It sometimes seems like everyone and their mum heard about Salam Pax and his blog from downtown Bagdhad in the run-up and lead into the Gulf War. At one point The Guardian republished extensive excerpts from his blog.
Anyhow, this book is basically that blog in book form, re-ordered a little, and with a couple of Salam Pax’s Guardian columns thrown in. It certainly makes for an entertaining and thoroughly enlightening read, although there’s probably little point in reading it if you’ve read the blog over the last year or so. I thought that perhaps there’d be some extra material, but it must be said that everything here is published elsewhere on the web. Having said that, a book does lend authority, and is now saved for posterity. If you hadn’t read the blog, then I’d wholeheartedly recommend this book.