The Assassins' Gate America in Iraq

Named one of the Best Books of 2005 byThe New York Times,The Washington Post Book World,The Boston Globe,The Chicago Tribune,TheSan Francisco Chronicle Book Review,The Los Angeles Times Book Review,The New York Times Book Review,USA Today,Time, andNew Yorkmagazine. The Assassins' Gate: America in Iraqrecounts how the United States set about changing the history of the Middle East and became ensnared in a guerrilla war in Iraq. It brings to life the people and ideas that created the Bush administration's war policy and led America to the Assassins' Gatethe main point of entry into the American zone in Baghdad. The Assassins' Gatealso describes the place of the war in American life: the ideological battles in Washington that led to chaos in Iraq, the ordeal of a fallen soldier 's family, and the political culture of a country too bitterly polarized to realize such a vast and morally complex undertaking. George Packer's best-selling first-person narrative combines the scope of an epic history with the depth and intimacy of a novel, creating a masterful account of America's most controversial foreign venture since Vietnam.

George Packer is a staff writer for The New Yorker and the author of several books, most recently Blood of the Liberals (FSG, 2000), winner of the 2001 Robert F. Kennedy Award. He is also the editor of the anthology The Fight Is for Democracy. His reporting from Iraq won an Overseas Press Club award. He lives in Brooklyn, New York.