A War of Choice

A War of Choice

The British in Iraq 2003-9

Summary


A gripping account of the moral and political challenges posed by the Iraq war from the Costa Award winning author of The Volunteer.

When Tony Blair plunged Britain into war he thought that, shortly thereafter, Iraq would emerge as a peaceful democracy. Instead the invasion sparked the worst foreign policy disaster since the Suez crisis in 1956.

A War of Choice is a compelling and authoritative portrayal of Britain's war in Iraq. At the outset, Blair insisted that Britain went to war to influence American decision-making. Based on over three hundred interviews, A War of Choice gives the inside story of Blair's war cabinet, Whitehall power struggles and intrigue at the White House, and traces the evolution of the special relationship, from the secret deals struck by Blair, to Brown's desperate bid to save his premiership, which brought already-strained relations with America to the verge of collapse.

A story of hubris and honour, betrayal and the ultimate sacrifice, A War of Choice provides powerful insight into one of Britain’s most controversial conflicts.

‘A timely work that offers a considered appraisal of what went wrong’ Times Literary Supplement

Reviews

  • Britain's campaigns in Iraq and Afghanistan have spawned a new generation of war correspondents as brave and fluent as any that went before, many of whom go on to write books. Jack Fairweather, who reported from Baghdad for The Daily Telegraph, has compiled his own account, which is sound, vivid and [...] simply describes in cool prose how Britain's share in the western allies' initial 2003 success in deposing Saddam Hussein and occupying Iraq turned into a nightmare struggle against insurgency
    Max Hastings, Sunday Times

About the author

Jack Fairweather

Jack Fairweather is a British writer and former war reporter in Iraq and Afghanistan, and the author of A War of Choice, The Good War and The Volunteer. He splits his time between the UK and Vermont.
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