Bad days in Basra

the long version

"Bad Days in Basra is the story of Hilary Synnott's time as Britain's most senior representative in Southern Iraq, trying to keep the region together as the rest of the country descended into murderous violence. By turns wryly comic, revealing and heart breaking, it offers a never before seen glimpse into the high politics of the occupation. Shuttling between the gilded palaces of the Green Zone and the leaky outhouses which constituted Coalition HQ in Basra, Synnott had to negotiate the indifference of Paul Bremer, his boss, to what was going on outside Baghdad, the indecisiveness of his London masters, and the brutal political realities of a country under occupation."--Jacket.