Overview
This searing collection reveals how the plunder of Iraq's heritage during the 2003 invasion was not collateral damage but part of a long history of imperial erasure. In War Essays, Zainab Bahrani delivers a powerful reckoning of the destruction of Iraq's cultural heritage in the wake of the 2003 invasion by weaving together personal experience and a critique of the enduring colonial practices of archaeology. Across two decades of essays, she examines the war's devastating impact not only on human lives but also on Iraq's historical landscapes, monuments, and memory, situating heritage loss within the broader geopolitics of the Middle East. Bahrani confronts the prevailing narratives about the war, exposing how imperial violence extends beyond the battlefield to target history itself and reshaping the discipline of archaeology. By combining eyewitness testimony with theoretical inquiry, this book reflects on the role of intellectuals and historians in times of war and interrogates the responsibility of those who document conflict and its aftermath. Essential reading for scholars of Middle Eastern studies and archaeology, War Essays offers a unique and deeply personal perspective on the lasting scars of war and the fragile relationship between history and memory.
Full Product Details
Author: Zainab Bahrani
Publisher: UCL Press
Imprint: UCL Press
Dimensions:
Width: 15.60cm
, Height: 2.40cm
, Length: 23.40cm
ISBN: 9781800087521
ISBN 10: 1800087527
Publication Date: 27 January 2025
Audience:
Professional and scholarly
,
Professional & Vocational
Format: Hardback
Publisher's Status: Active
Availability: Manufactured on demand
We will order this item for you from a manufactured on demand supplier.
Reviews
""Assembling reflections on the 2003 Iraq War and its aftermath, over a period of two decades, Zainab Bahrani deploys her deep knowledge of ancient Mesopotamia to shed light on the nature of modern warfare and its multi-sited confrontations with the material remains of the past. From university campuses to UNESCO, and from local sites of destruction to the global trade in illicit antiquities, this book offers a timely intervention delivered from a unique vantage point, in the eye of the storm.""-- ""David Wengrow, UCL"" ""Bahrani's book reveals the long-lasting impact of the US and British invasion of Iraq, particularly its cultural destruction and cleansing. Her fieldwork and writing offer an erudite view, filling a critical gap in the study of Iraq's contemporary history. It is a must-read for students and scholars of Iraqi studies.""-- ""Tareq Ismael, University of Calgary"" ""In this volume of powerful and important essays Zainab Bahrani bears witness to an ongoing and brutal chapter in Iraq's history, and the constellations of imperial narratives and compounded injuries that actively participated in the 2003 Iraq War and its aftermath, continuing into the present.""-- ""Kim Benzel, Metropolitan Museum of Art""
Author Information
Zainab Bahrani is the Edith Porada Professor and Chair of the Department of Art History and Archaeology at Columbia University in New York, and the author of several books, including Rituals of War (2008) which won the American Historical Association Breasted Prize and The Infinite Image (2014) which won the Lionel Trilling Prize.
