On March 19, 2003, the U.S. launched an unprecedented attack on Iraq. Statistic gatherers now calculate more than 1,500 U.S. dead; more than 15,000 U.S. wounded; more than 100,000 Iraqis dead (an estimate by watchdog groups, since the United States and Britain have made it clear they have no legal requirement to count civilian casualties under the Geneva Convention); and a $150 billion price tag.

Our thirst to understand the meaning of this has produced a torrent of information, from blogs to online articles, and even some magazine reports have lifted rocks to look at Al Qaeda to Islam, to Iraq, to how the government misled us and how the media followed. Publishing houses pumped out product with unprecedented speed. On the second anniversary of the invasion, when peace activists are planning action and Bush supporters offer counter-action, we asked Seacoast readers to map out the book-o-sphere and recommend a book or two that's helped them understand what happened the day we took over Iraq.

Here's everything we could fit in this space. Got a different perspective? More suggestions? Send us your thoughts at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it

U.S. policy

The 9/11 Commission Report

The commission's final report, an independent, bipartisan document that examines facts, circumstances and failings surrounding the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, is uncommonly clear, though critics find its recommendations unimpressive. (W.W. Norton, 2004)

America Unbound: The Bush Revolution in Foreign Policy by Ivo H. Daalder and James M. Lindsay

This book captures the nuances of the shift between "before" and "after" Sept. 11, a revolution uncannily led by a president whose 'worldview simply made no allowance for others' doubting the purity of American motives." (Brookings Institution Press, 2003)

Sorrows of Empire: Militarism, Secrecy, and the End of the Republic by Chalmers Johnson

The former CIA consultant and outspoken critic of U.S. military policies digs out the roots of our militarism and explores the future of the country and the globe under the de facto rule of our military-industrial complex. (Henry Holt, 2004)

Confessions of an Economic Hitman by John Perkins

A first-person account of the U.S. effort to force globalization on developing nations during the last 30 years. For some readers, this will be an eye-opening summary of how U.S. muscle has influenced anti-American sentiment fueled by a sense of betrayal. Perkins will be speaking at the Tilton School in Tilton on May 19. (Berrett-Koehler, 2004)

Crossing the Rubicon: Sept. 11 and the Decline of the American Empire at the End of the Age of Oil by Michael Ruppert

A tour of the "terrain of rapidly diminishing hydrocarbon energy supplies, geopolitics, narco-traffic, intelligence and militarism-without which Sept. 11 cannot be understood," according to the publisher's synopsis. Mentioned here because it's being used as the basis of a 14-part discussion series at Dover Friends Meeting on Wednesday nights. (New Society Publishers, 2004)

understanding "them"

Crisis on the Korean Peninsula by Michael O'Hanlon and Mike Mochizuki (McGraw-Hill, 2003) and Target North Korea by Gavan McCormack (Avalon, 2003)

Analysis and recommendations for how to handle the xenophobic Socialist holdout that's used its burgeoning nuclear capabilities to claim center stage in world affairs.

Taliban: Militant Islam, Oil and Fundamentalism in Central Asia by Ahmed Rashid

Recommended for understanding Afghanistan's history, especially in the decade or so prior to Sept. 11, 2001. Lots about the UNOCAL pipeline. (Yale University Press, March 2001)

Twilight of Empire: Responses to Occupation, editors Mark LeVine, Viggo Mortensen, Pilar Perez

The person who recommended this book writes: "Puts a human face on people referred to by our government by many un-names such as 'collateral.' This book is a series of essays, photos, poems and observations by activists, journalists and ambassadors.... It's a quick read, and worth the price for Addario's photographs alone. They are dramatic but not bloody and capture the emotion of the individuals portrayed." (Perceval Press, 2004)

One Palestine, Complete by Tom Segev (Henry Holt, 2001) and Paris 1919: Six Months That Changed the World by Margaret MacMillan (Random House, 2003) retrace last century's mapmaking for its effects on today's geo-political situation, often refuting received wisdom about causes of conflicts.

citizens of the empire

It Can't Happen Here by Sinclair Lewis

Recommended for this list "because it can." Written in 1935, it's a warning to America about the rise of fascism, more properly called "corporatism," where government and big business become one. (Signet Classic, 2005)

A People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn

The classic revisionist history. Various publishers.

What's the Matter with Kansas? by Thomas Frank (Henry Holt & Company, 2004) and Don't Think of an Elephant by George Lakoff (Chelsea Green, 2004)

Provide analysis of the domestic situation and our relationship with our elected administration. Lakoff, a former student of Chomsky's, argues that neoconservatives frame issues in a way that resonates with thecore American identity.

Citizens of the Empire: The Struggle to Claim Our Humanity by Robert Jensen

"Real hope-the belief in the authentic underpinnings of hope-is radical. A belief that

people are not evil and stupid, not consigned merely to live out pre-determined roles in illegitimate structures of authority, is radical. The willingness to act publicly on that hope and that belief is radical." (City Lights Books, March 2004)

the soldier's life

Generation Kill by Evan Wright (Penguin Group, 2005) and The March Up: Taking Baghdad with the 1st Marine Division by Bing West and Ray L. Smith (Bantam Doubleday Dell, 2003)

Even people who think we shouldn't be there are interested in what soldiers are going through. Both books are frontlines-in-Baghdad accounts with U.S. Marines. The first is more a social account of the young men fighting the war, while the second is an account of modern warfare as experienced on the ground in Iraq.

sources: compiled by Karen Marzloff, with help from writers Sue Mayer and Anne Webber, librarian Cynthia Riley, activists Pat Frisella and Bill Pagum, University of New Hampshire Communications Professor Joshua Meyrowitz, filmmaker Tom Jackson, and RiverRun Bookstore, among others.