Imperial Life in the Emerald City: Inside Iraq's Green Zone by Chandrasekaran, Rajiv(September 19, 2006) Hardcover

A National Book Award Finalist and New York Times BestsellerThe Green Zone, Baghdad, Iraq, 2003: in this walled-off compound of swimming pools and luxurious amenities, Paul Bremer and his Coalition Provisional Authority set out to fashion a new, democratic Iraq.

Staffed by idealistic aides chosen primarily for their views on issues such as abortion and capital punishment, the CPA spent the crucial first year of occupation pursuing goals that had little to do with the immediate needs of a postwar nation: flat taxes instead of electricity and deregulated health care instead of emergency medical supplies.