Baghdad: city of peace, city of blood--a history in thirteen centuries

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.