# Recommend a book on the Iran/Iraq war

**URL:** <https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-on-the-iran-iraq-war/461480>\
**Category:** Cafe Society\
**Created:** [August 27, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-on-the-iran-iraq-war/461480 "2008-08-27T22:48:54Z")\
**Posts on this page:** 2\
**Page:** 1

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**Author:** ![Buran](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/a88e57/32.png) [@Buran](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Buran)\
**Post date:** [August 27, 2008, 10:48pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-on-the-iran-iraq-war/461480/1 "2008-08-27T22:48:54Z")

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I’m currently reading ‘The Iraq War’ by John Keegan and as background to the conflict it mentions the Iran/Iraq war of the 80’s and it made me realise how much I know about what was seems to have been a fairly epic, if localised, conflict.

Are there any good books on the subject that people could recommend?

Thanks

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**Author:** ![counsel\_wolf](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/65b543/32.png) [@counsel\_wolf](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/counsel_wolf)\
**Post date:** [August 28, 2008, 12:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/recommend-a-book-on-the-iran-iraq-war/461480/2 "2008-08-28T00:13:52Z")

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[QUOTE=Buran]  
I’m currently reading ‘The Iraq War’ by John Keegan and as background to the conflict it mentions the Iran/Iraq war of the 80’s and it made me realise how much I know about what was seems to have been a fairly epic, if localised, conflict.

Are there any good books on the subject that people could recommend?

Thanks  
[/QUOTE]

I enjoyed Robert Fisk’s book on recent middle east events. It is in no way a scholarly text but reading the account of someone who was actually there is interesting. It’s a huge book and it meanders all over the place, but you can just read the chapter about the iraq-iran war if you want.

> **[The Great War for Civilisation: The Conquest of the Middle East: Amazon.co.uk:...](https://www.amazon.co.uk/Great-War-Civilisation-Conquest-Middle/dp/1841150088)**
>
> Robert Fisk's epic chronicle of 3 decades of tumultuous Middle East events, a tale of tragedy, betrayal, and world-shaking occurrences, reported with rage and compassion.