In Baghdad: A reporter's war

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As war loomed, reporters from around the world swarmed into Iraq. Paul McGeough was one of a handful - and the only Australian - to cover the entire war from Baghdad. He was there when the Americans tried to short-circuit full-blown war, with a targeted missile strike aimed at destroying the Iraqi leadership in one fell swoop; and, two days later, when an electrifying missile blitz on downtown Baghdad signalled the unmitigated power of the Pentagon's "Shock and Awe" battle plan. In the following days he documented the deaths of the innocents and the cheap propaganda efforts of both sides; the heroic efforts by doctors and nurses in filthy, under-supplied hospitals; the collapse of the regime and the US-led conquest of Baghdad; and the rampant looting that tore away the last vestiges of Saddam. McGeough is unique in being the sole Australian reporter to see such raw history in the making, but his most remarkable achievement is to have written a compelling narrative of the closing days of the brutal dictatorship of Saddam Hussein while under real and present danger. Here - along with his personal daily diaries - is his definitive account of 30 days in Baghdad that changed the Middle East forever.

Author Bio

Paul McGeough is a former editor of The Sydney Morning Herald, and is now its New York-based writer-at-large. He has been a reporter for almost 30 years, covering international conflict since the 1990-91 Gulf War. McGeough's work has earned Australia's highest journalistic honours, including the Perkin and the Walkley Awards. His reporting on Afghanistan won a prestigious SAIS Novartis international award in 2001.