Baghdad : city of peace, city of blood--a history in thirteen centuries / Justin Marozzi.

"Reprinted by arrangement with Allen Lane, an imprint of Penguin Books"--Title-page verso.

Includes bibliographical references (pages 384-400) and index.

The Caliph and his capital : Mansur and the foundation of Baghdad (750-75) -- Harun al Rashid and "A thousand and one nights" in Baghdad (775-809) -- 'The fountainhead of scholars,' centre of the world (809-92) -- The later Abbasids : farewell to "The meadows of gold" (892-1258) -- 'This pilgrimage of destruction' : the Mongol and Tatar storm (1258-1401) -- Black sheep, white sheep (1401-1534) -- Of Turks and travellers (1534-1639) -- Plagues, pashas, and mamluks (1639-1831) -- Empires collide (1831-1917) -- A very British monarchy : three kings in Baghdad (1917-58) -- Coups, Communists, and Baathists : the Mother of all Bloodshed (1958- ) -- Appendix. Iraqi security apparatus under Saddam Hussein.

For much of its extraordinary life, Baghdad, known for centuries as the "City of Peace," enjoyed both cultural and commercial preeminence. For five centuries it was the seat of the Abbasid Empire, a marvel of glittering palaces, exquisite parks, magnificent mosques, and Islamic colleges. It was a city boasting the most accomplished astronomers, mathematicians, doctors, musicians, and poets-- it was here, in the time of the caliphs, that the great Arabic classic One Thousand and One Nights was set. With its teeming markets watered by the Tigris, Baghdad was a thriving trading emporium, attracting merchants from Central Asia to the Atlantic; its economy was the envy of West and East alike. Yet Baghdad's inhabitants have also seen many terrible hardships, from epidemics and famines to invasions and devastating floods. And it has also been one of the most violent cities on earth. When U.S. troops entered in 2003, they became the latest participants in a turbulent history stretching back to the city's founding in 762. Over most of its thirteen-century history, Baghdad has endured the rule of brutal strongmen, from capricious caliphs to Saddam Hussein; and it has suffered violent occupations at the hands of its conquerors, from the Mongol Hulagu, grandson of Genghis Khan, to Tamerlane, known as the "Sword Arm of Israel." Here, in this vivid new history-- the first published in English in nearly a century-- Justin Marozzi brings to life the whole splendorous and tumultuous story of what was once the greatest capital on earth.