{"product_id":"the-ballad-of-abu-ghraibisbn-9780143115397","title":"The Ballad of Abu Ghraib","description":"\u003cb\u003eThe first full reckoning of what actually happened at Abu Ghraib prison-\"one of the most devastating of the many books on Iraq\" (\u003ci\u003eThe New York Times Book Review\u003c\/i\u003e)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e A relentlesly surprising and perceptive account of the front lines of the war on terror, \u003ci\u003eStandard Operating Procedure\u003c\/i\u003e is a war story that takes its place among the classics. Acclaimed author Philip Gourevitch presents the story behind a defining moment in the war, and a defining moment in our understanding of ourselves- the infamous Abu Ghraib photographs of prisoner abuse. Drawing on Academy Award-winning filmmaker Errol Morris's astonishing interviews with the Americans who took and appeared in the pictures, \u003ci\u003eStandard Operating Procedure\u003c\/i\u003e is an utterly original book that stands to endure as essential reading long after the current war in Iraq passes from the headlines.\"Here, author and journalist Gourevitch and documentary filmmaker Morris  have compiled the complete story of Abu Ghraib, from Iraqi prison to  prison of occupying American forces, and the crimes its walls concealed- only some of which were revealed in photographs that hit the global media  in 2003. Drawing from Morris's lengthy interviews with the soldiers who  photographed and participated in prisoner abuse, the authors render in  clear detail the horror and inhumanity of Abu Ghraib, for prisoner and  guard alike: \"Inexperienced, untrained, under attack, and under orders to  do wrong, the low-ranking reservist MPs who implemented the nefarious  policy... knew that what they were doing was immoral, and they knew that  if it wasn't illegal, it ought to be.\" From the squalid conditions to the  lack of regulations to the appalling acts that jolted the world, this  chronicle of unconscionable behavior, and the political maneuvering that  took place in its aftermath, is as much a page-turner as any fictional  thriller. Companion to Morris's documentary film of the same name, this  deft piece of reportage will stir readers' anger, at both the actions and  the consequences; not only was the torture purposeless (\"Nobody has even  bothered to pretend otherwise\"), but \"no soldier above the rank of  sergeant ever served jail time... [and] Nobody was ever charged with  torture, or war crimes, or any violation of the Geneva Conventions.\" A  thorough, terrifying account of an American-made \"bedlam,\" the latest  from Gourevitch is as troubling, and arguably as important, as his 1998  Rwanda investigation \u003ci\u003eWe Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will be  Killed with Our Families\u003c\/i\u003e.\" — \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly\u003c\/i\u003e (starred review)\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"This book has to be read.\" — \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNewsweek\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A tightly knit and damning narrative... one of the most devastating of the  many books on Iraq.\" — \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eNew York Times Book Review \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Philip Gourevitch's exemplary book will take its toll for years.\" — \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe New York Observer\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Gourevitch's eye for telling detail evokes the best of \u003ci\u003eThe New  Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e tradition-Capote's \u003ci\u003eIn Cold Blood\u003c\/i\u003e, Hersey's  \u003ci\u003eHiroshima... Standard Operating Procedure\u003c\/i\u003e is essential reading for  our time.\" — \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Tennessean\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"As much a page-turner as any fictional thriller... A thorough, terrifying  account of an American-made 'bedlam,' the latest from Gourevitch is as  troubling, and arguably as important, as his 1998 Rwanda investigation  \u003ci\u003eWe Wish to Inform You that Tomorrow We Will be Killed with Our  Families\u003c\/i\u003e.\" — \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003ePublishers Weekly \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"[A] gut wrenching morality check\" — \u003cb\u003eNPR's \u003ci\u003eTalk of the Nation \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Admirable... remarkable power\" — \u003cb\u003eMichiko Kakutani, \u003ci\u003eThe New York Times \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"A compelling story... [Gourevitch] is a master of looking more closely,  which means both more sympathetically and more critically... Gourevitch's  account takes us outside the frame, giving us the chance to understand  the dynamic of the unit in which violence and romance were S.O.P... The  book shows how lawlessness became the law.\" — \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Los Angeles Times\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Remarkable.\" — \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eThe Denver Post \u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Gourevitch...brings to this study of the Abu Ghraib scandal the same  graceful balancing of reportage and insight that marked his extraordinary  book on the Rwandan genocide, \u003ci\u003eWe Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We  Will Be Killed with Our Families...\u003c\/i\u003e the shocks arrive through language  alone.\" — \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eTime Out NY\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cb\u003ePhilip Gourevitch\u003c\/b\u003e is the author of \u003ci\u003eWe Wish to Inform You That Tomorrow We Will Be Killed with Our Families\u003c\/i\u003e, \u003ci\u003eA Cold Case\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eThe Ballad of Abu Ghraib \u003c\/i\u003e(with Errol Morris). He has served as editor of \u003ci\u003eThe Paris Review\u003c\/i\u003e and is a longtime staff writer for \u003ci\u003eThe New Yorker\u003c\/i\u003e.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eErrol Morris \u003c\/b\u003eis the author of the \u003ci\u003eNew York Times\u003c\/i\u003e bestseller \u003ci\u003eA Wilderness of Error \u003c\/i\u003eand the Academy Award–winning director of \u003ci\u003eThe Fog of War\u003c\/i\u003e, among other films, including \u003ci\u003eStandard Operating Procedure\u003c\/i\u003e; \u003ci\u003eFast, Cheap \u0026amp; Out of Control\u003c\/i\u003e; and \u003ci\u003eThe Thin Blue Line\u003c\/i\u003e. He lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts.","brand":"Penguin Books","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46300791308517,"sku":"NP9780143115397","price":24.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/1842\/7735\/files\/9780143115397_c3336e9d-b76c-4bcd-a689-2ac4ff12d592.jpg?v=1730745930","url":"https:\/\/k12savings.com\/products\/the-ballad-of-abu-ghraibisbn-9780143115397","provider":"K12savings","version":"1.0","type":"link"}