Arabic literature, one can clearly appreciate the brilliance of Baghdad's peak during this period. Harun, as "the most powerful and energetic monarch among the Arabs" at that time, he himself He has also become "the never absent protagonist in the Arab story." He spends like earth and extravagantly desires to paint the city of Baghdad with dazzling colors. The life of the upper class in Baghdad adds many jaw-dropping bridges. Their daily lives are full of elements of sex, conspiracy, and adventure, and they linger in luxurious banquets and obscene carnivals. The upside and downside effects, especially with the accumulation of wealth brought about by the development of trade, the residents of Baghdad soon learned to find pleasure in the indulgence and profligacy, the ease of secular pleasure and the pious religious pilgrimage go hand in hand.

The huge prestige and outstanding strength accumulated in politics and commerce promoted the great development of literature and art through backfeeding, making Baghdad a "dwelling place for decent people and a source of scholars", and even called the cultural and artistic center of the world at that time. . The achievements in literature, art, science, mathematics, philosophy, law, astronomy, etc. deserve to be in the leading position at the time, representing the pinnacle of global human civilization at that time, and these cultural and academic heritages have had a lasting and profound impact on future generations. The influence of the People’s Republic of China has added a strong touch to the glorious history of Baghdad. However, the extremes of things must be reversed. In the later period of the Abbasid dynasty, with the confinement of ideas and social turmoil, the era of cultural monopoly in Baghdad has gradually come to an end, and the powerful military impact of the newly emerged nomadic civilization lasted more than 500 The old age of the Abbasid dynasty was vulnerable to a single blow, and then the glory of Baghdad has dimmed, and it has repeatedly fallen into a desperate situation of life and death.

From "the pilgrimage of destruction" to the repeated destruction and rebirth of the British monarchy
Mountains and rivers are resurrected again and again, and the willows are bright again and again, and they are brought back to life again and again.

In Baghdad after the Abbasid dynasty for a long period of time, "man is a knife and I am a fish" has become a true portrayal of its plight, and "being out of the tiger's mouth and entering the wolf's den" has become a vivid silhouette of its sad fate. The stormy killings of Mongolia and Tatar, the arrogant and domineering control of the Persians and the Ottoman Empire, and the subsequent reshaping of Baghdad’s destiny according to the British Empire’s own will, after you sing, I came to the stage, and Baghdad fell involuntarily time and time again. Under the manipulation and manipulation of the various forces, like a puppet, you can't help yourself at all, and the glory and glory of the past can never be returned.

1258 was an important turning point in Baghdad's history. The grandson of Genghis Khan, Xu Liegu, known as the "Lord of Destiny," attacked Baghdad with his ambition to win, and in an extremely arrogant tone, the last caliph Mustasim issued an ultimatum. At this time, the Mustasim regime had long been strong from the outside, and it was defeated in one blow. The Mongolian army that invaded Baghdad launched a massacre. Even Hulagu’s conservative estimate claimed to have massacred 200,000 people and mourned Baghdad everywhere. Since then, his vitality has been greatly injured. Afterwards, Baghdad was once again bloodbathed by the Tatar Tamerlane. "After the city was captured like thunder and lightning, he destroyed it like a flood and fire." Baghdad was almost flattened to the ground and became "abandoned". A city of absolutes".

The staggering pace of rebirth after two catastrophes in Baghdad, lingering in the battle between the warlords of the region. Afterwards, with the Persian Empire and the Ottoman Empire competing in Baghdad, Baghdad at that time had lost the dominance of its own destiny, and finally the North Ottoman Empire was incorporated into its own territory in 1543. During the rule of the arrogant Turks, Baghdad was the capital of a province. Under a new administrative hierarchy, Pasha became the supreme ruler of the city. With the evolution of the world pattern, the power of the Europeans gradually entered Baghdad, and the Persian Empire has always been unwilling to do so, and even made a comeback. Baghdad became weaker and weaker due to the competition of various forces, coupled with plagues and other disasters, the Ottoman Empire The control of Baghdad gradually weakened, so that it became essentially an independent slave Pasha dynasty. By the end of the 19th century, as oil became an important strategic resource, Baghdad became the focus of international issues, and the competition between various external forces in Baghdad intensified. With the outbreak of the First World War, the British Empire finally entered this ancient city as a victor in 1917. At this time, the Baghdad people welcomed the new conquerors with incomparable enthusiasm. How similar is the painting style of the United States when it occupied Baghdad.

The British Empire’s reshaping of Baghdad looked beautiful, but then such a beautiful illusion fell apart in the face of reality. With the awakening of nationalist forces, Baghdad soon fell into the protracted confrontation and conflict between British forces and Iraqi forces. In 1932, Britain officially ended its trust in Iraq, and Iraq joined the League of Nations as an independent country. But at this time, the internal disagreements in Iraqi society have gradually emerged. Coups and conspiracies have emerged one after another. Then in the 1950s, due to the accumulation of wealth in the oil industry, Baghdad ushered in a short period of stability and prosperity, showing Secular and modern style. However, during the subsequent Cold War, Baghdad was once again involuntarily caught in the gear of great power competition, which led to this short-lived prosperity and finally came to an end in the violent turmoil.

The brief revelation of the Baath Party era and the unsolvable deadlock in the post-Saddam era
From the day Baghdad was founded, its bloodline has been infused with strongman genes.

Accompanied by bloody and killing, the rise and decline of each strongman has become a mark that cannot be ignored in the historical evolution of the city of Baghdad. Baghdad finally shocked the world once again and became the focus of the world's attention. That is the rise and final demise of the leader of the Baath Party. The sequelae brought by it are still controversial and controversial today.

It is undeniable that Saddam is a legendary figure in Iraq. His rise was accompanied by assassinations, party strife, and imprisonment, and eventually gradually moved to the peak of power. He gradually controlled the Iraqi power structure in 1968 and officially became the president of Iraq in 1979. He showed his iron and blood since he took office. On the other hand, ruthlessly hunting down and purging the opposition has become his top political task. But at the same time, in the early days of his administration, with the rise of the oil industry, the Iraqi economy showed a prosperous situation. Under the stimulus of this oil economy, Saddam, who was so happy, invested huge financial resources in Baghdad. The scale of construction has once become the architect’s mouth "another potential source of a global architectural movement." Indeed, Saddam’s dictatorship once brought abnormal prosperity to Iraq, and he has always used the modern Harun Ra Sid thinks of himself, but such arrogance can't conceal the shallowness and blindness of his frog at the bottom of the well.

After his power gradually stabilized, he soon dragged Iraq into the quagmire of war. On September 17, 1980, he tore up the "Algiers Agreement" signed with Iran in 1975 and regained the sovereignty of the Shatt al-Arab. Under the bewilderment of the exiled generals of the former Iranian king, he sent troops to Iran on 22nd. The Iran-Iraq War that lasted for 8 years. A smooth start soon fell into a stalemate between the two sides. Baghdad and the entire Iraq have also fallen into a severe economic crisis as the war continued. In the latter part of the war, the city of Baghdad was also attacked by Iranian shells from time to time. The two losing sides of the war had to accept the mediation of the United Nations and formally ceased fire in 1988. The border returned to the state before the war. This war is a veritable war without a winner, in addition to consuming their own national power. , Both sides get nothing. Ironically, Kuwait, who supported Iraq at the time, not only supported Iraq in the war, but also congratulated Iraq on its “victory” in the Iran-Iraq War. However, Saddam, who was very aspiring and talented, quickly turned his face away from him. In August 1990, he invaded Kuwait in an undeclared war. Saddam's desperate move left the whole world stunned. However, the final outcome of Saddam, who was strong in foreign countries, was already written at this moment. He was dwarfed from the left and right, and his glory was no longer there. He was finally arrested by the North American Army in 2003 and executed on December 30, 2006. This It is a carefully chosen day, the Eid al-Adha.

It is said that Saddam said this sentence before the interim: Iraq without me is worthless.

In the post-Saddam era, Baghdad and Iraq are still in a mess. The struggle between religious sects has made violence and turmoil a commonplace, so much so that many people openly admit that even in Saddam’s era, life is better than it is today. The city of Baghdad not only failed to usher in the hoped-for peace and tranquility, but plunged into an endless muddle, and the insoluble knots still hold back the hope of Baghdad's revival even today.

Baghdad is an unparalleled city.

The world is scorching, and the white cloud dog, in the cycle of creation and destruction, glory and suffering, peace and blood, Baghdad has shown its extremely powerful vitality and sense of dignity.

In the book "Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood", Justin Marozzi discusses the history of Baghdad from its majesty to desperate rebirths. Through the rise and fall of Baghdad’s history, the deep-rooted religion and religious sect conflicts have become an unbearable burden for Baghdad, and the forcible intervention of Western civilization not only failed to reconcile but intensified such conflicts, causing Baghdad today to still see no hope. The dawn. At the end of the book, the author used the mouth of a retired Iraqi diplomat named Manafo to express his deepest and somewhat helpless blessings to the city:

Baghdad’s cycle of destruction and prosperity is long and bloodthirsty, but we still have to have hope. I hope that before we rest forever, the city of peace can regain its reputation.

[Hussein Harbi · Rating 4 out of 5]

لا أظن أن أيِّة سيرة لمدينة بغداد، تستطيع أن تعطيها حقَّها؛ فهذه المدينة أكبر من الجغرافيا والحوادث التاريخيّة؛ فبغداد لم تكتمل، هي محض فكرة في خيال شاعر ومشروع في عقل معماريّ ومستعمرة بانتظار سفّاح. يمكنّنا أن نجعل لها بداية كعاصمة للأكديين أو السلوقيين او حتىٰ العباسيين، لكنّها كأسطورةٍ لم تكتبها ألف ليلة ليلة ولم تعبّر عنها قصائد أبو نؤاس ولم تنحتها أصابع جواد سليم أو ريشة يحيىٰ الواسطيّ ولا تخطيطات وايت ومكيّة وگروبيوس والچادرچي ولا حتىٰ زها حديد. بغداد ليست المعابد والمآذن والمولات ومطاعم الأكلات السريعة. بغداد السرمدية لا نجدها في هذا الكتاب ولا في غيره. هذا الكتاب يقف عند تأسيسها الحديث وعند ملوكها وجواريها الحاكمات والسفاحين والسكارىٰ والمتصوفة والبوهيميين، عند ثرائها وفقرها، قوتها وضعفها، شعرائها وكتّابها، لكنّ بغداد التي في خيالنا فلا وجود لها!.

[James · Rating 5 out of 5]

Just looking at where Justin Marozzi has worked is enough to tell you that you are dealing with the highest caliber of journalist.

Dafur,Somalia, Afghanistan and Iraq.

This is a tremendous body of work researched and written over a ten year period. Starting with the foundation of Baghdad in the mid eighth century by Al Mansur right up to the fall of Saddam.

What a cast of characters. The caliphs, an assorted bunch of Caligulas, ruled when Baghdad was the premier world city until the arrival of the Mongols in the early 13th century. Stuffed to the gills with gold and silver, Justin describes the wealth left by each in his treasury as one would Aladdin's cave, which of course is very appropriate, in this distant world of 1001 nights. The feasts are so sumptuously described that I had get up at 2am and go down to the kitchen and fix a sandwich.

The ninth century in contrast to the dark ages in the west was the Arab worlds finest hour. Monumental architecture, The world's oldest university and an intellectual contribution especially in the field of mathematics is what Baghdad will be remembered for in a thousand years

The arrival of the Mongol Hulagu Khan, bother of Kublai and grandson of the Genghis, changed all that. His pretext, the protection of the persecuted Christian minority, is still relevant today. His chilling letter and the hubristic response are a watershed. The violence that followed was brutal. When Timerlane arrived in later years, He outdid Hulagu on the death quota, making his point with the mass construction of pyramids consisting solely of severed Baghdadi heads.

From here on in its the Ottomans, Persians and the British who make the running until the 1950's with the brutal assassination of the installed royal family. A horrible affair, worse than the Romanov's. The crown prince has his hands and feet hacked off, is thrown in the street and rolled over constantly until only his spine protrudes. His blood line connection with the Prophet Mohammed ignored.

Savagery is a constant throughout the entire history. Mutilation is disturbingly common. Murder even during British rule ran at 100 a week, mainly honour killings of women.

The cities prosperity greatly enhanced by its Jewish population is brought to an end by stealing their wealth and expelling their entire population of 150,000, forcing them to the only safe haven available to them, Israel. There are only 7 left. Christians, the other main 2nd class citizen group are experiencing the same fate today.

Saddam brings the story to an end. The page which details the activities of his torture police would disgust a Nazi. The war with Iran which cost every cent of oil revenue ever earned and more speaks strongly to the character of the middle east and its problems.

The Baghdad mob (rechristened today as the Arab Street) represent the unnamed recorded and their actions through the centuries. They play a significant role. They do not incline me to sympathy either. The looting and destruction of the artifacts from the National Museum after their survival for so so long can be used as a marker date for the end of civilization in Iraq.

Baghdad was never an Athens of the east. It was never a Rome. Not even a semblance of social philosophy is ever encountered. An Arab Plato,Socrates or Aristotle is never seen. Honour is a corrupted concept. Democracy a completely alien idea. Islam and its sectarian divides are detailed but I never understand why?

I write this on the day after I learnt of the callous murder of the journalist James Foley. Nothing seems to have changed. The city is in a vicious self-inflicted free-fall. A third world hellhole deficient in kindness or humanity. It will never be relevant again. I doubt it will even be standing in a 100 years.

Henry Kissinger said of the Iraq-Iran war " I wish both sides could lose"

They have Henry.. they have.

The City of Blood should be required reading for both academics and social readers interested in the near east.

[Samantha · Rating 3 out of 5]

It is very clear from the first few pages that Justin Marozzi's book on Baghdad is well-researched. However, this is perhaps also the book's greatest fault.

Filled with tidbits taken from ancient texts, modern press conferences, and conversations from his trips to the historic city, I was quite excited to pick up "Baghdad." While I am familiar with its modern history, I was curious to learn more about the city before it became what we know it to be today. Unfortunately, Marozzi's curiosity and overwhelming desire to share everything he has learned, prevents this from being a book I'd highly recommend. Jumping from century to century, from a description of stories in 1,001 Arabian Nights to details about the city's sanitation; there is no order. There seems to be no rhyme or reason- one moment Marozzi is talking about the arrival of the Turks, the next he's on to something totally different that took place +/- 100 years before/after. In some chapters it appears he is trying to focus on a theme (ex. music), but then totally does not stick with that concept and tries something else.

This is also a tricky book for those that do not have a baseline understanding of the history of the Middle East or the system of Islamic government. Though Marozzi can tell you how many pounds of figs were served at an ancient feast, he totally breezes through the founding of the Islamic religion and does not even try to explain why there is a rift between the different sects in Iraq (a HUGE part of this country's history/current present).

I was also very disappointed with the lack of history when it came to setting up the current situation we see on the news constantly when it comes to Baghdad. I was also incredibly thrown off by several passages in the "modern" history part of the book that related the torture that prisoners of the government suffered. It was incredibly graphic and came out of nowhere, and totally did not fit in with the rest of the book.

Overall, I'd recommend it to those that are interested in the history of this region of the world, though you will need a serious dose of patience. What you'll get is a decently written book, but not an evenly paced or focused history of a city. You'll walk away with details about the city's ancient wall construction, but no understanding of why the country is divided.

Please note I received access to an ARC of this book, so there is a huge possibility that an editor has or will clean it up further before it hits shelves.

Disclaimer: I received a copy of this book from the publisher for the purpose of unbiased review.

[Aows AlJammal · Rating 4 out of 5]

كتاب عظيم وترجمة اعظم، كتاب موسوعي سردي يتكلم عن بغداد التي نعرفها من تأسيس وكيف تعاقب عليها القادة والأحداث، كيف تشكلت ندبها، واحدة بعد الأخرى.

ويجيب على تساؤولات عظيمة، رغم قدم بغداد إلا أنها معماريا وحضاريا في الوقت الحالي اقل من نظيراتها دمشق والقاهرة، وكيف اصبحت بغداد هكذا

[Celia · Rating 4 out of 5]

Obviously, the history of Baghdad is important to us because the current conflicts in that region. However, in the Middle Ages it was one of the major cities of the world, a center of commerce, learning, arts and science. In this city, modern algebra and the coffee house were invented. It was a cosmopolitan cities consisting of many religions and ethnic groups. Also, Baghdad has served as the location for many stories and tales such as the Arabian/Thousand and One Nights in the Middle Ages and Agatha Christie mysteries in the twentieth century.

It is interesting to note that Baghdad is a created city. A group of Sunni muslins known as the Abbasids defeated the ruling Umayyads who were Shia. An early Abbasaid Caliph was named Mansur. He wanted to find a new capital for the Muslim empire; the previous capital had been Damascus. Mansur picks the location of Baghdad to be the empire's new capital. It was founded in the mid-700s. Baghdad in Persian means "City of Peace".

It has been said that those who don't know history are doomed to repeat its mistakes. In this book, I thought of a different saying; those who know history won't be surprised by the present. The founder of Baghdad executed many people.

However, there is one story about Mansur, the founder of Baghdad that for me made the whole book worth reading. Mansur ,before he goes on a pilgrimage, gives to his daughter-in-law, Rita, the keys to his storage rooms and tells her only to open the storage rooms if it is confirmed that he is dead. In 775, it is confirmed that Mansur has died.

Upon receiving this confirmation, Rita and her husband, Mansur's son, go down to the storage rooms thinking they were going to find a hidden treasure. Instead they find a bunch of decomposing bodies. The ages of the corpses ranged from children to old men. The bodies were those of the descendants of the founders of the Shia lineage. In addition, a tag was placed in in the ear of each corpse naming the victim and how the victim was related to the founders of the Shia movement.

Thus early in Baghdad's history were some patterns were established that run throughout its history. Obviously, there is the pattern of violence between the Sunni's and the Shias. There is a violence that seems very methodical and systematic. Also it seems many rulers of Baghdad seem to have felt it is not enough just to kill one's enemies; they also need to do something gruesome, horrific and unsanitary with their enemies’ corpses.

It is the grandson of Mansur who is believed to model for Caliph of the Arabian Nights/Thousand and One Nights. After him the Abbasaid regime slowly declines. What destroyed Baghdad as a major city was the invasion of the Mongols in 1258 where the city was butchered by the Mongols; the rivers turned red from all the blood that the Mongols shed.

Since 1258, Baghdad has been invaded multiple times and has suffered from major plagues which have decimated the city. It has been under the rule of the Persians and different groups of Turks. The Ottoman Empire and different European countries tried to modernize Baghdad in the nineteenth century.

After the First World War, the British took over Baghdad and then a pro-British Iraqi monarch was installed. During this time Baghdad seems to have undergone a bit of a renaissance.

Then Sadaam Hussain took over. Even by Iraqi standards he was violent. Even before the US invasion of Iraq, the Iraqis were suffering from embargos placed on Iraq by the US.

Baghdad has changed significantly from its founding to the present time. Once Baghdad was a major intellectual center, now all its thinkers want to leave. For much of Baghdad's history, the Jewish population was ten to forty percent of Baghdad's population often playing a major role in the city; now there are only seven Jews in Baghdad. The Christians now are also in the process of leaving Baghdad.

The quality of the writing of the book is uneven. The second half of the book is much easier to read then the first half. The first half of the book goes a lot into the geography of Baghdad which is not interesting if you have not been to the city and jumps around in time period being discussed.

The politics of the city in this book can be confusing. I think this confusion is in part because of the subject matter and in part the author does have some difficulties in explaining it.

However, despite these drawbacks the book was a highly interesting and worthwhile book to read.

[Mishari · Rating 4 out of 5]

أثناء قراءتي للكتاب، صدح فؤاد سالم بأغنيته الشهيرة مو بدينه، فتاهت مشاعري بين رغبتي في تأمل النص ونقده وبين شعوري بالعجز أمام بغداد، المدينة التي أصبحت رمزًا للضعف والوهن العربي. فبغداد هي المصيبة؛ مصيبة سقوط الخلافة والحضارة العربية على يد المغول، ومصيبة سقوطها على يد الأمريكان إلى عصور الطائفية والاحتراب الأهلي.
وبين هاتين المصيبتين، اللتين وسمتا العقل العربي بعلامة الهزيمة، تتوالى مصائب أخرى، تتخللها فترات من اللهو والرفاه والرقة، تجعل كل فترة لاحقة أشقى وأضيق وأشد وطأة.

لا أستطيع كتابة تحليل أو نقد، فعقلي تشتت أمام سيرة بغداد؛ بغداد المرثية وبغداد الزاهرة، مو بدينه!

[Tayba Jamal · Rating 4 out of 5]

إن تاريخ بغداد أثرى وأعمق من أن يُجمع في ٥٠٠ صفحة، لكن هذا الكتاب هو مختصر جيدجدًا لمن أراد المرور على تاريخ بغداد وأهم محطاتها منذ التأسيس وحتى سقوطها في ٢٠٠٣

يبدأ الكتاب بلمحة سريعة عن صعود العباسيين للحكم ثم يمضي بشكل رائع وتفصيلي في حيثيات بناء بغداد ونمر على أهم الخلفاء تباعًا، كما أفرد المؤلف فصلًا كاملًا للحديث عن تقدم العلوم والآداب في بغداد
لكنّي هنا أملك اعتراضين
أولهما أن المؤلف بالغ في النقل عن كتاب "ألف ليلة وليلة" واعتباره مصدر لوصف حياة الخليفة وكثرة الجواري والغلمان والترف.. نعم هذه القصص تعكس شيئًا من طبيعة المجتمع لكن متى أصبحت الأساطير مصدرًا تاريخيًا معتمد؟ يبدو أن نظرة الأجانب للشرق لن تتغير أبدًا..
والثاني: تمنيتُ لو فصّل الكاتب بالحديث عن نكبة البرامكة أكثر.. لكني مع تقدم فصول الكتاب أدركت أن المؤلف مهتم بنقل الحياة الاجتماعية أكثر من الأحوال السياسية

ثم تأتي فصول سنوات الضياع أو ما اسماه الكاتب "حج الفساد" عقود طويلة تحولت فيها بغداد الى قرية تحكمها قبائل همجية حتى استقرّ الحال للعثمانيين وهنا دوّنت عدة ملاحظات

١. الناحية الأمنيّة: كانت القبائل العربية تشكل تهديدًا مستمرًا لبغداد والطرق المحيطة بها.. رغم الحملات التي قادتها باشوات بغداد بين الفينة والأُخرى الا أنها كانت حلولًا مؤقتة، لم يهتم العثمانيون بإخضاع القبائل وجعلهم مواطنين منضوين تحت لواء الخلافة

كما نجد ملحوظة متكررة من قبل الرحالة ومندوبي بريطانيا عن أن بغداد من الممكن ان تسقط بسهولة في يد جيوشهم!

٢. اقتصر اهتمام العثمانيون ببغداد باعتبارها مصدرًا لجني الضرائب ومسار تجاري مهم يصلهم بالبصرة ثمّ الخليج
عدا ذلك لا نجد اهتمامًا بالعلم والصحة والطرق والجسور أما العمارة فقد اقتصرت على قصر الباشا والجوامع -وحتى هنا لاتجد هوية مستقلة لهم حيث ظهر التأثر الواضح بالطراز الفارسيّ!- والحمامات والخانات

٣. فشل العثمانيون في مواكبة التطور الأوروبي السريع فاضطروا لإعطاء بريطانيا وألمانيا استثمارات في قطاع سكك الحديد والنقل النهري

٤. حتى في زمن المماليك الذين استقلوا بحكم بغداد عن الباب العالي، نجد تدخلات بريطانية لترشيح سلطان مملوكي على حساب غيره مقابل امتيازات لشركة الهند الشرقية في العراق!

٥. بعض من ولاة بغداد العثمانيون كانوا من أصل جورجيّ أو مجريّ وغيرها من البلدان البعيدة حتى يوجد منهم من كان مسيحيًا وأُجبر على اعتناق الاسلام
بعض العراقيين حاليًا يُشكلون على العائلة المالكة كونهم حجازيين، ياترى ماهو موقفهم من الدولة العثمانية؟

٦.قبل انسحابهم الأخير من بغداد، دمر العثمانيون المظاهر المدنية القليلة في بغداد، فجروا المصانع والسكك والدوائر الرسمية.. وهذا يفسر قلة الآثار في بغداد رغم غنى تاريخها..

٧. دخل العثمانيون الى بغداد بقيادة السلطان مراد الرابع من خلال باب الطلسم وبعدها قاموا باغلاقه طوال فترة تواجدهم في بغداد حتى لا يدخله أحد غيرهم.. تم نسف هذه البوابة عندما اتخذ قرار الانسحاب في ١٩١٧


ينبثق أمل جديد لبغداد في استعادة دورها وأمجادها مع قيام المملكة لكنه سرعان مايندثر بسلسلة من الانقلابات الدموية التي انتهت بدولة شموليّة مخيفة
في رأيي لم يعط الكاتب هذه الفترة المهمة حقها، مرّ بسرعة شديدة على عقد الستينات شديد التعقيد، أظن أن من يجهل هذه الفترة سيتوه هنا

على العموم كانت رحلة جميلة في حضرة بغداد استغرقت مني ١١ شهر..

[Wissam El Cheikh Hassan · Rating 2 out of 5]

Well written but very bias.

[Ahmed · Rating 4 out of 5]

An epic yet tragic story of the constant cycles of the rise and demise of a city and land steeped deep in culture, learning, ancient civilisation, thought and progress. Baghdad has been a never ending battleground for empires and dynasties vying for power, political and spiritual influence.

Justin Marrozzi's dazzling, spectular and humorous writing at times is riveting and totally encapsulates you in the magic of Baghdad in historic times, yet his agenda are on some occasions disturbing and morally suspect. At times he perpetuates a truely arrogant, imperielist and orientalist perspective that is derogotary to the reality of the subject of his work. It's also a great shame not more time is devoted to the 'Arabic/Islamic golden era' in the middle ages, and how the translation movement of ancient Chinese, Sanskript and Greek (amongst others) texts into Arabic led to the development of these works and subsequent major advancements in areas such as philosophy, medicine, astrology and mathematics. Concepts such as algebra, the numerical system, optics and the scientific method all share humble beginnings around this period of great scholarship.

Baghdad once housed "Bayt Al Hikma," or "The House of Knowledge" - the largest repository of books in the world at the time. This centre of study attracted scholarship from around the globe for centuries and it's fruits helped lay the foundations of the 'European Renaissance' that has shaped our understanding of science and the world around us. There is little surprise Baghdad was described as the zenith of human civilization anywhere on the planet at the time during the 8th and 9th centuries.

Modern European intellectualism and the enlightenment period owes a huge debt to the groundwork laid by Abbasid ruled Baghdad and the 'Arabic golden age' for the accumulation, preservation and development of these texts and knowledge - something which is disgracefully silenced and sensored in textbooks the world over, in order to perpetuate a Eurocentric view of scholarship and science.

It's a huge shame over the centuries the once famed cradle of civilisation has fallen foul of neglect, sabotage and disrepair. Baghdad was once home to the first coffee houses packed with buzzing locals deep in discussion, fertile orchards and state of the art hospitals that were emulated for centuries. Since then scholarship has been stunted with the massacre of its intellectuals, waterways have been destroyed, and dams built upstream have reduced the waterflow of the great Tigris and Euphrates rivers, that once nourished numerous ancient and great civilisations from the Sumerians to the Babylonians.

Meanwhilst, the modern economic and political slavery imposed by America and her allies following their unjust invasion of Iraq in 2003, and the subsequent political corruption that ensued, has left Iraq with fertile ground ripe for cultivating not agriculture, science and rich culture as it did once before, but sectarianism and violence with a political agenda. It has left Baghdad as a society that appears deeply fragmented, constantly picking up the pieces and wondering when the next era of sustained peace and prosperity will rise again.

The narrative must change however, from a city that is constantly associated with only violence and corruption to one also associated with a rich heritage, deep historical significance and trade of not just material but intellectual goods. As well as being an important stop along the ancient silk roads, it was also a hub of spiritual development and interreligious debate amongst Abrahamic religions as well as relative peaceful coexistence between mixed faiths and ethnicities for hundreds of years untill political situations dictated otherwise.

The history of Baghdad brings together the thirst for power, domination and destruction brought by the likes of its conquorers Hulagu Khan, Tamarlane and Saddam Hussain. Intertwined however, are the magical stories of Sinbad, Aladdin and the stories of the famed Thousand and One Nights. Despite the despondency of its ruling elite, the city and people of Baghdad continue to rise from every tragedy, plague, famine and occupation to create a new chapter for the future of its inhabitants.

[Helen · Rating 3 out of 5]

Very well researched and thorough, but uneven in its pacing. Marozzi jumps from subject to subject and between timelines, making it difficult to keep track of the chronology. While a great deal of time is spent on the Abbasid period, centuries are skimmed through quite quickly from the Ottoman period on (perhaps due to a lack of sources); while the book is centred on Baghdad and its residents, this isolated focus may make comprehension difficult for the reader unfamiliar with Middle Eastern history, as many developments need to be seen in context with events occurring elsewhere on the regional and world stage. Still, Marozzi's research and passion for the subject make it worth a read.

[Dergrossest · Rating 5 out of 5]

It is hard to imagine a city whose fortunes have swung more wildly than that of Baghdad. Made out of whole cloth in the shadow of Babylon, it was the center of the Moslem world, the preserver of Greek and Roman knowledge during Europe’s Dark Ages, an innovator in science and mathematics, a trading powerhouse floating on a sea of black gold, and the dynamic center of a new secular pan-Arabism. Unfortunately, it has also been the victim of external invasions from other Arabs, Mongols, Ottomans and the British, as well as a serial participant in brutal internal politics of the knife and gun, ungodly sectarian religious struggle, and some of the most unspeakable atrocities ever. And while some of those atrocities were led from above by megalomaniac bastards like Al Mansur and Saddam Hussein, more were sparked by the citizens of Baghdad themselves who always appear a little too eager to burn, butcher and otherwise brutalize each other and every unfortunate ethnic and religious minority within sight. Indeed, after reading about the unending barbarity routinely practiced in the city for the past 1,300 years, one is forced to wonder if there is simply something in the muddy water there that leaves them all permanently on the edge of insanity.

The book itself wonderfully captures all this glory and carnage, as Baghdad’s fame, fortune and relevance ebbs and flows through the years. The author writes in a somewhat distractedly European style, with an extra dry sense of humor and some unnecessary diversions into poetry and song. However, the story moves along briskly to its unsettling conclusion in the present day ashes of the modern city.

In the end, one wishes that the Bush/Cheney team would have conferred with the author, or really any Christian who had previously lived in Iraq, before squandering the blood and treasure of the USA on their last crusade. This book makes absolutely clear that the American effort there was doomed from the start if for no other reason that, despite the large number of civilian casualties inflicted by the US Military, the terror of drone strikes started by Bush and wildly expanded by Obama, the horrors of Abu Ghraib and our shameful decent into torture, the US was simply incapable of being awful enough to create a lasting order.

[Betty · Rating 4 out of 5]

I loved this book! Yes, it is slow in the beginning. But that was due to trying to grasp the history of Baghdad from the prophet Mohammad's time down to the period that has names we are more familiar with. But you have to do that early history to understand the animosity between Shia and Sunni. Then when it down into more modern times it picks up.

I have studied the history of Mesopotamia but this is the first book I have read on just the city of Baghdad. I have always had a passion for Baghdad. The city has swung from being bloody to peace and back to be bloody. But during its "Golden Ages" it had to have been a wonderful place to live. Now my heart aches for it.

Baghdad truly was the Cradle of Civilization. The arts, sciences, literature, poetry that came from there was amazing. It was a city for intellectuals. I do find it sad now that the Jewish community that was there throughout history is now gone. And it may be happening now to the Christian community. Baghdad used to be a place that thrived from diversity. Now that diversity is being smothered.


The book brought back memories of my rides in a Rhino along Route Irish, the most dangerous stretch of road in the world. It also brought back memories of evenings spent with the Iraqis over the delicious Iraqi food -- the fellowship, the laughter. Even in such dangerous conditions, they could laugh and appreciate life and the desire for freedom for their children and grandchildren.

The Baghdadi people have had to be strong and resilient while surviving the many raids upon and the power-hungry rulers that cared nothing for the people. Justin Marozzi did an amazing job with his research and pulling it all together. My only complaint with this book was that I could not easily access the numerous footnotes. However, that was not the author's fault. I received the digital galley from Net Galley, and it was just too cumbersome to try to get to the footnotes and then back to where I was. I imagined that problem is resolved with the finalized e-book. There is a wonderful bibliography at the end. I will be reading some of the books listed there.

[Saba · Rating 5 out of 5]

As a proud Baghdadi myself I loved and appreciated this book , it is well researched with a competent review of history leading to the present state of events .
I highly recommend it to those who would want to dig more into the history of our beloved Baghdad beyond the Saddam era

thank you Justin Marozzi
still waiting for this book be translated to Arabic !!!!!

[Rock · Rating 3 out of 5]

The story of Baghdad told as a series of bar-room anecdotes is as fun to read as it sounds, but makes it hard to come away with a sense of the larger narrative threads in the 13 centuries of the city's existence.

[Ahmed Khalid AL-ameed · Rating 5 out of 5]

📌هذا الكتاب هو بحثاً تاريخي متكامل و موثوق فهو يسرد قصة و تاريخ بغداد مدينة السلام الممتد على مدى 1300 سنة .. منذ بناؤها على يد الخليفة هارون الرشيد سنة 762 و حتى سنة 2013 أنه أشبه بالتجوال بمتحف يضم ماضي و حاضر مدينة السلام و التي غالباً ما كتب تاريخها بالدم .فبغداد كانت تمثل مكانا عالميا للغاية ، حيث يسكن العرب جنبا إلى جنب مع الفرس، والهنود، والأتراك، والأكراد والأرمن .

📌 أن قصة مدينة السلام هي إلى حدٍ كبير قصة صراع مستمر ؛ فحيثُ لا توجد حرب، فهناك أما وباء، أو مجاعة، أو اضطراب شعبي !

📌 أن أصل الكلمة الحقيقي [لبغداد] هو لأسم مأخوذ من الكلمتين الفارسيتين (بغ) التي تعني الإله، و (داد) التي تعني أسس أو مؤسسة ، وهكذا سيكون معنى اسم بغداد هو
" المدينة التي أسسها الإله ".
📌عندما كان المنصور يروم اختيار موقع لعاصمة إمبراطوريته الجديدة حرص على تجنب وباء الملاريا الذي كان منتشرا بشكل واسع في مناطق الأهوار في جنوب العراق. وعلى ال��غم من نجاحه في تحقيق غايته، إلا أن فيروس العنف هو الذي أثبت في النهاية تفشيه في بغداد، وأثبت أنه أكثر فتكا بكثير من أي وباء ينقله البعوض وحصد عددًا لا يحصى من الأرواح في أثناء أربعة عشر قرنًا من عمر المدينة.
📌أن البغداديين يمتلكون عبقرية وحشية لاغتيال قادتهم، وهي موهبة صقلت حتى ذلك الحين على مدى زهاء ألف عام. لقد أدّت سلسلة مأساوية من حالات التسمم والشنق والطعن وحز الرقاب تخللتها حالات وفاة نتيجة الأوبئة وحالات تقاعد عرضية شدت عن إراقة الدماء إلى رفع إجمالي عدد الباشوات الذين حكموا بغداد إلى سبعة وثلاثين باشا على مدى خمسة وستين عاما (بمتوسط واحد وعشرين شهرا في المنصب لكل منهم) وهو رقم قياسي يجعل من القتل الأحادي والكارثي لتشارلز الأول ملك إنجلترا يبدو سلميا بما
لا يقبل الشك مقارنة به .
📌وبعد خمسة أشهر من الانقلاب كتب (فالديمار غالمان) الذي كان يشغل حينها منصب السفير الأمريكي في العراق، عن نوري السعيد قائلا: «لقد خسر العراق أفضل قائد كان من شأنه قيادة البلاد نحو حياة يسودها الرفاه والكرامة، وأقوى حصونه ضد الفوضى المتكررة، إن لم تكن الهمجية المتكررة) .

بحلول المساء ، نُصب الفريق الركن عبد الكريم قاسم رئيسا للوزراء في وزارة الدفاع وأصبح للعراق قائد جديد. ولم يكن في أذهان البغداديين أن السنوات الذهبية قد ولت .

📌الكتاب هو سيرة رائعة للمدينة الأحب و الأقرب الى قلبي " بغداد " فهو رحلة عظيمة بتفاصيل بغداد و على كل انسان محب لبغداد ان يقرأ هذا الكتاب فهو غني جداً بالمعلومات و الأحداث .
#اقرا_وياية

التقييم 5/5
بغداد
2024/1/4

[Hassanane Balal · Rating 2 out of 5]

Parts of this book were extremely interesting to read given that I’m part of the Iraqi diaspora, who’s unfortunately been unable to experience their country due to years of wars, dictatorship and economic turmoil. That leaves books, anecdotes and videos for people in my position to learn about the history of Iraq and where I’m originally from. As such, I found myself reading this!

It’s difficult to review the history of the world’s oldest civilisation but Justin Marozzi’s attempt at doing so weak in many parts. A huge portion of the book is littered in pointless fables and conjecture, which makes it a chore to read. I’d have much preferred the author to stick to the facts and make the book a shorter and easier read - however, I can see the appeal to others preferring the current format. On the plus side, the chapters that I found interesting were enjoyable and made it hard to put down.

Overall, it’s an enjoyable and informative (at times) read if you can overlook the blatant orientalist mentality of the author, who fails to provide a fair and balanced perspective of British and US contributions to the destruction of Iraq over the past two centuries. This was especially overlooked in the segment discussing the Iraq-Iran war and the role of the west in supporting Saddam.

[Al Fadri · Rating 4 out of 5]

Buku sejarah berkenaan kota baghdad yang suatu dulu pernah menjadi kota bertamadun di dunia dan kemunculan Daulah Abbasiyyah yang berjaya menjadikan kota itu antara kota yang paling megah sekitar abad pertengahan ke-8 masihi sehingga runtuhnya kota baghdad di sekitar abad ke-12 ditangan Hulagu Khan(Empayar Monggol) sewaktu pemerintahan Mu'tasim. Di dalam buku ini juga menceritakan zaman kegemilangan islam di awal abad ke-10 dimana disitulah adanya kota ilmu yang digelar Baitul Hikmah (House of Wisdom). Dan di pengakhiran buku lebih banyak menceritakan liku² sekitar abad ke-20 dari kedatangan British, System Monarchy, Rampasan Kuasa dan Kemunculan Saddam Hussin serta peperangan diantara Iran-Iraq dan diakhir cerita penderitaan tahanan orang awam oleh tentera US yang mana agak menyakitkan hati. Apapun sangat recommend untuk baca buku ini

[Muhammad Hussain · Rating 4 out of 5]

Looking at modern-day Iraq, it seems near impossible to imagine Baghdad was once a city which was at the forefront of the world. The author takes you through a journey from the zenith of the Abbasid era to the vertiginous decline of the city throughout history.

Marozzi throughout the book highlights the sumptuousness of the many leaders whilst also painting a picture of the daily life of the masses and those who suffered due to religious and economic hardship. The book is a well-researched history of the city and an evocative read which bought the past to life. Also to note, this is a biography of the city itself rather than an exhaustive biographical record of every ruler. Consequently various rulers are missed out as it focuses mainly on the pivotal leaders over Baghdad’s extensive thirteen-century history.

[Collin · Rating 5 out of 5]

The author weaves history and narrative to tell the story of Baghdad’s cycles of growth and decline over the centuries. This allows the reader to immerse themselves in the different eras and understand how aspects generally dismissed as inscrutably complex are comprehensible and compelling.

This is a great initial antidote to much of the ignorance of this region and its history. The book won’t allow you to speak authoritatively about Iraqi or Baghdadi history, but it will allow you to follow and possibly contribute to discussions of those topics.

Read if you want to be able to speak about Iraq without coming across as a complete idiot.

[Gary Miller · Rating 4 out of 5]

Thirteen centuries of history. All carefully written, in considerable detail, up until 2013. Subtitled: City of Peace, City of Blood. Truth be told, there is very little peace, and a great deal of blood. One has to wonder, if knowing the history of such a place why anyone would want to live there. There are other great cities, even Islamic ones, with far less bloodshed. The climate alone simply cannot account for so much conniving and bloodshed. The more I read, the less I wanted to know. A very rare occurrence in my reading. It is however, a masterful mountain of work.

[Diego Hernandez · Rating 4 out of 5]

Baghdad: City of Peace, City of Blood is a great book for a look at the city of baghdad from the beginning to the modern day.It is different because of the evolution of baghdad. Some events were a bit surprising that occurred. I felt like as I read the history it had its entertaining moments of the great accomplishment of Baghdad, being a city that still stands today. I thank this author because this is one I would read again and compare it to other books that write about Baghdad. I would recommend this book to anyone willing to put time and effort to read this fascinating book.

[Tobias Campbell · Rating 4 out of 5]

An intriguing account of Baghdad from its golden age as the Abbasid capital to the present. I was particularly interested in the Abbasid era and felt myself transported into a busy 8th century bazaar or a wine-infused poetry night in the Abbasid palaces. Others may find the Ottoman era or 20th century interesting as well. I learned a lot about Baghdad and Iraq's role in the development of literature, science and commerce.

[Moazzan Mustafa]

The story of Baghdad is one filled with destruction, death, murder, rape, pillaging, and sectarian warfare. But it is also the story of resistance, courage, and the ability to rise again from ashes and dust. It began with the fall of the Umayyad Caliphate, with the new Abbasid Caliph, Abu Ja'far al-Mansur, who needed a new capital. Not one to leave things to his subordinates or to chance, in 762 he personally selected the spot for his new, grand capital: right by the Tigris river.