Iran and Iraq at War

"In short, this book is required reading for specialists and students of the Iran-Iraq War and conflict more generally in the Middle East, Third World, and elsewhere. The book astutely analyzes the ideational and internal factors, more than the material and external ones, that triggered and prolonged the conflict. Moreover, the book sheds valuable light on the war’s impact on Iranian and Iraqi state and society, and how each influenced the other to continue losing blood and treasure, among other suboptimal outcomes, until Ayatollah Ruhollah Khomeini reluctantly drank from the poisoned chalice that ended the conflict." - Eric Lob, H-Net