U.S. Marines in Iraq, 2003: Basrah, Baghdad and Beyond

The military services produce 'official histories' of their combat actions. This is the first (but almost certainly not the last) of the official histories of the recent war with Iraq. It is written by the marine officer in charge of the marine history unit in Iraq. It combines his own observations with those of his team and with the official reports produced by each of the major marine units in the field. This book provides the first comprehensive story of the marines in Iraq. It begins with the run-up to war in 2002 and continues through 2003 as the commanders analyze the lessons learned in this war and the departure of the last Marine in the fall 0f 2003. There is only a hint that the Marines would be returning in 2004. These will be other, bigger, more complete official histories that come out of this war. This book is the first, and probably will form the framework that will be used by the later historians. This book is also written with a view to its being read by the general public. It is a lot more interesting reading than the true official history will be.